Overview and Understanding the Property Manager Role for MoveZen Residents
We don't own these homes. Our primary function and goal is to bring owners and residents together for low-hassle solutions.
We are your advocate, we are not the decision maker, the source of your trouble in most cases, or the one scolding you when an HOA notice comes in. We are a property management company that is authorized by owners to perform limited services for them. We are contractually limited in our ability to approve maintenance that might exceed $350 in most cases. Our worth to you comes in the form of our training and ability to convince owners to follow our "great profitability through resident satisfaction model." We invest heavily in this goal, and it's well documented. In the name of fairness and impartiality we try to keep things friendly but clinical, and to be empathetic not sympathetic. We have very little real control. We are essentially mediators who are hopefully skilled at bringing two groups together with sometimes opposing priorities. If we do a good job, are on top of things, and the owner doesn't start to feel that we're unfairly prioritizing your needs over theirs (never a winning strategy in this relationship), we can often make great things happen. Some owners obviously are a lot better than others. Our company is very good about dropping the worst ones fast, but sometimes we need one lease to find that out. When this happens we work hard to keep you protected and treated fairly. It's a risk if you rent directly also and you would not have a seasoned professional as your advocate. In our case you are usually getting a heavily vetted landlord.
We are Bound by the State Laws Where we Operate
The three states where we operate are extremely landlord friendly. We've maintained a great reputation among the renter community for many years despite that, but the fact does sometimes leave us lacking the options that our residents adamantly want to see. We don't break the law, and we don't let owners break the law. However there is a ton of grey area in our business. In a landlord friendly state it rarely moves in favor of the resident. So regardless of what our feelings and emotions are for a given situation, we are bound to follow the owners' demands unless it's obvious those demands are at least questionable in the eyes of a landlord friendly state.
Some maintenance mistakes can be attributed to our team, but in the vast majority of cases it is either that the owner is micro-managing what we can do, being bad landlords who will usually get dropped from our program before long, or our vendors are struggling to deliver. We also invest heavily in, and build strong long-term relationships with our vendors. Particularly post 2020 though consistently excellent service seems impossible to find.
We have parted ways with thousands of owners over our 18 year history. Most of the ones we work with are the best in the business.
Vendors are tough to deal with. They tend to be good with their hands, not always with administration and people. They also sometimes take on jobs that they should have passed up due to expertise. It's human nature that's impossible to elminate. Often they are owner vendors and we have little control over the quality. They are private contractors and everyday people, so they make mistakes at times. Regardless of size, both single operators and national companies always bring headaches at times. In general we prefer to avoid the national companies.
Know Your Lease Terms Before Signing. Pest Treatment is Rarely Ever Included
Sorry, in most cases your lease does not include pest treatment from bats to mice to wasps to snakes, to water bugs (and worse) and you will be responsible. We do have exceptional tips for dealing with some of these issues yourself (see What You Can Learn to Keep Bugs at Bay from 20 Years of Experience Managing Properties). If you find an obvious problem shortly after move in (obvious is a very subjective issue in a landlord friendly state) it would typically be the landlords responsibility. It would need to be clear by the time you return your 10 day move in inspection for us to have strong leverage.
Ground floor and older homes tend to have issues no matter where you rent or own. Heavily wooded older homes are sure to bring pest challenges down here in the south. You are agreeing to keep them at bay knowing that older homes will have crooked door frames, and small entry points that we may not be able to aggressively address. In most cases the problems can be easily handled on a budget, but they can never be ignored. The Lowes pest aisle is usually very effective with a little research.
If you are enrolled in the resident benefits program our company, not the owner does provide limited pest support service. (see Resident Benefits)
We Don't Get Involved in HOA Disputes
When you rent a home with an HOA you take the good with the bad. Most are well aware that homeowners associations pose risks to your enjoyment of the property. Please don't blame us as this is the warning. We don't have any control over HOA's and do not get involved in those disputes. They won't talk to us much anyway. You would need to contact them to make an argument, not us. We pass along notices. We don't levy fines ourselves. The lease is clear that they must be paid and failing to do so would be a breach of the lease. Some owners do get unnecessarily upset and can be a pain about this process but we are just passing along the information. That is the extent of our involvement with HOA issues or every kind. Most of the time, you address the issues listed and the problem is water under the bridge. We train our team to let owners know that this happens all the time and is rarely more than a single notice issue.
Plumbing Issues are a Major Risk for Residents in Our State
Standard clogs are not covered. Clogged disposals are not covered. Occasionally a home has roots in the plumbing, 100+ year old pipes, and other issues a professional might cite as legal justification for us to force the owner to cover the costs, but this is very rare and requires their written report. If we don't have evidence of an outside cause, clogs are almost always resident responsibility per the leases used in our state. Plumbing repairs usually carry a risk of being your charge, and therefore you should be very careful about demanding emergency service if there is any other option. Emergency plumbing repairs are shockingly expensive and usually at least $250 an hour with a $250 minimum charge even if the repair takes 5 minutes (ie shutting off the water).
We have an amazing relationship with most of our owners and residents. It's a major goal because it makes our jobs much more enjoyable. We appreciate our amazing customers immensely.
These are common issues that seem to catch residents by surprise so we wanted to highlight them clearly and often in the hopes of making your interactions with us more enjoyable and productive.