Innovative Realty LLC
Property Management Services
We can help manage your Orlando Rental Property
We offer a full range of Orlando property management services tailored to you as an investor, homeowner, or landlord. We have an extensive portfolio with over 600 single family homes, townhouses, condos, and apartments in the Central Florida and Southwest Florida areas.
We are a company that exists to educate and elevate. We start from the inside out – we constantly seek to educate and provide a better life experience for our team, helping them to achieve what they want both personally and professionally, so they can then pass that same experience on to our clients. We seek to educate our owners on the process of owning rental property and prepare them for anything that may come up in the future, while helping them achieve more from their investment home and the rental process.
We have the knowledge to offer a hands-off approach to owners once trust is established, which elevates their investment experience by providing them with more free time to pursue other interests. We seek to educate our residents in how stress-free the rental process should be and give them the best possible experience throughout the term of their tenancy. We seek to educate our peers by providing leadership, guidance and training to others in our field and helping them be great property managers or sales agents.
Comprehensive Rental Analysis
Pricing your home correctly is one of the most important parts of the management process. Price a home too high and risk it sitting on the market for weeks or even months. Conversely, if you price your home too low, you are missing out on additional rental income. Our team reviews the most recent rental rates to determine the optimal price to maximize rental income while minimizing the time your home spends vacant. This research and analysis ensure our homeowners earn the highest return on investment.
How we price your home:
- Review the subject home’s current condition and features
- Research other similar homes that have recently rented
- Analyze the average “Days on Market” of similar homes
- Compare recently rented homes to the subject home
- Adjust for condition, features, or amenities
- Determine a final listing price
Advertising & Marketing Your Rental
After the home is priced correctly, we’ll analyze the interior and make recommendations for possible repairs or upgrades, then take marketing photos and record a video tour. The listing is then updated and posted to hundreds of syndicated advertising sites including MLS, Zillow, Trulia, Hot Pads, Rentals.com, Homes.com, and many more!
How we get your property occupied quickly:
- Use a self-guided showing system that prospects rave about – it lets them view the home at their convenience, even when our office is closed.
- Track all showings and traffic on the home daily
- Follow-up with all prospects and send them an application link the morning after their appointment
- Pull reports from listing sites and compile along with feedback, number of showings, and recommendations for listing revisions in an email to the owner every Monday.
Extensive Resident Screening
Qualifying applicants for your home is crucial – with an extensive screening process, we’re more likely to filter out those that aren’t qualified or those that may be poor residents. We have a lengthy process of items we review for each applicant, and have a very low late rental rate and a nearly non-existent eviction history.
What we check during the screening process:
- All adults over the age of 18 that will be living in the home are required to submit an application.
- Run a comprehensive check of each applicant’s credit history, rental history, and criminal/civil background to include any evictions filed.
- Confirm their income and employment information
- Verify their rental history with their two most recent landlords/property managers
- Request a higher deposit or a co-signer if all qualifications aren’t fully met – owners are involved in this process and the final decision making for conditional applicants.
Property Inspections
Move-in & Move-out Inspections
We conduct very detailed and thorough inspections prior to handing over the keys – this helps to ensure we have full records of the condition of the property as of the date it was turned over to the tenant, and also serves to provide us with sufficient evidence should we need to make a claim against the resident’s security deposit.
What our move-in and move-out inspection process is like:
- Exterior photos – every angle from the outside of the home including as much of the roof as possible and the front and back yards, if applicable.
- Interior photos – photos of every room from all angles, including every wall, the floor, the ceiling, and inside all closets or cabinets. Also includes photos of each fixture, interior of appliances, manufacturer’s label of all appliances, and close up of any cosmetic deficiencies.
- Video – a video of the exterior and interior of the home, with the property manager vocalizing pre-existing cosmetic deficiencies for the record. The photos are used in conjunction with the video to provide detail of each deficiency noted.
- Inspections generally take about three hours to perform, depending on the size of the home.
Periodic Inspections
It’s very important to have eyes on and in the property on a regular basis – this ensures the property is being kept in good condition and that there are no leaks that the residents may have missed.
