Here at MARDA Management, we believe that the difference is truly in the management. As a full service property management company, it is our mission to provide affordable and professional property management services to investors and property owners throughout Southwestern Ontario.
We are the largest privately owned property management firm in all of Essex County. We provide a range of services from showing vacant units, screening tenants, fielding tenant concerns, maintenance calls, and we of course collect the rent and forward it to the owner.
Essentially, the tenant comes to us as the landlord and we escalate things to the owner, only if it’s absolutely necessary.(Although we may escalate income approvals to owners, we want our owners to feel confident enough and trust that when they hand over the keys to their investments that they are left in capable hands. As a property management company we want our owner will take care of tenant complaints, maintenance related concerns and our services are all-inclusive, and we’re unique among property management companies in that most companies charge a percentage of revenue plus a placement fee such as one months rent or three-quarters of one months rent ; here at MARDA Management Inc, we just charge a management flat rate fee per unit per month.
Our owners have found this type of pay structure to be the most cost effective available, and it sets us apart from all other competitors in the area.
What are you getting for your money? The best way to look at our property management fee is what it doesn’t include, because it’s only a couple of things.
The first is maintenance: we can certainly fix your toilet or replace a lock and we can do it cost effectively, but it is not included in our monthly management fee.
Secondly, when we screen tenants — we take screening very seriously, because we want to make sure we are going to rent to someone who is going to respect their space and pay their rent on time. We want to ensure your investment is being protected at all times. So when we screen, one of the components of our process is to run credit if they do not pass our initial screening process with our Rentify application. We aren’t necessarily looking for any kind of specific credit score, but rather, we are looking for positive trends. We’re looking to make sure the prospect doesn’t have anything in collections; if they’re using financing options such as National Money mart or Pay Day Loans, those types of things illustrate a greater risk. When we run credit, we charge $20 plus tax — as that’s the fee we pay to run the credit and that is charged back to you, the owner, it’s not part of our monthly management fee.
The last thing that isn’t included in your monthly management fee is our move in / move out inspection. When a new tenant moves in, we do a thorough inspection, including taking several photos that are placed onto a PDF document that is made available to both you, the owner, as well as the tenant that helps depict or illustrate the condition of the home. Any dents or dings, any wear and tear, any recognizable concerns as well as the positive condition of the home. We charge a flat rate to do this of $60 plus tax and we really try to enforce upon the tenant that there is a high expectation that they will respect their space and if any damage or something that exceeds reasonable wear and tear is found at the end of their lease, that they will be expected to pay for it.
On the move-out side, we do a side by side walk through with the resident where we will take the same photo, side by side, and review any conditional changes to the home and anything that is considered damage or that does exceed reasonable wear and tear, which puts the onus on the tenant to then make payment arrangements for damages. We aim to collect on behalf of the owner wherever possible and we want to set the expectation with the prospective tenant that they are going to be held accountable. We charge a flat rate of $75 plus tax for this service. That includes trying to collect from the tenant for up to 3 months of their move out (if they don’t pay on the spot). If efforts to collect for up to three months are unsuccessful, then we send the charges to collections.
One of the major benefits of paying for these extensive move-in and move-out inspections is that tenants tend to be very willing to pay for something in order to part ways positively with their landlord and, in addition, they are very respectful and preventative. Rather than trying to cover up, hide, or haphazardly fix any damages themselves, tenants are more likely to be upfront about any damage so that we can fix it on the front end. Ultimately, this helps us protect your assets.
The only service we offer outside of our typical, inclusive, full-service property management is project management for renovation projects. We charge an 8% project management fee on any project that we need to oversee that exceeds $1,000 in total cost. This allows our firm to oversee basic repairs, maintenance and painting, without charging a project management fee, but also compensates for the necessary coordination and inspections that often come alongside larger projects.
Outside of major maintenance, applications, and move in/move out charges, our monthly management fee really endeavours to be fully inclusive. We understand that as a property owner or investor, there is no action more terrifying than feeling as though you’re handing over the keys to your investment, and just closing your eyes. We value, honour, and appreciate the trust you put in us, as your management company, and it is our mission to not only protect your investment, but to ensure that you’re making a return on your investment.
If you are an investor with property in Southwestern Ontario that needs managing, and want to learn more about our pricing models and fee structure, give us a call today or 519-255-RENT, or email us at info@mardamanagement.com
