Q1. How Do You Advertise Properties? +

Getting our homes rented quickly is paramount to our business. We do this through the following process:

1. We take professional photos highlighting the best features of your rental. Our team is experienced in staging and advising what updates should be completed prior to photographing the home.

2. We syndicate to the top rental websites. Your rental listing will be designed by a licensed realtor to both attract the best tenants and ensure compliance with the law. The listing will the be syndacated to the top rental websites including, but not limited to, Zillow, Trulia, Craigslist, Hotpads, Nestly, Apartments.com, Apartmentlisting.com, & Realtor.com.

3. We repost on Craigslist regularly. This is critical to stay on the top of local searches

4. We will advertise the listing on the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS). This website is only accessible for posting by licensed realtors and is where every real estate deal is posted. Utilizing the MLS will gain additional exposure unavailable to other property management companies

5. All prospective tenants calling will be answered by a member of our team and all web inquires called back asap to ensure your property is top of mind. All communications will be tracked and logged so we can follow-up and place the best tenant.

6. When showing your home, we will attempt to secure the best tenant for the longest rental period possible. Offering and negotiating multiple year leases saves our clients thousands in leasing fees and turnover cost.

Q2. How Are Repairs Handled? +

For tenant occupied homes, tenants submit repairs through their online portal. Our portal allows tenants to submit a work order request by providing a description of the issue as well as upload photos of the issue, when appropriate. Tenant's 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 troubleshoot the issue with the tenant. There are many common repair requests that our team is trained to troubleshoot. If the issue needs to be fixed, we send a work order to one of our vendors. We use all 3rd-party vendors and do not do in-house maintenance.

The vendor will contact the tenant to set up a time to make the repair. Our vendors will complete the repair (if under $300) and submit an invoice to our company for approval. You get a copy of the work order we submitted to the vendor, explaining what we want them to fix, and a copy of the vendors invoice. We make sure the cost of the repair is fair and that the work was completed satisfactorily.

The management agreement allows us to approve any repair under $300, without having to bother our clients. Larger repairs over $300 require owner approval, so we will contact the client in those cases. Exceptions to the $300 approval rule include emergency maintenance and habitability issues. If we need to act quickly to protect persons or property we will do so in order to protect our clients best interest.

Q3. Do You Have a List of Vendors You Use? +

Yes. We have a list of preferred vendors we use. All preferred vendors must submit their appropriate licensing information, W-9, and their current insurance policy. They must also meet our standards for quality of work and competitive pricing. If you are a vendor or have a vendor you would like to recommend please contact us. We are always looking to better serve our clients.

Q4. Can I Hire My Own Contractors? +

Yes and No. Over the years we have tried hundreds of contractors. Cost is always important, but as you know, sometimes you get what you pay for. The contractors we use provide quality workmanship and competitive pricing.

With that said, we are always willing to try someone new. However, we do require that they have appropriate licenses, complete a W-9, and 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.

Q5. Can I do the Repairs Myself? +

Yes and No. If the property is vacant, owners can handle the repairs needed to make the property rent ready, if they choose. However, either the client does all the work or we do all the work. It gets messy when there are too many chefs in the kitchen. Once the property is leased, we prefer to only use our preferred vendors. This ensures that leasing deadlines are met, as we work with these vendors regularly and know what to expect. Any repairs done by an owner could also expose them to becoming liable for their work.

Q6. How Do the Rental Payments Work? +

We collect rent from your tenant on the first of every month. They have a 5 day grace period to send the payment. After receiving their payment we will pay out any bill we are authorized to pay and take out our management fee. The balance will be wired (through EFT) into your account on the 10th of every month.

Q7. Can I Choose My Own Tenant? +

We select the tenant for the owner without their involvement because it is in our owner's best interest. There are strict Fair Housing laws in Maryland that many owners may violate without knowing it. You may have a preference for no kids or self-employed tenants. Both of these can be Fair Housing violations that carry stiff monetary penalties. Maybe you prefer someone older, so you pick an older couple over a young couple. That is another Fair Housing violation. Maybe a prospective tenant told you they just moved here and you ask where they moved from. Another Fair Housing Violation. All it takes is one Fair Housing complaint and you could be spending thousands of dollars having to defend yourself in court.

