- Sanitizing Homes – once a home is vacant and the make ready process has been completed, the final step is cleaning the home. After our normal “high-clean” is completed, all hard surfaces such as door handles, cabinet and appliance handles, counter tops, appliances, inside and outside of refrigerators are all being sanitized using disinfectant cleaners.
- Virtual Tours – our professional photographer has offered a Virtual Tour package at a reduced rate to get our homes out to any and all who wish to view it safely from the comfort of their own homes.
- Move-Ins – all our rental move-ins are being handled remotely using DocuSign for all documents, and electronic transfer of move-in funds to our company or the use of a drop slot in our office to drop off funds. Once all paperwork is completed and all funds have been received, the new tenant is given the code to the combination lock box on the front door of the home. Once the keys have been removed by the tenant, one of our property managers removes the combination lock box, cleans the lock box with disinfectant cleaner, and the move-in is complete.
- Handling Repairs – all of our tenants are set up on our Tenant Portal and can submit work order to us 24 hours per day. Only truly essential work orders are being handled at this time to reduce the number of contractors/vendors entering the homes during this pandemic.
- Handling Emergency Repairs – our live answering service is still fully operational during this Covid-19 period and handles all emergency calls 24/7. Once a call is determined to be a true emergency, one of our property managers is called to handle the situation by getting one of our contractors or vendors to the property to stop any damage that may be happening and fix the issue.
- Sales – We handle tenant occupied home sales as well as vacant home sales. When a home is tenant occupied, we list the home for sale, but do not allow showings until and unless the seller receives a fully written offer on the home subject to the buyer’s initial walk through and acceptance of the home within 7 days. This only allows serious investor buyers to be able to view the home. Once an offer is accepted by the seller, a walk-through appointment is made between the buyer and the current tenant. This protocol of selling tenant occupied homes has been very successful and it is a way to keep to a minimum how many times the tenant is disturbed. The tenants greatly appreciate this process, they get an opportunity to meet the buyer/investor, and the buyer investors truly understand the need to this way of doing things.
- Service to Our Current Clients – the service to our current clients has not changed at all during this pandemic. All of our staff members have been working from home very easily. The majority of our business is very electronic so the majority of our duties can be completed from anywhere there is an internet connection.
- Walk-Throughs – during the pandemic, all occupied periodic walkthroughs have been postponed until this crisis is over. Move-out walkthroughs are completed 6 days after a tenant moves out. It has been reported that the Covid-19 Virus can survive on hard surfaces for as long as 5 days. On the 6th day, the move-out walkthrough is completed using masks, gloves, and footwear protection for each home. Once that home has been walked, gloves and footwear protection will be disposed of properly.
- Closed Self-Showings – Allowing self-showings to the public is setting up a home for a disaster. It is our job to protect our client’s investment to the fullest degree. The recent self-showing craze presents an opportunity for vandalism and theft of appliances and/or fixtures in a home and would be unchecked and unsupervised. It is our company’s policy to never allow self-showings of our properties and never allowing any prospects in the home without direct supervision of a licensed Realtor. The use of Virtual Tours allows for any member of the public to view the home without putting the home in the hands of the wrong people completely unsupervised.
- OUR PROMISE – It is our promise to you that after 30 years of this company serving the Greater Houston Area, we will be right here through this pandemic to assist all property owners with their properties. As we are working from home we are still very much present and ready to assist!
By Sandra Ferguson Friday, May 8, 2020
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