Outer Banks Long Term Rental: Landlord Refresher
Many of our landlords have been at this a long time and are familiar with how things work with their Tenants. Here is a list of valuable tools for Landlord’s to help with the Long-Term Rental Process:
-Our website is a valuable source of information for all customers and clients including our Blogs that provide helpful information about rental property and local events as well as help with log logging in and out of your Portal to view important documents such as our Property Management Agreement, your Tenant’s lease or financial info it’s all there. If you have not activated your Owner Portal, please contact our office and Megan will be happy to help get you started.
-If we must procure a tenant for your home, we will immediately start our marketing of the property. We send in a professional photographer to take pictures of the home both inside and out so that they can be used not only on our website but potentially on the 83 other search engines our software can distribute to. Keep in mind that OBX Housing only has control over our company website only. Sometimes search engines like Realtor.com or Trulia will pull information from other public sites such as Dare County and insert information. Please note that we have no control over those sites and can only monitor and maintain the information on OIBX Housing’s website. Our software provider does submit our listings to over 80 search engines because we want your home to receive maximum exposure.
-Once your home has a renter in it, you cannot go upon the property without contacting us to give your Tenant at least 24-hour notice. This is addressed in the Residential Rental Contract (Lease) but is also only common courtesy. The OBX Housing staff is available to our clients by email any time if you are unable to reach us during office hours. We can then contact your Tenant to set up the visit. Keep in mind that COVID 19 has changed the way we live, act, and work now and sometimes it may not be convenient for the tenant to be at the Landlord’s disposal.
-As we receive Rental Applications from prospective renters for your home, we will immediately contact you to discuss the applicants with you. OBX Housing runs a credit, criminal and background check on all prospects through the top 3 reporting agencies. We also verify employment and check previous Landlord references. Ultimately, you make the decision as to who we lease your house to, but we will provide you with our recommendation.
-We ask that all Landlord and Tenants follow these cleaning guidelines:
- Clean all accessible light fixtures and ceiling fans.
- Sweep and mop all floors including baseboards. Carpeting must be professionally cleaned and deodorized and receipt provided to Agent for Landlord.
- Dust entire house, including HVAC return and vents. Change HVAC filter(s).
- Clean tubs, sinks, toilets, shower walls, mirrors, remove all shower curtains, and clean all bathroom cabinets inside and out.
- Clean and wipe out all appliances (oven, stove, refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher, Washer/Dryer).
- Clean out and wipe down kitchen cabinets (inside & out), drawers and under kitchen sink.
- Clean all closets or built-in shelving units in bedrooms, living room and bathrooms.
- Clean sliding glass doors-inside & out
- Clean windows, window sills and window tracks, all door sills and mirrors, plus blinds if supplied. Also, wipe down all light switch plates and outlet covers.
- Wipe down all interior and exterior doors, including trim closet doors.
- Sweep all exterior decking and porches. Remove all cobwebs and any debris
- Clean utility room and wipe off patio furniture that was supplied by owner if any
- Cut all grass, trim back landscaping and weed garden (if has one). Remove any trash or debris from the yard.
- Pet homes must be treated for fleas/ticks if your pet is not on a flea and tick program (proof from vet required).
- Sweep all garage and storage areas and remove all cobwebs and any debris.
-We urge you to contact Dominion Power and have a Revert to Owner agreement put in place and Dominion will provide you with a contract number that you can provide us so that we can make sure your tenant’s have transferred the electric service by their move in date. This agreement also saves you money if you tenant moves out and another tenant is not in place to move in so that you will not have a reconnection fee or loss of service. Dominion DOES NOT revert to Owner in cases of nonpayment. For more information about this service, please visit www.dom.com
-The local water departments will not permit tenants to put the water bill in their name. When you list your home with OBX Housing we will reach out to the water department in your area and have them forward all future billing to our office. This way we will be able to monitor meter readings, bills and payments. When the bills are received, Megan will publish them to the Tenant Portal as well as text the Tenant so they will know how much they owe and when’s it due. Megan will continue to monitor the account to make sure the bill is paid on time. If we receive a bill from the water department which covers a period prior to the tenant moving in, we will prorate and your account will be invoiced in your next monthly statement or you can pay the water department direct, whichever you prefer.
-You will need to provide OBX Housing with a certificate of insurance as proof that you have Landlord Liability Insurance in place. Megan Bottelli of OBX Housing is a licensed Insurance Agent (although she no longer sells insurance) and will be happy to help you make sure you have the correct coverage in place.
-Rental proceeds are disbursed on the 10 th day of the month. If you have not already signed an ACH Agreement with us and provided a copy of a voided check, please contact Megan at our office and she will be happy to help you get set up. If the 10 th occurs on a weekend, the funds will be disbursed on the next banking day as the Federal Reserve is closed on weekends and holidays. When your disbursement has been made, you will receive an email from us indicating that you have a monthly statement available to view.
-Once a tenant takes possession of your home, they will have 14 days to provide us with a completed Move-in inspection form. This form documents the condition of the home and reports any necessary maintenance items. These forms are scanned and shared with the Landlord so that we can discuss and schedule any maintenance that the Landlord and OBX Housing deem necessary.
-Renters must all have renter’s insurance and we must have a certificate as proof of insurance in the first 14-day period. If the tenant does not provide this document, OBX will put a forced placed coverage in place so that the Landlord is protected, and the tenant will pay that fee in addition to their monthly rental amount.
-The best way to contact us and for all communication needs it is best to use our main office phone number and our main office email address. Personal emails may not be checked on days off or during vacation where the main phone number and email is checked 7 days a week. You can also email us through our website and that forwards to our main email server as well. Please note these details in your phone or on your computer for future reference:
OBX Housing 252-255-0117 info@liveintheobx.com or www.liveintheobx.com