Here’s our periodic inspection process:
- An annual interior inspection is scheduled about 90 days prior to the lease end date. This allows us to view the property before offering a lease renewal to the residents.
- During the inspection, we’ll examine under all sinks, take a look at the smoke detectors and the A/C filter, assess the overall condition of the property, and note any maintenance we think may be needed.
- Should any lease or HOA violations come up during the course of the lease, we will schedule additional inspections as needed.
- We also make it a point to do exterior inspections on a regular basis – if we’re visiting another property in the area, we’ll drive by any surrounding rentals in the area to ensure the grass is being cut and the home looks to be in good shape.
Preparation & Execution of Leases
Our original lease agreement is drafted by an attorney, and checked periodically to ensure it is compliant with all Florida Landlord-Tenant Law policies and any recent policy changes. It’s very important to have a strong lease that protects all parties from harm.
Some highlights of our lease:
- Rent is always due on the first of every month, with no grace period.
- Residents are responsible for light bulbs, drip pans, A/C filter, water filters, pest control, and smoke alarm batteries, as well as any damage they may cause during occupancy.
- Owners are responsible for standard repairs to all major systems, including HVAC, appliances, plumbing, electrical, and roofing. Owners are not responsible for repairs needed due to resident negligence.
- Any items the owner doesn’t want to repair can be excluded from the lease (if acceptable per Florida law).
Lease Renewals
The largest expense a property owner can incur is a vacant unit, and our efforts to renew the lease start before we even find the tenant! In fact, it begins with the first contact the potential applicant has with our office. We maintain easy-to-use but highly sophisticated systems to make viewing and applying for our vacant properties as easy as possible. We always answer the phone and return calls, and make sure to start off with all residents on the right foot. We’re proud to say our average rate of renewal is over 80%, well above the industry standard!
What else do we do to increase the chances of renewal?
- Provide friendly, quick responses to showing requests, and an easy-to-navigate self-guided showing system to inconvenience prospects as little as possible.
- Process applications, issue results, and sign the lease with approved applicants as quickly as possible.
- Make sure the home is in perfect condition before handing over the keys (it’s a great first impression!)
- Provide exceptional service and a positive experience each time we interact with the resident.
- Handle maintenance requests quickly, and ensure our vendors complete the work timely.
- Provide convenient systems for residents to pay rent, submit maintenance, view their lease agreement, and update contact information whenever needed.
- Send Happy Birthday emails to all residents on their birthday.
- Beginning requesting the renewal three full months before the lease is subject to expire – acting early often results in a higher likelihood of renewal.
Rent Collection
Our system is set up to make paying rent as easy as possible for our residents – the harder the system is to navigate, the more likely you are to get late rent payments! Our residents have access to a Resident Portal, similar to the Owner Portal, where they can pay rent, review their ledger and upcoming payment amounts, set up automatic payments, and much more.
What happens after rent is received:
- Rent is applied immediately to the resident’s ledger and the property account.
- Bank of America processes the funds and will notify us as soon as possible if the payment is rejected for any reason.
- For late rental payments, we follow up on a daily basis to ensure residents remit payment as soon as possible, and work with them to set up payment plans.
- To ensure the bank has enough time to fully process and release the rental funds, owners are paid monthly between the 10th and the 12th (depending which day of the week that falls on).
- We even have a second regularly scheduled owner direct deposit between the 20th and 22nd of every month, to capture any rental funds that were not received before the first deposit was initiated.
Full-service Maintenance Coordination
Residents can submit maintenance requests online at any time, which are automatically populated into our management software and flagged for review. Vendors are sent links to view the work order, and often schedule with the residents that same day. Our dedicated Maintenance Coordinator reviews each work order and coordinates between the vendors, the Residents, and if necessary the owners to ensure each work request is completed to everyone’s satisfaction.
Why full-service maintenance is important:
- It prolongs the life of your property and its systems – regular maintenance is crucial to keeping your investment in the best condition possible and will result in higher rents over time.
