RentWise Property Management

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Top Reasons Why Real Estate Agents Should Partner with Property Managers

Why should real estate agents partner with property managers? 

 

We get questions like: ” Why wouldn’t an agent just want to do the property management themselves, and it just becomes another stream of revenue for them?”  There isn’t a short answer to that. Agents can do it themselves, but you will find many real estate agents don’t want to. Working with property management companies like RentWise Property Management in Idaho’s Treasure Valley area makes life for real estate agents easier. Real Estate agents find that partnering with property managers saves them time, money, and many headaches. If you are a real estate agent, you will find that working with a property management company might be what you are looking for. Here are just our top reasons you should partner with a company like RentWise, especially in Boise, Idaho, and the surrounding area. 

 

Increase your Customer Experience

As a real estate agent, you might feel like one fish in a vast sea, which can be pretty intimidating. You want to be known as the real estate agent to use. The agent that goes above and beyond even when it’s not your area of expertise. There’s nothing like receiving the best customer experience because you want to tell people about it when that happens. You want to share that business with your friends and family. Word of mouth is an incredible tool for a company. When you work with RentWise Property Management, we handle all the heavy lifting for you and your client. From picking up the keys, switching utilities, walk-thru punch list, and estimate coordination, we take care of it all. Therefore, giving you back the time to service more clients and leads us to our next reason. 

 

Increase your revenue and time:

You will find most real estate agents that aren’t partnering with property management companies are wasting a lot of time managing properties instead of building your real estate business. Many tasks come with property management; you have to deal with maintenance, rent collection, background checks, and applications coming in. Imagine getting that time back and investing it into showing homes currently on the market or increasing your leads. 

When you lose out on time like this, you also lose revenue. Real Estate Agents also have the potential to increase their income through partner programs. Partner programs like ours at RentWise encourages real estate agents not only to refer us their clients, but we promise to send them right back to you when they are ready to sell or purchase more properties. We also guarantee our agents a paycheck when their client signs a 12-month rental agreement.

 

Our personal goal at RentWise Property Management is to make you look good. Real Estate Agents have always been a large referral source. Contact us today, and let us show you how we create “Less Hassel, More Happy.”

 

 

Assistance Animal Documentation

Are you concerned about a potential or current tenant giving you false assistance animal documentation? Yes, we were to for a while. The number of letters and notes we have received over the years from both legitimate and not so legitimate sources has skyrocketed in the last few years.

How can you know when an assistance animal letter is truly legitimate?

Well, thanks to a recent investigation led by HUD with the help of NARPM members and several lobbyists in our industry, websites that sell assistance animal documentation are under a microscope. While there is no “quick fix” to this epidemic of false documentation it certainly helps to weed out a tremendous amount of potentially false documents that can be purchased across the internet leaving property managers to sift through the legitimacy of the documentation while also being able to identify a tenant with a true need for an assistance animal.

What can you do to protect your investment?

Here is a list of items you can request from a current or potential tenant when it comes to assistance animals and/or pets.

  • Letter from a medical professional or a person in a position to know, dated within the last 12 months.
  • Verification that the animal is current on all shots/vaccinations.
  • Verification that the animal is licensed in accordance with city or state law.
  • You can ask; what service does the animal perform? (It is illegal to ask what the persons disability is.)

Here at RentWise, we use a third-party screening company called petscreening.com to verify assistance animals and/or pets. They gather all the proper documentation and ask the questions allowed by the ADA. It is a free service for anyone who has an assistance animal and a minimal cost to anyone who has pets.

If you are interested in reading more about this investigation we have provided the press release link below.

https://www.hud.gov/press/press_releases_media_advisories/HUD_No_19_162 

Would you like to learn more about our services and how owning a rental property can be LESS HASSLE, MORE HAPPY? Visit our website at www.RentWisePM.com or call us at 208-949-3083.

Why is my property manager sending me a 1099?

Why is my property manager sending me a 1099 form? This is a question we get from time to time and while not everyone agrees on the same answer it is, in fact, a necessary evil. At least for now.

 

Rental income reporting.

We know that no one really likes “tax time” and certainly not having to claim more income than they have to because it means owing the IRS more at times. Even so, it is income that must be reported somehow, to someone right? Oh, we wish it was that simple too but in the years spanning from 2010 and 2012, the verbiage used by Congress has made this issue even more controversial. Owning a rental property is considered a business in the eyes of the IRS. Or is it? This is the line that has yet to 100% be defined by Congress.

What is a 1099 MISC form?

To report rental income we provide our clients with a 1099 MISC form provided by the IRS. The purpose of this form is to report any rental income in excess of $600 in a year. However, it is still up for debate whether owning a rental is considered a “business” because owning a business implies that you are doing something for profit. What if this has no profit just yet? Well, there lays the gray line. Forbes published a great article written by a nationally recognized tax professional that explains in-depth the confusion behind the argument about reporting rental income. You can read the full article here.

