Management Services

Who We Are

Empire Properties, Inc. is Tallahassee’s fastest growing full-service real estate sales & property management company. It is locally owned and operated by Michelle Render. Michelle is a licensed real estate Broker with extensive experience in the acquisition and management of investment properties in Tallahassee and the surrounding areas. As a property owner herself she has a true understanding of what it means to properly preserve and enhance your real estate investment.

An emphasis is placed on specialized customer service. Management and maintenance programs are customized to suit each client’s needs. These may vary from servicing immediate maintenance items to providing long-term preventative maintenance plans along with complete budgeting & accounting.

Empire improves its clients’ financial results through careful expense control and planning. Both short and long term considerations are taken into account when preparing each management plan. Monthly and annual reporting keep clients well informed about the current & planned status of the facility.

To ensure a timely response to their emergency needs, all occupants and clients have access to a member of our staff 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

In short, our clients’ needs are met through:

Fast, 24 hour responsiveness to maintenance requests
Efficiency and cost effectiveness
Maintaining the property image
Good communication & relationships with the occupants and vendors
Safeguarding the property assets
Controlling expenses
Accurate & timely reporting

Empire Advantages

Empire’s experienced staff work for the owners to meet and exceed their goals. We have the advantage of improving our clients’ financial results immediately through economies of scale and better expense control. By using Empire’s knowledge, resources, and expertise we can improve your return on investment while reducing your workload. Most importantly, as an active partner in taking care of your property, Empire offers peace of mind.

Key Benefits

Reducing and controlling property expenses.
Maintaining/improving property image.
Timely and accurate management reporting.
Providing access to extensive networks of services and potential tenants.

Meeting Needs

We achieve our clients’ expectations by:

Providing Professional Property Management reports.
Consulting with and updating the owner on the needs for service, major repairs, or preventative maintenance as necessary.
Timely response to residents’ needs.
Effective marketing from professionally trained staff.

The Client’s Perspective

Our services are tailored to meet each individual client’s requirements:

Efficiency and cost effectiveness.
Maintaining the property image.
Good relationships with the residents.
Safeguarding the property assets.
Controlling expenses.

Management Reporting to the owners

Monthly Financial Statement
Year End Cash Flow Statement
Various reporting as requested by the owner

New Rental Property Initial Services

Empire Properties, Inc. is pleased to provide these initial services:

A comparative rental market analysis.
Completion of a comprehensive data sheet.
Digital photography for flyers.
Owner consultation with experienced property manager.
Initial property inspection
Recommendations for marketing
Initial property inspection
Recommendations for property preservation and reducing liability
Estimates can be given for necessary preparation work
The combined years of service & experience of the “Empire Properties, Inc.” team!

We appreciate you considering Empire Properties, Inc. to lease and manage your real estate investment!

Marketing Your Rental Property

As an Empire Properties client, you benefit from continuous marketing of our rental inventory. This may include the following:

Web based listing on www.empireproperties.com
Company generated availability list distributed by fax, e-mailing, and hand-outs
A rental sign placed on the property
Flyers are posted at the office and distributed through our extensive network
Posting on alternative websites

There is no additional charge for advertising unless a specific ad is requested by the owner.

Leasing Your Rental Property

Pre-leasing is used extensively to minimize vacancy losses. The prospective resident must meet certain minimum criteria. An extensive background check is performed on each applicant:

Verifiable income must be at least three times the monthly amount of rent or a responsible party (typically a parent) must guarantee the lease.
A credit report is pulled for each applicant and must meet a minimum standard.
Criminal and background check.
Previous and current landlords are contacted and asked how the applicant kept their property and if there were any payment problems.
Employers are interviewed to verify income and length of time employed.

A refundable security deposit is collected. It is retained in a non-interest bearing escrow account on your behalf and the amount held is reported to you each month on your Owner’s Statement.

Residents sign one lease agreement together, making all parties jointly and severally responsible for all terms and conditions.

Rent Collection

Rent is due on or before the first day of each month. A five-day grace period is allowed before charging late fees. If rent is unpaid on the sixth day of the month, a Three-Day Notice is delivered to the resident. The tenant and lease guarantor are contacted and asked to send payment. The cost of collecting delinquent payments is covered by tenant late fees. Upon expiration of the Three-Day Notice, if rent is still delinquent, an eviction may be initiated. The owner’s written authorization is required to perform evictions. Evictions are processed through a local law firm to assure completion of the task and follow all appropriate laws and regulations.

Owner Statements

Owner’s statements and distribution checks are generated on the third full week of each month. This is usually around the 25th of each month. Each owner receives a full account of the property’s activities during the month. This includes specific on rent checks collected, and invoices paid. We now offer electronic deposit of owner funds.

At the end of the year an annual Cash Flow report is provided along with documents necessary to prepare taxes.

Property Turnover

When a new resident takes occupancy, a Property Inspection Form is filled out with the property manager. Upon move out, any differences in condition are repaired as necessary and charged to their security deposit. Both move in and move out inspections are documented by video.

Typical expenses to the owner for a unit turnover will be re-keying and possibly painting (often a touch-up) and over time, floor replacement.

Please note that the last month of rent will be held toward the turnover of the property.

Empire Properties does not charge additional fees for either move-out or move-in inspections. A fee of $75 will be charged for any other inspection requests.

After the initial lease term, if a continuing resident renews their lease, a $200.00 renewal fee is charged to the owner; A leasing fee of $300.00 is charged when signing a new lease with a new tenant. There are no additional charges for advertising or inspections unless specifically requested.

Maintaining Your Rental Property

Maintenance work is performed by independent contractors who have qualified for our approved vendor list. Due to the large amount of work that Empire Properties provides to its vendors we often receive discounted rates. All discounts are passed on to our owners.

If maintenance requests are due to damage done by the resident, or neglect, they will be charged accordingly. The charge will be placed on their account, due and payable with the next month’s rent.

A reserve of $200 is maintained for each unit. This reserve belongs to the owner and is accounted for each month. The owner is requested to approve any item of maintenance more than $150.00, except in an emergency.

Copies of all invoices are maintained in each property’s file and are itemized on the monthly Owner’s Statement. All records are stored and may be accessed at any time by the owner. (A fee of $10 is charged for mailing invoice copies).

Management Fees

Until the property is leased, there is no charge to the owner for any management services provided.

1-9 units — 10% of rent collected (min of $50)

10-30 units — 9% of rent collected

31+ units — negotiated

The first time that each property is leased a start up fee equal to half a full month’s rent will be charged (minimum of $300). This one-time fee covers the following services: