Residential Property
Our flexible management style lets owners choose the level of support they want. Whether you’re looking to fully hand off your rental property or only need help in one area, we’re here to support you.
We specialize in:
- Maintenance Management (including 24-hour emergency support)
- Accounting
- Capital improvement planning
- Budgeting
- Tenant acquisition
- Renewals
- Short-term oversight (such as keeping an eye on your property when you go on vacation)
OUR SERVICES AREAS
Our services encompass all operational aspects of residential rental properties:
Portland Homes & Commercial Properties provides comprehensive services for single-family homes, plexes, and apartment buildings with up to 75 doors. Our goal is to assist property owners in managing their residential rental properties efficiently and effectively.
- Tenant Acquisition and Management:
- Advertise across industry-leading rental sites
- Conduct thorough tenant screening
- Rent Collection and Financial Reporting:
- Managing the tenant to the terms and conditions of the lease
- Issuing notices
- Managing the eviction process
- Rent Collection and Financial Reporting:
- Collect rent in accordance with lease agreements
- Provide monthly statements and reports to property owners, including income and expense statements, cash flow, and year-end summaries.
- Manage the vacancy turn
- Property Inspections:
- Perform move-in, move-out, and annual inspections to assess the condition of the property and identify any maintenance needs.
- We document the inspections with detailed reports and images (including 360-degree photos) for transparency and record-keeping purposes.
- Maintenance:
- Address day-to-day maintenance issues
- Attend to maintenance emergencies 24/7
- Preventive and safety maintenance (e.g, roof and gutter cleaning, spreading de-icing product)
- Manage the vacancy turn
Frequently Ask Questions for New Owners
Do I Need a Property Manager?
Whether you have just acquired a rental property or have owned one for a while, you might be wondering whether you need a property manager. It’s certainly not rocket science. So, “why can’t I do it?”
It is a reasonable question. Why give cash flow away if you don’t have to?
Before becoming a property manager, I self-managed my personal properties for many years. But, just because you “can” does not mean it is the right or best thing for you to do.
You need to understand the variables. Line up the pros and cons and see what the analysis adds up to.
What are the variables to take into account as you consider whether or not to self-manage your property? It takes some time, patience, the ability to follow rules (i.e., the law), and to lead with your head and not your heart, and finally, keeping your books (aka accounting).
Time: The amount of time self-managing takes depends on how many doors you have. One single family? A duplex? 14-unit apartment building? The things that will take up your time are
- Addressing tenant needs
- Maintenance: Will you do the work or use vendors?
- Finding new tenants
- Book keeping
- Emergencies any time of the day 365 days a year
Obviously, the more doors you own the more of the above you will have to attend to.
Irrespective of how many doors you own, it is important to consider you have the flexibility in your day (seven days a week) to address issues as they arise? You also need to ask yourself if you self-manage, where am I pulling that time from? Family? Your day job? Personal time (that is already in short supply)?
Things will come up with your rental property at the most inconvenient time. Do you have the flexibility during your day if a maintenance emergency pops up? Do you have a partner or significant other who can take those calls when you cannot?
And, then there is vacation! Will you take calls while you are on the beach watching the waves? Do you have someone who can take care of emergencies while you are taking some downtime?
Managing By the Law: Oregon landlord/tenant law is governed by ORS 90. ORS 90 has about 150 sections and what seems like an infinite number of subsections. To minimize your legal exposure, it is important that you manage your property according to ORS 90. All too often, we see the self-managing owner ignore the law. Perhaps they may think it is only relevant to professional PMs. The fact is – anyone managing a rental property is subject to the rules. Ignoring the law can have a significant impact on your wallet.
If you have the time and patience, there are great sources to help you learn the laws. Industry associations offer classes, and there is a lot of online content. You want to ensure you have found a lawyer who specializes in landlord-tenant law before you need one. If you do this long enough, you will need one!
Can you Make the Hard Decisions: Too often, people who self-manage will make tenant-related decisions by their heart and not their head (and per the law). While the intention to help a tenant or work with a tenant is admirable, not doing so using the law as a guideline all too often results in the loss of what can be thousands of dollars.
If you are a rental property owner long enough, there will be times when you have to evict people. That person could be a single mother or someone down on their luck. You may have to evict these people. You need to ask yourself whether you can follow through on this. If you are unable to separate emotion from what should be business-driven decisions, self-managing is probably not a good path for you.
Bookkeeping: For obvious reasons, it is important that you maintain proper accounting records. Letting this slide will impact your ability to get the maximum tax advantages from having a rental property.
If – after reading the above, you still are not sure whether to go it alone or hire someone – don’t hesitate to give us a call. We are happy to address any questions and even provide suggestions if you decide to try self-managing.
Portland Homes & Commercial Properties:
Phone: 503-777-0788
Email: info@portlandhomesllc.com