This month, we’re kicking off a four-week series walking through the property management cycle and how things work behind the scenes at Sloane Realty. We’ve been getting a lot of great questions lately, and it seemed like the perfect nudge to get ahead of them — so consider this our attempt to put your mind at ease by answering some of the most common ones before you even have to ask. Pull up a chair, maybe grab a coffee — our team has definitely been devoted to our caffeine intake this week!
Week one is always one of the busiest stretches of the month for property management companies, and we’re no exception.
Tenants who move out at the end of the previous month leave behind properties that need our full attention. Our team conducts a thorough inspection of the property’s move-out condition and verifies the return of key fobs, mailbox keys, access cards, and remotes. From there, we send out work orders for any turnover maintenance, gather estimates for larger repair jobs, and begin moving new tenants into properties where leases are starting. Although move-ins happen throughout the month, the first week is when the bulk of our turnover work orders and move-out inspections take center stage.
This is also when the rent collection process begins. By the fifth of the month, all rent should be paid in full. If it isn’t, we start following up with tenants to understand the situation and get a clear picture of when payment can be expected. Each delinquent account is monitored daily until the balance has been paid.
On the renewals front, we reach out to owners and tenants whose leases are set to expire within the next 90 days to see if they have plans that do not include renewing the lease, and we begin running comps to establish appropriate new rental rates for the upcoming term.
In short: week one is where the previous month wraps up and the new one takes shape — inspections close out old leases, rent collection gets underway, and renewal conversations start early enough to keep everyone informed well ahead of any lease expiration. It’s a lot of moving parts, but that’s exactly why we have developed detailed processes to keep everyone on track. Stay tuned for next week, when we’ll walk through what happens as the month moves into its second stretch!
