Detroit Rental Property Owner FAQs

Definitely not! Own It Detroit works for and on behalf of property owners. Once we start managing your property, we work according to your goals and with your direction. Our job is to apply our years of experience and property management services expertise to support your financial goals. 

Own It Detroit will always keep you informed about the status of your investment properties. Property owners are in charge! We simply help you get more out of your investments while you enjoy your free time.

We consider a variety of methods to ensure that properties under our management stay competitively priced. Rental market analysis helps us stay informed about current conditions in the Metro Detroit area. When it’s appropriate, we adjust rental rates to stay competitive while maintaining the best quality tenants in your rental properties. 

Own It Detroit is committed to the highest returns on your investments! Our data-driven approach to setting rental rates keeps your properties competitive. Our years of experience help us master the techniques to maximize the potential profits for our property owners. 

With our team of property managers, you have peace of mind that your property will rent as quickly as possible, to the most qualified tenant, and at the highest rate possible.

We stand behind our marketing efforts so confidently that we don’t charge a marketing fee until we place a qualified tenant in your property! 

That’s right! We do not charge an upfront fee to market your rental properties. Own It Detroit applies our years of experience in marketing rental properties in the Metro Detroit area until we find the right tenant before we assess our professional marketing fees. 

Are we looking for your first tenant? Maybe we’re starting the search for a replacement tenant when your existing renter doesn’t renew. Either way, we apply the same tried-and-true expert strategies to marketing. These strategies include:

• Applying rental market analysis to determine the best monthly rent price
• Using professional photos to create a compelling property listing
• Posting your property’s listing on the major renter search websites, including the Own It Detroit website
• Providing professional yard signage and other printed collateral

Our renewal process helps us minimize downtime between tenants. As soon as we know your tenant won’t renew their lease, we begin pre-advertising your property to find your next renter! 

To maximize your rental property’s exposure, we maintain a comprehensive list of top rental listing sites, including apartments.com, hotpads.com, rently.com, realtor.com, trulia.com, and zillow.com.

With our aggressive marketing strategies, we ensure that we fill vacant properties as soon as possible. Our pre-advertising strategy and years of experience in the Metro Detroit market are especially effective at reducing vacancy times.

While every property and tenant search is unique, at times, we have been able to find a new tenant for empty rental properties within a day of becoming vacant. However, in slow seasons, it can take up to a month to find the right tenant for an investment property. 

Own It Detroit will never fill a vacant property with the wrong tenant to cut down on your vacancy time. Our goal is not only to fill empty properties quickly but also to fill them with long-term, quality tenants. Quality tenants pay the rent on time, care for your property, and will often renew their lease!

We have a zero-tolerance policy regarding smoking inside our owners’ rental properties. In the event a tenant violates this policy, we swiftly take action per the terms of the lease agreement.

When choosing to allow pets in your investment properties, we work with our property owners to make these decisions. With our years of experience, we recommend allowing pet owners in your rentals to boost your income and yield better quality tenants. 

Tenants with pets are generally very responsible, and they renew their leases for more than one term. If you choose to allow pets in your properties, Own It Detroit is here to help! We apply a pet screening process, pet policies, and lease addendums to document fees and rules. 

We work hard to choose the ideal pets and their owners to be your tenants while protecting your investment properties.

We follow a thorough and fair screening process for all prospective tenants. It starts by setting the tenant criteria with input from property owners. We then apply a four-pronged screening approach:

• A credit check 
• Confirmation of prior rental history
• Income verification
• Background and criminal checks 

Throughout this process, Own It Detroit follows all Fair Housing laws. Once a tenant passes our screening process, we execute a lease agreement with approval from our property owners.

Yes, all tenants must pay the full security deposit amount before we give them the keys to your rental properties. We charge one month’s rent as a security deposit. When collecting the security deposit, we also require the first month’s rent and any applicable fees.

Security deposits help protect property owners from the cost of tenant property damage. After a tenant moves out, Own It Detroit performs a Move-Out Inspection to document the condition of your property. We then compare it to the property’s condition when the tenant moved in. 

Should we find damage in excess of normal wear and tear, we deduct the cost of repairs from the tenant’s security deposit amount.

In most cases, for single-family homes, tenants are responsible for setting up and paying the utilities that apply to their rental homes throughout the lease term. However, for some property types, regulations may require Own It Detroit to handle certain utilities, such as water, sewer, and trash.

To help ensure a smooth transition for tenants coming and going from your properties, we help guide tenants on the utility process.

Timely and quality property repairs and maintenance could mean the difference between success and failure for your investment properties. However, from our years of experience, we’ve learned that different property owners can have different ideas regarding repairs and maintenance.

Owners can choose to handle their own repairs. When you trust Own It Detroit to manage the maintenance for your rental properties, we always ensure the highest level of repair services for every property.

We work hard to cultivate and maintain excellent relationships with tried-and-tested professional contractors in the Metro Detroit area. Due to the volume of work we offer contractors, we can also provide maintenance services to our investors at competitive prices.

Own It Detroit also works with home warranty companies and existing service contracts for your properties. Our team keeps photo, video, and invoice documentation of every repair and all routine maintenance for your records.

Own It Detroit doesn’t get paid until we collect the rent. We are motivated to ensure timely rent collection to support your financial goals. We also work behind the incentive that we don’t receive payment until we get the rent from your tenants. 

When a tenant struggles to pay the rent, we work through our process of reminders to encourage rental payments. If necessary, we then proceed with the necessary legal procedures to collect the rent per the lease agreement. 

In serious cases of nonpayment, we file an eviction lawsuit against the delinquent tenant and help represent the property owner in court proceedings. Our Eviction Services protect property owners from the headaches of removing a tenant from a property. 

Eviction is always a last resort. Based on our years of experience, tenants respond positively to reminders, clear communication, and the assessment of late fees for delayed payments.

We start by placing only the best quality tenants in your rental properties. Quality tenants are neat, honest, credible, responsible, respectful, and take good care of your investment properties.

Own It Detroit also documents the condition of your property at move-in and move-out. This helps us hold tenants accountable for any property damage in excess of normal wear and tear.

Throughout the year, we perform routine property inspections. These efforts help us recognize maintenance needs or damage before they become a significant issue. With four inspections for each lease period, we keep a constant eye on your property—and stay ahead of repairs and seasonal maintenance.

A lease agreement is a contractual agreement between Own It Detroit and your tenant. Moving out before the lease expires means the tenant has broken the lease. 

Until we find a new tenant for your property, the existing tenant is bound by the terms of the lease. We work to locate the tenant and collect the owed rent and any other fees associated with breaking the lease. In some cases, we allow the existing tenant to buy out the remaining term of the lease. 

Own It Detroit also immediately begins the search for your next tenant. Our goal is to ensure that our property owners don’t suffer a financial loss when a tenant vacates a property before the end of the lease term.

Own It Detroit provides financial reports via email on a monthly basis as early in the month as we can. We also provide owners with a secure online portal to view all financial reports and information about your rental properties at any time. 

We pay our owners monthly between the 10th and 15th of every month. 

Learn more about our property management services!