Nov 21, 2013

Time To Spruce Up Your Yards!



 Landscaping can be one of the hardest things for a tenant to maintain, although it is easy to do. By spending twenty minutes a week on landscaping, you can dramatically change the look of your home.
          Just mowing your grass can freshen up and add some curb appeal; just yank that pull-cord, blow on your hands to keep warm and get started (often the hardest part!).
          Looking at your mowed lawn, you might think that your place looks good. But wait! You’re not finished yet! Your flowerbeds demand attention, too!
          What your flowerbeds need the most is ten minutes of weed killing, whether that be by pulling or spraying. Both get the job done, but pulling them sure makes it look nice a lot sooner.
 Another thing that you can do is weed-whacking. It might be a dirty and boring job, but you can chop down a lot of weeds in such a short amount of time.
          Around October the trees on your property start dropping leaves, the same ones you had enjoyed for shade. Picking up leaves isn’t the most gratifying work, but raking them out of the flowerbeds and blowing them off the driveway does sharpen things up quite a bit. The nice thing about leaves is that once the tree is finished dropping them, you’re finished cleaning up after them for the year.
          Following this regimen once a week, or even twice a month, is all your yard needs to look great.      

This has been a guest post from Empire's Chief Landscaper, Timothy Waggoner

Sep 6, 2013

Tenant Screening

One of the secrets to Empire's success has been our great tenants.  We have taken care to set our screening guidelines high, and to maintain this level even when the property is sitting vacant. To screen tenants thoroughly, you must perform the following checks at a minimum:
  • credit check
  • criminal background check
  • employment/ income verification
  • rental history check
  • eviction cross check
  •  reference check
The application can be denied at anytime during the screening process, but do not approve an application until you are satisfied that this is the tenant you want living in possibly your biggest investment. Empire Property Management LLC has a wide variety of services. Call or email for details.

Jul 30, 2013

Setting Rental Rates

Rentometer_example     Setting rental rates can be a challenge. We know that the best tenants are usually very price conscious, and are looking to get the best mileage for their rental dollar. However, nothing comes without a price in this world and to deliver the service that quality tenants demand, you must charge as much as you can get. This has been the landlord's dilemma.  If you charge too little, there will not be enough in the budget to maintain the building. Charge too much and the property sits vacant. There are a lot of websites that claim to have your rental rate solution through their secret formula, but anyone who has been in the business knows that there is no substitute for experience. Tenants make decisions based on their personal housing needs, and your needs are not their needs. Rental rates are an important factor in a well run investment. Empire Property Management has been listening to the needs of their tenants and owners for almost 15 years. If you would like to set your rental rates or re-evaluate the rates you have, call James 541-913-8451.

Mar 4, 2013

Maintenance and Inspections

Maintenance and Inspections


The heart of our success is customer service, and no management company can effectively oversee their properties without knowing the details.  Even though inspections are a tremendous amount of work, and an occasional inconvenience to our tenants, we cannot effectively serve either our owners or tenants without seeing the property and hearing from each how we can serve them better. At  Empire we drive by every property once per month. This give us a surface idea of what is going on. We notice illegal tenants, pets, vehicles, and if the lawn is not being taken care of. Furthermore, we inspect the entire property 1-2 times per year. This is an in-depth inspection revealing many problems that are otherwise overlooked. Deferring the repairs will only mean disgruntled tenants and more turnover which results in lost revenues for our owners.   Over the next few months Empire will be conducting inspections and the maintenance that follows. If you want to experience just how great our management system is call or email for details.