BECOMING A CLIENT
The first step in becoming a client is allowing you to ask questions regarding our management practices, including our fees.
Lighthouse Management LLC has been in business since 2002. We currently manage over 500 units in Rochester and 200 units in Buffalo. We have over 130 clients from all over the world, from England to South Africa and over to Hong Kong.
We have 3 basic charges:
Management fee:
Our management fee is for our basic oversite of your property. We collect rent. We interface with the City of Rochester to make sure violations are cleared, inspections are passed and your property remains in good standing. We interact with rent paying agencies such as the Department of Human Services (welfare) and Rochester Housing Authority (administer the federally funded Section 8 program).
The maintenance fee is 10% of the rent collected. It is important to note that we charge only on the rent collected during the month and not on the rent due. In other words, we get paid based on our performance for you.
Tenant Placement Fee:
The tenant placement fee is the fee we charge when we locate a tenant for your unit. This is not a regularly occurring fee and is only charged when we fill a vacancy for you.
To locate a tenant, we begin by saturating the market with advertising. Then, when a tenant would like to rent a unit, we run a criminal and civil background check. We verify employment, check landlord references and contact any rent paying agencies involved. We have the tenants fill out leases and other documents necessary for move-in. We make sure units get inspected (DSS and Section 8 both require inspections prior to paying rent directly to the landlord). Finally, we hand the new tenant the keys.
The tenant placement fee is based on the rent charge. If rent is $500, the tenant placement fee is $500; if rent is $900, the tenant placement fee is $900. We guarantee our placements too: If your tenant should move out in 6 months or less (for an apartment) or one year or less (for a single family home), we will locate another tenant for you at no charge.
Maintenance:
We work closely with a maintenance company to perform repairs on your units as necessary. Lighthouse works in the role of general contractor with the maintenance crew, overseeing work and making sure it is done completely and properly. We also keep tight control of the cost of such repairs. In this way, we ensure that your bottom line is protected.
In this role of general contractor, we charge a 20% mark-up on the materials and labor consumed by the maintenance company.
Your management agreement contract does not require you to use Lighthouse to maintain your properties. It is a service we extend to you.
Once you’ve decided to hire Lighthouse Management, we’ll ask you to complete and return the following forms to us:
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT (SAMPLE)
We’ll also have you fill out a Client Information Sheet. Besides giving us basic contact info, it also allows you to give us your bank information so that we can deposit your net rents directly into your account, getting your profits to you faster.
Lighthouse Management LLC is a New York State licensed real estate brokerage firm. New York State law requires us to represent any tenant who is looking to rent a unit and who is not represented by any other real estate agent.
Therefore, during the time of rental, Lighthouse is required by law to be an agent for the non-represented tenant applicant as well as you, our client.We will show the tenant the apartment, discuss lease terms, and make sure the appropriate paperwork is filled out. Once the rental process is completed, the dual agency relationship ends. We ask that you sign this now so that we have it available in our file should we need to place a tenant for you in the future. Please note that the form is NOT a contract, but a disclosure of relationship form.
DUAL AGENCY FORM FOR LANDLORD AND TENANT
Lastly, we will ask you to fill out and sign a Building Owner’s Registry Affirmation form. This form is provided by the City of Rochester to you, the owner of a City property. It allows the City to add to the notes section of your property file the local contact information for Lighthouse Management. It’s always good for the City to be able to talk to someone locally, and thus quickly, regarding property issues.
BUILDING OWNER’S REGISTRY AFFIRMATION
Once these forms are returned to our office, we will begin management for you!
