Austin Property Management Blog

Improvements to Your Home that Bring the Greatest ROI

System - Thursday, April 20, 2017

How to improve your Austin rental home for better tenants and ROI in the event of a sale!

Improvements for your rental home are a great way to attract quality tenants and can set you up to obtain full value for your home in the event you ever decide to sell. If you're a homeowner, you're well aware that there are many improvements that can be done. So which one will bring you the greatest ROI? Check the infographic below to discover what should be your priority upgrades!



Questions about your rental property or property management? Contact us today to learn more and discover how Stone Oak Property Management is suited to be your next property management company!

Rental Property Management: When is it Time to Hire a Property Management Company?

System - Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Should you hire an Austin property manager?

Rental property management is something some owners elect to do themselves as they might have the time to deal with the various day-to-day requirements that come with managing properties. If you find yourself doing so you probably understand that things can get hectic and your schedule can be loaded in a hurry. Your rental homes aren’t static objects. When occupied by tenants they become these living things that require constant care and attention.

What will a property management company provide me?

Let’s first cover what you should expect from hiring a property management company like Stone Oak Property Management. As your professional landlord, Stone Oak’s goal is to leave you stress free while providing quality management of your investments. From the start, Stone Oak provides all of the marketing and prospecting for tenants in the event your property is vacant. Our Austin property management team provides quality screen and vetting of tenants for your property, ensuring you with quality, rent paying tenants backed by a guarantee!

Once tenants are placed and the house is occupied, Stone Oak Property Management has all bases covered. We deal with everything from A to Z. From collecting rent to handling emergency and maintenance requests, Stone Oak provides a suite of property management...

Austin Rental Market Update

System - Sunday, April 2, 2017

Austin’s rental market is one of the hottest in the country!

With the recent report naming Austin the #1 place to live in the country it doesn’t seem to be on track to slow down either! Year after year, rental properties in Austin has proven to be a solid financial investment. As of February of this year, the average rent for an apartment within the city of Austin totaled at $1,419 with one bedrooms pulling in an average of $1,245 and two bedroom apartments averaging $1,562. However, over the last 6 months to date the average apartment rent in Austin has decreased by 2.1%. The graph shown below gives you an idea of the steady increase of rent from January 2011 to February 2017.

So what locations in Austin pull the in the highest average rent? By neighborhood, the top five locations with the highest paid rent are Downtown, South River City, Bouldin, East Ceaser Chavez and Triangle State. These were followed closely by areas such as Zilker, Barton Hills, Hyde Park and others. Aiming for cheap rents? The three cheapest neighborhoods to live in are Coronado Hills, Georgian Acres and Franklin Park. You can view the full

4 Reasons You Need a Property Manager

System - Sunday, March 19, 2017

4 Reasons You Need a Professional Property Manager

Struggling with self-management and thinking about hiring a property manager? Put your real estate investments on auto pilot and let a professional property manager do the work! Here are a few reasons why you should be using a property manager.

Qualifying Your Tenants

As a self-managing landlord, you may be without or lack the resources to thoroughly screen prospective tenants. Are their references for previous landlords real? Do they make the minimum requirement of 3x their monthly rent? These and much more are all questions that are valid determiners of whether or not a tenant is suited to live in your property. When you self-manage these are all things you must validate before you can accept a tenant to your property and gathering all of this information can be a hassle and very time consuming. Trust a professional property manager to do all of this work for you and find only quality tenants for your property!

Collections

Most if not all smart landlords have a policy about grace periods for paying rent after the initial due date. This is good as sometimes life can take unexpected turns for tenants and coming up with rent can be a struggle. As a self-managing landlord, since you are hands on with your tenants, things can get personal quick if you have a tenant who isn’t paying but you have a good relationship with. With a professional property m...

Should You Use a Professional Property Manager?

System - Sunday, March 12, 2017

Is using a professional property management company the right choice for you and your rental property?

Professional property management companies, like Stone Oak property management, can make owning rental properties a hassle-free experience for you. When deciding to use a property management company, one must weigh the pros and cons. Just like any service, there are companies varying on the service scale. Some property management companies are great and provide top-notch service and there are others that… aren’t. Connecting with a great property manager can have you feeling great about your investment and save you loads of time and headaches. 

Most property management models take a low percentage of your monthly rent in exchange of their companies services. If you’ve ever managed your own properties, you know that management can be a completely separate full-time job! Once you factor in the time investment managing your rental properties can be and how much that time is worth to you, that small fee you pay to a property management company will seem like a steal and an extremely affordable choice! This is especially true when you consider everything you are getting in return!

What is that exactly? How does a hassle-free, passive income stream sound? The choice to hire a property manager is an easy choice for property owners in a market like Austin’s. You can count on your property manager’s e...

Allowing Pets Can Increase Your Rental Rate

System - Tuesday, March 7, 2017

 Austin landlords and investment property owners may be overlooking a way to increase their profitability and bottom line by not allowing pets in their rental properties. 


