owners frequently asked questions
We are usually ready to start managing your property within 24 hours of signing the property management agreement.
This depends on various factors, for example, the location, condition and the property type. We use various marketing platforms to expose your vacant rental to as many prospective tenants as possible. To get an idea of how long it would take to fill your vacancy, please get in touch with us for a complete rental analysis.
We use various tools and strategies to determine market rent. This includes a thorough rental market analysis. After collecting this data, we are able to advise our clients on the appropriate market rent.
We provide your tenants the ability to pay electronically via their online tenant portal.
All rent payments must have cleared the bank before we can begin disbursing funds. Funds are direct deposited in to your designated bank account generally by the 15th of each month. Around this same time, you will receive a financial statement recapping all income and expenses for the month.
We screen every prospective tenant that applies to our properties in order to ensure they are the right fit. Our screening process is extensive, and includes checking employment history, credit score, criminal background, and previous landlord references.
No, you may keep your existing policy as long as Coastal Cities Property Management is added as “Additionally Insured” in the liability portion of the policy.
The tenant needs to complete our screening process, sign the lease documents, pay the first month’s rent as well as the security deposit.
We understand how valuable your rental investment is to you. That’s why we conduct regular inspections to ensure it stays in the best condition. We also respond to tenant maintenance requests promptly so that minor issues don’t turn into expensive, long-term problems.
Tenants submit repair requests via their online tenant portal. Our portal allows tenants to submit a work order request by providing a description of the issue as well as upload photos when appropriate. Tenants can also track the status of their request online.
When a request comes in, we assess it and see if it needs immediate dispatch or if we can possibly trouble shoot the issue with the tenant. There are many common repair requests our team is trained to troubleshoot. If the issue needs to be fixed, we send a work order to one of our vendors.
Possibly. The contractors we use provide quality workmanship and competitive pricing. With that said, we are always willing to consider new vendors. We require that all vendors have the appropriate licenses, complete a W-9, carry general liability insurance and workers compensation insurance, if required by law. If you would like us to consider using your contractor, please provide us their contact information so we can reach out and see if they are a good fit.
Once the property is leased, we require use of our approved vendors. This ensures leasing deadlines are met, and that the quality of work meets our expectations. If the property is vacant, please contact us to discuss your options.
Yes, we highly encourage you to consider allowing pets in your property. A large percentage of U.S. households own a pet, therefore, by allowing pets you increase the number of prospective tenants. All perspective animals will be thoroughly screened before approval by a 3rd party screening service.
This decision is solely yours to make, however we advise you not to tolerate smoking inside your property.
Using your Owner Portal, you will be able to have access to a multitude of reports. These reports include regular statements on income and expenses as well as rent rolls, paid rents, lease ending dates, etc.
We take nonpayment of rent very seriously and act quickly to resolve the issue. We understand that rent is a crucial aspect of any successful rental investment. Should a tenant fail to pay rent on time, we’ll follow the terms of the lease to issue notices and carry out an eviction, if needed.
The California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) requires property managers to withhold 7% of gross payments to owners who live outside of California and submit the withholdings to the FTB. You may be exempt from this regulation, eligible for a waiver, or eligible for reduced withholding:
- Form 588- Nonresident Withholding Waiver
If you are not a resident of CA, you may qualify for a withholding waiver. Please read Form 588 for full details. If you feel you qualify for a waiver, please complete Form 588 and send it directly to the FTB. - Form 589- Nonresident Reduced Withholding Request
If you are not exempt and do not qualify for a waiver, you may be entitled to a reduced withholding. You may complete Form 589- Nonresident Reduced Withholding Request and send it directly to the Franchise Tax Board (FTB).
If you complete and mail form 588 or 589 to the FTB, you should get a response within 2-3 weeks. Most of our clients, who were not eligible for a waiver, were granted some sort of reduction. All of the above forms can be found online at https://www.ftb.ca.gov.
If you have questions regarding the FTB regulations, please visit https://www.ftb.ca.gov and/or talk to your tax representative for more information. We are not tax professionals and cannot give you tax advice.
If you choose to complete 588 or 589, put your property manager as the “Withholding Agent”.
We select the tenant for the owner. There are strict Fair Housing laws in California and these Fair Housing violations can carry stiff monetary penalties. To help prevent Fair Housing violations, we screen every prospective tenant that applies to our properties in order to ensure they are the right fit. Our screening process is extensive, and includes checking employment history, credit score, criminal background, and previous landlord references.
It is easier for all parties if we act as the buffer between the owner and the tenant, therefore we generally do not allow owners to meet their tenants. When owners meet the tenant, it can cause confusion because tenants may think they can contact the owner for issues instead of us.
Coastal Cities Property Management holds the tenant’s security deposit. By law, the money belongs to the tenant and can only be used for past due rent or damages. We hold the security deposit in a trust account until the time of move out.
We do an excellent job of screening tenants upfront, so tenant damages are limited. However, even with the strictest of criteria, things can happen. Only a tiny percentage of our move out dispositions result in tenant damages exceeding the security deposit. We will quickly coordinate with our vendors to restore the property to a rent ready condition.