Do you have any suggestions for a good home watch and/or rental cleaning service? I prefer just a rental cleaning service, I have a neighbor who takes care of the home watch items.

Found this thread while searching for long-term property rental possibilities. Red, if you go by yourself and use a good house watcher, how do you do a background check on prospective renters?

Why would you do a background check on renters? Do you give them your Social Security number so they can do one on you?

The majority of PMs don’t do background checks even if they charge for them. You’re lucky if they do a credit check. Ask them for a copy of past background checks. Let me know if they produce them.

You're kidding I hope

Credit checks
 

I agree. I have had 5 property managers and none did credit or background checks. None of them did anything to earn their money.

From a different perspective...we won't rent through a property management company anymore, we'll only rent through the owners. We find if we deal directly with the owners the places are almost always nicer and most definitely cleaner!

EVOLVE will handle all your rentals, payments direct to your bank account and place your home at no charge on ****, HOMEWAY, AIR BNB and several other sites. You can then use a lockbox and a local Homewatch to arrange for cleanings and for emergencies. I use them for my properties on Hilton Head Island and it works out great.

This service charges 10%, per their website. It appears this comes from the owners side of the rent, not as a surcharge.

It is not listed "at no charge", presuming you rent your property at all. Further, I suspect that there is a means to capture the fixed costs that this firm has such as a set up fee. There is no free lunch.

Just looked into into Evolve more, no set up fee, 10% management fee and 2.25% credit card fee on all transactions. It might be an option. At 12.25% vs. 17 to 20% for a local firm "hands off" operation.

Maybe it is for you but bottom line it is 12.25%. For that price you are getting marketing. Maybe good marketing but that is mainly what it is.

Yes it is good marketing and results in increased bookings and income. The 10% Fee is fine with me considering the increased number of rentals I Receive being on the various web sites. It is after all the bottom line that counts, not trying to cut costs. In addition to the nationwide marketing, EVOLVE also deals with the renters, collects payment via credit card and rental income is sent directly to my bank account. I have a cleaning company that also handles check ins so basically I do nothing. Local management companies on Hilton Head charge anywhere from 20-35% and do not reach the Nationwide audience EVOLVE does. I get bookings from as far away as Colorado. If you want something for ( almost) nothing, you can always do it yourself and sign up with HOMEAWAY yourself and pay the set up fee of about $400.00 but I tried that and do not want to deal directly with travelers. As noted in this thread, there is no easy way to be in this type of business and if you are going to worry about minor pilferage or damage, you should choose another business.

No charge to set up on their vast network but there are fees. Agree, no free lunch but that holds true for owners as well, but if you are familiar with fees in this type of business, the 10% Fee is quite reasonable consider the extensive marketing as well as handling all the phone calls and talking to the Travelers, which can be quite interesting.

Added bonus for me is that I can book and block out my Hilton Head Island Condos for friends and family and offer discounts. Many Management companies will not permit you to block out dates offer discounted rates.

This article explains it a little better than I can in this space.

Good luck.

Evolve plans expansion after mastering Airbnb, HomeAway

We bought our villa before we moved to the Villages and had Home Town Property Management (HTPM) rent it for us. They did a great job for us. Whenever there was a problem they called me to tell me but they also had a solution. We had a microwave go out and they handled getting a replacement under warranty. We had an AC problem and they got it fixed. They even took care of problems with Comcast that involved swapping cable boxes. They gave me a heads up when we needed pine straw or the bushes needed trimming. All in all, we had a great experience with HTPM.

This is a very odd response.

rental management companies
 

to all of you who use them. upon receiving a rental payment please double check the amount, ie. the rental price minus the commision. some have noticed a shortage without any explanation. some receive the dates of renters but not the amount being charged the renters. if you have $$ discrepancies please post for others to see. dont use company names