According to FIREPAW, a non-profit organization whom handles animal welfare services, property managers who allow animals in their rental properties are seeing an increase in their bottom line profits. Their nationwide study found that the #1 reason pet owners gave up their pets were housing issues. Even though pet owners are willing to pay more in rent to keep their animals, there is still a shortage of landlords willing to accept pets.

You’d be hard pressed to find a city more pet-friendly then Austin and as a property management company we advise all of our landlords to consider pets when they present no risk to their properties or tenants. In terms of profitability, a separate deposit for pets can bring a landlord an extra chunk of change with each lease. The study conducted by FIREPAW also revealed that, on average, landlords and owners that allows pets will rent for a 20-30% higher rate than properties that don't allow pets. Other benefits for landlords that allow pets include:

 - Longer Tenancy – Tenants who have pets prefer to stay in one place for a longer amount of time.

 - Lower vacancy rates

 - More applications received per unit – Pet friendly living...

Finding Rental Properties to Invest In

System - Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Austin Property Management and How to Find Profitable Properties

The Austin rental market is booming right now! The demand for rentals is at an all-time high, the rents in the greater Austin area are way up, and the time to invest is now after Austin was named #1 place to live! If you can find an Austin rental property to invest in, you could be the owner of an investment that should have consistent income for years to come. However, choosing the right investment property can be tricky and if chosen poorly you could potentially lose money instead of earning!

The first course of action is to consider the type of property you would prefer to invest in. Single-family homes, condos and multi-family properties are all worthwhile investments. Before you start working with a broker, first decide what kind of property you’re willing to take on and what you can afford.

Consider who your ideal tenants are. Targeting areas of higher income such can lead to great, high-quality tenants though your initial investment will be greater. Also, consider whether you would be taking care of your rental property yourself or if you would need the services of an Austin property management company for your rental. Consider why you are investing in real estate and what you hope this investment will do for you. There are many books and o...

10 FAQ's We Hear at Stone Oak Property Management

System - Thursday, February 23, 2017

As a property management company in Austin, Stone Oak Property Management isn’t the only player in the game!

However, Stone Oak Property Management was built to fill the void for clients whom were disappointed with their current property manager. The founders of Stone Oak are all landlords themselves so they set out to build a company they themselves would be comfortable hiring as their property manager!

When searching for new property manager you should have a bundle of questions you come prepared to ask before deciding on the right company for your properties. Here at Stone Oak Property Management we talk to landlords and investors from all over the nation about their properties in Austin and San Antonio. Here are 10 frequently asked questions we hear from landlords!

Does the property management company have a dedicated, licensed property management personnel and how many staff will be looking after my property?

With Stone Oak, your properties receive unparalleled management from a team of certified property managers. From the maintenance crew to the founding manager your property receives the full attention to detail it deserves. When we take on new rental properties, we treat them as if they were our own. Stone Oak provides the greatest support team in the Austin market and you’ll always have direct line of communication with everyone in the company. You can rest assured your properties are in the hands of...

Stone Oak's Valued Partner

System - Sunday, February 19, 2017

While Stone Oak does staff a team of Brokers and real estate agents, our main priority is focusing on the landlords whom employ us and their properties!

Often we get those looking to purchase new homes and properties and while we do help these clients, we often refer them to our trusted real estate partners over at Central Metro Realty!

Central Metro Realty is an Austin based, locally-owned real estate Brokerage. While Stone Oak was built for landlords by landlords, Central Metro was built by agents for agents! With Central Metro you know you’re working with an agent who is Austin local with years of experience in the local market!

Central Metro is a diverse Brokerage with many nationalities represented throughout the firm. With Austin being such a diverse city experiencing an influx of people every single day, having Realtors from every corner of the world helps those transitioning to a new area such as Austin. If you’re an individual moving to Austin internationally, check out their roster of agents to connect with an agent of either a certain nationality or language!

Whether you’re looking to buy or sell a home, the family of Realtors at Central Metro will make the process as easy as possible for you! As a ...

Rent: The Benefits of a Property Management Company Provides

System - Sunday, February 12, 2017

If you’re a landlord or landlady, you understand the life of your business – rental income! 

If a structure isn’t set in place and rent isn’t collected in full and on time every month your business will take a hit. When everything is running according to plan this is when your return on investment is great, as you already may know!

Setting Your Rental Rate

Knowledge of the local market and the ability to assess data on the MLS provides Stone Oak Property Management with a great understanding of what your income property should be earning every month. We provide a rental analysis free of charge to any property owner interested in learning what their property can bring them in residual income every month! While most investors like to see their rent usually equate to 1% of their property’s value this doesn’t always serve as the main factor in determining your properties rental rate. The only true way to determine what your rental property should be earning every month is doing price comparisons with other properties in the given area and adjust as needed to what the market offers. However, you can rest assured that any great property management company, like Stone Oak, will have you earning the highest rent your property allows! To receive your free rent analysis, you can contact a local market expert at


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Stone Oak Property Management
14050 Summit Drive #113B
Austin, TX 78728

Phone: 512.617.6766
New Accounts: 512.615.7737
Toll Free: 888.892.7940
Fax: 512.994.2300

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