Company Description

At FM Investment Group we know that every property is different, so we'll start by developing a plan that addresses your individual needs. Here is a summary of the services we will provide for you:

• Determine the market rental rate for your property, taking into consideration not only the condition of the property and the amenities, but also the market conditions.
• Aggressively marketing your property to insure maximum exposure and rental rate.
• Extensive screening of prospective tenants.
• Rent collection on the first of the month.
• Deposit your money directly into your bank account.
• Monthly and yearly reports to make your year end tax preparation easy. Soon your report will be viewable through a secure web site.
• Tenants are provided an after-hours phone number so they may contact a FM employee at any time in an emergency.
• A network of reputable contractors that insure low cost repair and maintenance.

Market Rental Rate

We determine the Market Rental Rate by comparing your property to those currently on the market for lease and those that have leased recently. The comparisons are based on homes of similar size, location, configuration, amenities, desirability of school system, etc. as they are listed in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Another important factor we consider; how long are properties staying on the market before they lease? It is important to price your property correctly in the beginning to avoid long periods of vacancy. Remember, it is not just how much we lease your property for, but how quickly!

Screening Tenants

Extensive Screening of prospective tenants is conducted through an outside firm that specializes in screening tenants for professional property management companies. While abiding with all Fair Housing Laws they apply our qualifying criteria fairly to all applicants checking out the following information and reporting back to us in writing.

• Rental History: Present & Past.
• Employment History: Present & Previous.
• Credit History: Balance on all accounts, Number of accounts, Paid off accounts, Past due accounts, Current accounts, Accounts placed for collection & Charged off accounts.
• Public Records: Evictions, Criminal history, Judgments, Tax liens, Foreclosure, Reposition, Bankruptcies.

In order to avoid a conflict of interest, we utilize the specialized screening service. We are billed the same whether the tenant passes or fails the screening. Once we have the tenant profile, we contact you and inform you of the tenants’ offer, the information provided by the screening company and our recommendation. You always make the final determination in accepting or rejecting the tenant.

Rent Collection

Collection Policy

Our rent collection policy is fair, reasonable and based on treating all tenants with respect. We stress clear communication from the start and provide red mailing labels to make it as easy as possible for our tenants to get their rent to us by the due date.  

1. Rent is due on or before the 1st of each and every month.
2. Rent not received on or before the 5th is considered late.
3. Late fees are charged on rent not received on the 5th.
4. Late rent reminders and bills for late fees are mailed on the 6th.
5. Tenants are called on the 6th.
6. Failure to Pay notices are mailed on the 10th.
7. Evictions are filed on the morning of the 16th.
8. Court hearings are generally set on the 15th or 16th.
9. Tenant must move within seven days if rent and all late fees are not paid in full prior to the court date.
10. A collection service is used to collect any money owed by previous tenant.

With our strong stream of communication, we seldom evict a tenant approved for one of our managed properties, but we receive a lot of calls from property owners saying "my tenant has not paid rent… can you help me?" If the property meets our standards, we can and we do.

The vast majority of our tenants pay their rent on time and count on our positive reference when they relocate or purchase their own home.

Repair and Maintenance

The repair and maintenance of your property is another area in which FM excels. Clear and precise communication is the key. In our management agreement, you, the property owner set our “authority level” when it comes to general repairs. Tenants notify our staff by phone, fax and e-mail when a repair is requested. The form and e-mail can be relayed to you so you will have first hand knowledge of the repair requested. If you don’t use e-mail we will call or fax you to keep you informed.

We have a stable of great service vendors that provide quality service for reasonable rates. For most of our vendors, FM is one of their largest accounts and they know we pay our bills on time. They also know we expect quality workmanship, and a fair price, commensurate with the volume of work we have available to them. They treat our Residents with respect and repair the problem correctly the first time.

All our service providers are indepentant contractors; therefore there is no conflict of interest. We work for you, the property owner, and we don’t mark-up or charge an extra service fee for general repairs and maintenance.

Additionally, we provide a form so you can let us know if there is a service provider you prefer to use on your property or if warranties are currently in place on certain items.

Because we purchase in large volume, we receive great prices on new appliances and carpet and we pass those savings on to our owners.