In the end, we, as a business are required to report the rental income we collect on a client’s behalf.  We recommend talking with your accountant about how this form is used.

Have questions about our services or want to learn more about how to own an investment with LESS HASSLE. MORE HAPPY? Visit our website at www.RentWisePM.com or give us a call at 208-949-3083.

What is a Reasonable Accommodation Request

What is a reasonable accommodation request? By definition, under the Fair Housing Act, the housing provider is responsible for the costs associated with a reasonable accommodation unless it is an undue financial and administrative burden, while the tenant or someone acting on the tenant’s behalf, is responsible for costs associated with a reasonable modification.

What does this mean for you as an investor?

It means that to be in compliance with ADA we must consider any and all requests for modifications or accommodations to a premises that a tenant makes either before or during their tenancy. Such as a ramp, safety bars, change in administrative accommodations or other physical modifications to a property.

Who pays for the modification?

This depends on the request. Typically a homeowner would pay for a physical modification UNLESS it would be deemed an undue financial burden. For example: A disabled applicant in a wheelchair wants to rent a particular home due to it’s location to his medical providers, he will need ramps installed at least one doorway for access to the home. The owner of the property would be responsible for that cost. Another example, a current tenant had a medical issue during tenancy that requires additional support rails installed in the bathroom.

What do you do if you receive a request for a reasonable accommodation or modification?

This answer is not just black or white. There are several factors to be considered and each request needs to be reviewed carefully. Our recommendation is to speak with either your attorney or your property manager. You can review more information and guidelines on this by clicking here.

If you are interested in learning more about our services. Please visit our website at www.RentWisePM.com. Ready to start living with LESS HASSLE? MORE HAPPY! give us a call today 208-949-3083

A Happy New Year and a Wonderful Christmas is upon us….

We want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and the Happiest New Year yet. As we reflect on how lucky we are to do what we do we wanted to share our immense gratitude for your business and your trust. We believe that integrity, honesty, and respect are the core values in any relationship and we strive to meet those expectations at every opportunity we get. We know that when it comes to property management you have choices. We appreciate you choosing us to serve you which allows us in turn to serve our community. We hope this holiday season is filled with laughter and love and we are excited about what’s to come in 2020!

Want to learn more about our services and how owning an investment property can be LESS HASSLE and MORE HAPPY? www.RentWisepm.comhttp://www.rentwisepm.com

Holiday shopping that gives back, yes please!

I don’t know about you but holiday shopping always kind of sneaks up on me and then it’s time to either jump online for some amazon prime shopping or head to the dreaded storefronts for that perfect gift. But what if holiday shopping had an extra bonus of giving back! I mean why not? You are most likely going to give gifts, what if they had an even bigger purpose? That seems like a win-win to me!

I have a very big family so it can be a little overwhelming to try to find something for each member so this year I did something a little different. I decided to gift everyone something that would hopefully not only bring a smile to their face but potentially a whole lot more faces.

Holiday gifts that actually give back!

I’m sure there are a ton of great non-profits out there but I found a few really amazing companies that I thought deserved mentioning as their missions align with my core values as a person and as a company. As we all know, every little bit counts and I encourage you to check these companies out year-round and not just at holiday time.

The first company is called Ten Thousand Villages – you can read more about their mission here. In part, they are asking that we as a population, “shop with intention”. I could not love that any more than I already do! Their products are handmade and specifically designed for unique gift-giving. I purchased little handmade terracotta “good luck pigs” that are handmade in Chili by a mother and daughter. When they arrived I unwrapped them to find each one every so slightly different in design. If you want to purchase these as well, click here.  There are a plethora of options to choose from so you just can’t go wrong.

The second company I stumbled upon is called Project 7 – more about their mission and purpose can be found here. They focus on 7 basic needs worldside. Hunger, environment, homelessness, clean water, education, health and peace and they literally put money were their mouth is by selling gourmet chewing gum! I always put a little candy or gum in my stockings so this was perfect! I bought a variety pack so I could sample some of them and it is awesome! It also comes in adorable packages that are easy to transport.

The third company I purchased products from is called Happy Day Brands and was in part started in an effort to feed the hungry. More about their good works can be found here. I was so extra excited about this one because it was founded right here in Boise, Idaho so those profits truly go back into my community and that makes me very happy. They sell coffee, superfood mixes, chocolate, oatmeal and more. I purchased the oatmeal and while I haven’t personally tried it I have a feeling that it will be delicious after I read the list of organic ingredients they use.

I plan to place all these items in a cute little dollar store gift box and BAM – a holiday gift worth giving (back)!

If you are ever in need of a gift-giving idea or you have questions about the services we provide please reach out! We would love to get to know you and show you how owning an investment property can be LESS HASSLE, MORE HAPPY! RentWise Property Management.