Summary of Leasing Services

Crown has been perfecting the “lease-up” process for 25 years. We have discovered what works when it comes to leasing houses and how to avoid costly mistakes. We rent 400 to 500 homes a year. Whether you manage it yourself, or allow us to manage it, we’ll find you a qualified tenant in record time.

The #1 issue in choosing a Property Manager.
After managing rentals in Atlanta for 30 years, acquiring 12 other management companies, and training hundreds of property managers, I have observed a disturbing shift in property manager styles over the past few years. This shift is troubling and property owners need to be sure they understand these issues before they choose a manager for their rental. The consequences of selecting the wrong manager style may be more costly than you expect. Read more »

Here’s a run-down of our Summary of Leasing Services:

1. Pre-Marketing Issues
   1. We review rental market conditions in Atlanta.
      • Rental market conditions vary depending on the time of year and swings in the Atlanta real estate market. We can give you perspective on where the rental market is today and where it is headed tomorrow.
      • How much inventory is currently on the market in your area influences how much rent you can expect. Too much inventory on the rental market drives rents down. Lets look at current inventory on the market in your area before you set the rental price.
        
        
   2. How much rent can you get today?
      • We will provide you with rental comps from Atlanta’s #1 MLS service as well as researching prominent local and national rental hosting websites. Setting the rent right in the beginning will dramatically affect your vacancy time. We will provide you with the facts. You set the rent.
      • You can search your own rental comps or fill out this form to request comps and we will do it for you.
      • See what our rental comp report looks like.
        
        
   3. Making the property rent ready is critical.
      • Before we begin marketing your property it must be “rent ready”. Here’s what it means to have your property rent ready.
        
        
   4. Get good landlord insurance coverage.
      • Make sure you have a good landlord policy.
      • Be sure you have an “All Risks Provision” in your landlord policy.
      • Extended liability coverage is critical. Personal Umbrella policies and Commercial Umbrella policies are reasonable and a must for landlords.
        
        See more about insurance issues for landlords »
        
        
2. Marketing the Property
   You can spend a small fortune advertising your rental property on your own, or tap into our marketing machine and allowing us find you a good applicant.
   
   
   1. “For Rent” signs generate 10% to 15% of our applications.
      • We have “for rent” signs in front of 70 to 100 homes at any one time. Marketing such a large inventory of property generates drive-by callers and rents a lot of houses.
        
        
   2. Unlike most of our competition, we market your home to the rest of the real estate industry, and the public, by listing it in Atlanta’s First Multiple Listing System.
   • FMLS exposes your home to 12,000 Atlanta area agents.
   • Cooperating with the local industry has always paid off for Crown. Most area property managers are not members of FMLS, do not list their rentals in FMLS, or encourage their agents to show their active listings.
   • Other agents show and lease Crown homes regularly.
   • 10% to 15% of our tenants come from outside agents referring their clients to Crown.
   • After 25 years operating in the Atlanta market, agents know that Crown handles quality rental properties.
     
     
   3. Classified Advertising generates 10% to 15% of our applicants.
   • Crown runs ads every Sunday in the Atlanta Journal Constitution rental section and on their website.
   • Classified ads generate fewer and fewer calls every year as the Internet becomes the source of choice for most tenants, but we are dedicated to exposing your rental property in all media, and we still keep a strong presence in the newspaper.
     
     
   4. Internet advertising and website exposure is critical. We are constantly adding and dropping sites as their ratings rise and fall in popularity. Hosting services go out of business every day. New ones start up over-night claiming they have lots of money to dominate the rental property-hosting market. It’s a part-time job just keeping track of all the options.
   • Local and national rental hosting websites account for 65% to 75% of our tenant applicants.
   • There are plenty of competitors in this market and it’s changing constantly.
   • Crown has contracted with many of these sites and will add your property on those that attract the most hits by renter inquiries.
   • We rely on Alexa and Media Metrix to identify the highest-ranking sites on both the national and local level.
   • Internet advertising is a moving target. Sites that are on top today don’t even show up tomorrow. Check out how we market your property to see where all our active rental listings are located.
     
     
   5. Showing Properties 24/7
   • Our licensed rental coordinators show property seven days a week and are available at any time to help tenants find just the right house.
   • Showing the property when tenants want to see it is a real challenge. Few are willing to do it 24/7.
   • An army of full time, straight commission, leasing agents is the key to our success at getting homes rented quickly at top rental rates.
     
     

See “What Makes Crown Different Than Other Property Managers” »




3. Checking Out the Applicant
   We receive from 70 to 100 applications a month.
   • On every application we pull credit reports, verify employment, and confirm rental history.
   • We evaluate the information and figure out how to secure the owner with large security deposits and co-signers.
   • After approving over 6,000 tenants, and making plenty of mistakes, we’ve paid for our learning curves so you don’t have to. We deny almost one third of all applications
     
     
4. Signing the Lease
   Approved applicants sign a seven-page lease prepared by the law firm of Dickenson Gilroy, LLC.
   
   • This document has been revised and perfected for 25 years.
   • It gets further revisions annually as tenants, lawyers, and judges continue to teach us lessons.
   • You get the very best lease contract that money can buy, shaped by thousands of tenant experiences.
     
     
5. Re-key the property
   Providing the tenant with a secure property means locking out all the past tenants, agents, relatives, neighbors, contractors, and cleaning people.
   
   • Just before the tenant moves in, Crown will have the property re-keyed by a licensed professional.
   • The tenant will pay $100 towards this cost and the owner pays the difference.
     
     For more information, read "Why re-key the property?"
     
     
6. Moving The Tenant In
   The purpose of the move-in inspection is to document the condition of the property prior to the tenant taking possession.
   
   • We orient the tenant and prepare them to take over the property.
   • We log appliance manufacturers, models and colors.
   • We identify smoke detectors, water shut off, window and door locks.
   • The tenant signs off, gives us a security deposit, and we give them keys.
   • A good move-in inspection takes at least an hour, but if done right, can prevent future management problems.
   • The move-in inspection sets the basis for withholding the security deposit after move out and is required by Georgia law prior to receiving a security deposit.

Crown can lease your property and “let you manage it” or we can “manage it for you”. To get started, visit our Owner Signup page.

Find out how Crown is Different than other property managers.

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