While their intentions are good, most of our clients are not up to date on Fair Housing laws or how they are applied. Letting someone pick a tenant who does not understand the laws puts both the owner and our company at risk. Besides Fair Housing laws, there are several other reasons we prefer to find your tenant:

1. It is best if you don't know who the tenant is. That way you are not emotionally invested and can make better decisions.

2. We get the property leased faster. Since we don't need to coordinate calls with an owner to go over an application, we can get the leasing offer out sooner and get it rented sooner. Time is money.

3. Unless an owner is a seasoned investor, they usually are not best qualified to pick a tenant. They often pick tenants based on personal preference or emotion. Selecting a tenant is a business decision that should be made using objective criteria.

Q8. What Happens If My Tenant Doesn't Pay Rent? +

Rent is due on the 1st and late on the 6th. These means the tenant has a 5-day grace period after to pay the rent without penalty. If the rent is not received by midnight on the 5th we contact the tenant to see what is going on. Soon after, we deliver a notice to the tenants to pay rent or quit. Serving this notice is the first step in the eviction process.

If we do not receive the rent after the 10th, our owners are notified. We will give you our recommendation on how to best proceed. Options include moving forward with the eviction process and filing a Failure To Pay Rent (FTPR) with the courts on the 15th or working out a deal with the tenant.

Q9. When my tenant is late, why don't I receive the late payment? +

The reason that Goddard Properties receives late payments is two-fold:

1. Our business model is to spend our time providing steller client care and utilizing technology to minimize our operating expenses. We have a streamlined process for collecting monthly rents and we pass this savings along to our clients. Late rent causes us to deviate from this process and involves extra time for us to track down tenants, drive to serve notices, drive to collect rents, deposit rents, drive and process court paperwork, etc. so we require additional compensation to run the business. Our options are to charge our clients or charge the tenants, so we choose to have the tenants compensate us for this extra time.

2. We have written in late fees to our leases as a deterrant for tenants paying late, and if they do pay us late we can re-coup our additional expenses. We do not include late fees in our leases for the purpose of additional profits.

Q10. What Type of Insurance do I need? +

You will need to carry a 'Landlord Policy'. This has specific coverage specific to landlords, so it is important you switch to this type of policy if you currently have a homeowners policy. A Landlord policy is usually slightly more expense, but the extra coverage is necessary. Your current insurance provider should be familiar with the difference and is the best place to start. Please note that we require you to add "Goddard Properties, LLC" as Additional Insured or Additional Certificate Holder.

Q11. Why Do I Need to Add Goddard Properties as an Additional Insured? +

Let’s say a tenant trips on the stairs, breaks her leg, and decides to sue. She is probably going to sue both you and Goddard Properties. Your insurance should step in and defend you. Since we are acting as your agent, we require the same protection. Our management agreement, like all management agreements, has an indemnification clause that says you agree to indemnify Goddard Properties, unless we are found to be negligent. This means if your insurance does not cover us, we have to hire an attorney on our own. Then our attorney will be fighting your attorney and the tenant. If we are found not guilty, our attorney will come after you for their attorney fees. Had we been added as additionally insured, your insurance company would defend us both equally. Adding us to the policy is a standard practice and most major insurance companies do this at no additional charge. If your insurance company will not add Goddard Properties, you will need to switch to an insurance carrier who does. Note that we also carry our own insurance.

Q12. Do you carry your own insurance? +

Yes. We carry General Liability as well as Errors & Omissions insurance.

Q13. Can I Sell My Home While the Tenant Lives There? +

If you decide to sell, please alert us before you sign any paperwork. There are a number of things that we can do on our side to make it successful.

You can sell your property while the tenant is living in the home but typically this isn't the best scenario. Occupied homes generally do not show as well as vacant or professionally-staged homes. They are also harder to show since agents must work around the tenants schedule and give 24-hour notice. If the tenant has multiple months left on their lease, the only buyers can be investors since their lease needs to be honored. This can cut out owner-occupant, which are the largest majority of buyers.. If the lease is coming to an end, the tenant keeps the home in great shape, and the tenant is easy to communicate with then it could make sense to list it for sale while occupied. We can guide you on the right approach based on your situation

Q14. Can You Sell My Home? +

Yes. Goddard Properties was born from our work selling and buying homes with investors. We are proudly associated with Marylands top locally owned brokerage, Cummings & Co. Realtors. While you are not obligated to use Goddard Properties in the sale of your home we do highly recommend it due to our intimate knowledge of your property and superior experience in your market. Not to mention our resident agent, Josh Velte, is without equal.