I formed The Morris Realty Team Property Management, LLC with my wife in 2010 to serve a particular type of client. That client was someone who owned a townhouse, needed the space available in a detached home, owed more than the townhouse was worth in the deflated market, yet had the income to support their new purchase if they could cover the mortgage on their townhouse in some other way. That way proved to be renting the townhouse for an amount equal to or more than the mortgage. We served dozens of these clients, helping them move up to the new home they desired.
As the market has fully recovered and has increased the value of their townhouses to where the owners could sell and make a profit, we have helped these reluctant landlords sell their rentals and move on with their lives.
Now our clients are largely local investors and military personnel who have been transferred to another station but want to retain their homes in Northern Virginia. If you have a home you want to rent in Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun or Fauquier county we want to be your property manager.
We offer constant attention to the needs of your property and tenants for a flat fee of 8% of the rent each month. For that fee, we find you financially qualified renters by running financial and criminal background checks, write and enforce the lease, collect all rents for you and pass the rent through to you less the 8% management fee via ACH statements directly into the bank account you provide, provide monthly statements detailing all rents and expenses pertaining to your property, conduct periodic inspections of the property to make certain the tenants are taking proper care of it, make any necessary repairs after consulting with you, and find you new tenants at 50% of the first month’s rent instead of the first full month’ rent charged by most rental companies should someone move out. While some tenants stay for only one year, our average tenancy has been five years. We have a few tenants who have been with us for a decade.
To facilitate necessary repairs, all landlords must place $1,000 into our escrow account. If a needed repair is made and the balance in escrow falls below $1,000, the shortfall is withheld from the following month’s net rent. The only exceptions we make to getting your pre-approval for any repairs are those that impact the safety and security of the tenant, such as loss of heat during the winter, loss of cooling during the hot summer months, and electrical repairs that present the risk of fire. While older homes tend to require more repairs, some of the units we manage have had significant repairs in five years.
To give you a more detailed description of how we work, a copy of our owner’s manual and our management contract can be found below.
We look forward to working with you.
Dwight L Morris