- Residents can submit maintenance requests online at any time through our Maintenance Portal, which are automatically flagged for review. Residents can communicate with management and vendors, pick repair times, instantly schedule with the assigned vendor, provide photos and feedback, and more! Owners receive email notifications with work is scheduled and completed at their rental properties so they remain fully in the loop at all times.
- We have extensive knowledge of the home and repairs completed, should you need copies of invoices for your records.
24-hour On-call Management
Plumbing leak at 2:00am? A/C goes out on a Saturday morning? We’re on it! We have an emergency phone line that will route to the agent on call at any time of day. While not everything is an emergency, some things certainly are and we promise to be available whenever there’s a problem that could result in property damage if not handled quickly.
How do we provide 24-Hour emergency service?
- Provide residents with an easy way to get in touch with us during non-business hours.
- Answer every call to our emergency line, no matter the hour. Sometimes the calls are for items that aren’t emergencies, in which case we’ll let the residents know we’ll handle it first thing the next business day to avoid the higher after-hours rates from the vendors.
- Maintain good relationships with trusted vendors who also provide on-call service after-hours and on the weekends.
- Utilize sophisticated systems that allow for easy off-site coordination between the residents and the vendors, to ensure all required emergencies are handled immediately.
Financials
Monthly Statements & Year-End Reporting
If there’s one thing we pride ourselves on, it’s excellent communication. Our industry is unfortunately known for poor reporting systems and we guarantee that is not the case with our company. Owners will always receive their monthly statements on time, and their annual statements within the first week of January.
What are our standards for statements and yearly reporting?
- Our systems are set up to ensure owners receive their monthly statement and their rental funds, without fail, between the 10th and 12th of every month.
- Unlike many companies, we even have a secondary direct deposit between the 20th and 22nd to allow for payment of any additional funds remitted after the 12th.
- All monthly statements are stored in the Owner Portal and available for review and download at any time.
- IRS-required 1099 statements and the corresponding cash flow statements are processed and posted to the Owner Portal the first week of January – sometimes as early as January 3rd!
Financial Control & Protections
The financial and legal safety, security and peace of mind that proper accounting and financial controls provide to both the owner and tenant are foundational to the successful management and operation of any property management company. These controls, along with the proper type and quantity of insurance, form the basis of sound management and offer all involved the surety that each parties interests are protected and all possible steps taken to mitigate any issues.
How do we protect you?
- Treasury management and Positive Pay through CashPro with Bank of America – our unique system guarantees that every penny is accounted for and not a single one leaves our account with pre-authorization.
- General Liability and Errors & Omissions insurance coverage
- Bi-directional reconciliations between our escrow accounts and our management software, so all transactions are transparent.
Discover Orlando
Orlando is nicknamed “The City Beautiful” and its symbol is the fountain at Lake Eola. Orlando is also known as “The Theme Park Capital of the World” and its tourist attractions draw more than 51 million tourists a year, including 3.6 million international guests. The Orlando International Airport (MCO) is the thirteenth busiest airport in the United States and the 29th busiest in the world. Buddy Dyer is Orlando’s mayor.
As the most visited American city in 2009, Orlando’s famous attractions form the backbone of its tourism industry: Walt Disney World Resort, located approximately 21 miles (34 km) southwest of Downtown Orlando in Lake Buena Vista, opened by the Walt Disney Company in 1971; the Universal Orlando Resort, which consists of the two parks of Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure; City Walk; SeaWorld; Gatorland; and Wet ‘n Wild Water Park. With the exception of Walt Disney World, most major attractions are located along International Drive. The city is also one of the busiest American cities for conferences and conventions.
Like other major cities in the Sun Belt, Orlando grew rapidly during the 1980s and into the first decade of the 21st century. Orlando is home to the University of Central Florida, which is the second-largest university campus in the United States in terms of enrollment as of 2012. In 2010, Orlando was listed as a “Gamma−” level of world-city in the World Cities Study Group’s inventory. Orlando ranks as the fourth most popular American city based on where people want to live according to a 2009 Pew Research Center study.