What TO EXPECT

As a Prized MoveZen Rental Investor

Here at MoveZen Property Management, we value your time and money. We have put together this introductory letter to explain our philosophy behind getting your property rented quickly, and with quality tenants. We look forward to working with you! Here are a few tips that will help to ensure your early rental process runs smoothly and efficiently: returning the signed management agreement and the new property information sheet, as well as providing us with keys to your property. Keys are a common hold up and meeting with neighbors and other contacts consistently delays the process. We highly recommend mailing, or dropping a key by our office. You can also view our FAQ here

Please let us know if email is not an effective way to onboard your rental account

If you don’t respond quickly to emails, please let us know. We email frequently since it’s a perfect tool for documenting, scheduling, and confirming the entire process. It’s a major benefit when we can recount everything we need about a property, and your preferences, with a quick search of our emails. If we inspect a property and have repairs / other items to recommend, it’s important that you answer our questions promptly and definitively. We truly understand the importance of keeping expenses to a minimum. If we recommend cleaning or repairs, it is only because we think the improvements are critical for what we hope to accomplish in your specific situation We don’t make these recommendations if we didn’t think you would see a much better return on investment than the alternative.

Great property management is more art that science

We don’t profit from vendor maintenance, so the added time dealing with repairs works against us unless it helps to get your home rented faster and for more money. You’ll never have to doubt that your property is being made a priority as we’re dogged about reaching our goals. Pricing your rental home is an art, not a science. In most cases we could fill all of our rentals in the first week, however, we push for high prices, and our extremely selective application procedure is designed for long-term success while minimizing risk and headaches. Our goal at MoveZen is to occupy all of our properties with excellent tenants in 30-45 days. When we don’t, the typical reason for delays can be attributed to 5 things:

Most Common Delays to Getting Your Income Flowing

  • Refusing to clean, or handle red flag type repairs that are guaranteed to deter from the appeal of the home
  • Not completing red flag repairs attracts terrible tenants. These properties almost always get dropped from our inventory. We understand that times are very hard and we will work with you, but over time some action is required
  • Refusing to respond to the market. We usually offer the option to start advertising at any reasonable price point you like to test the market. However, we require systematic reductions when starting at a high price because that’s the point of the strategy. We’re happy to cover why this strategy is so effective. We once had a client receive 10K listing views in 60 days and only reduce the rate $25 a month. Unfortunately, unrealistic owners always look back and notice that the months of vacancy wiped out any gains they may have had, and they almost always end up reducing the rate anyways. In this case, it was $775 a month for at least 6 months including time with another manager. As a result of our updates, and statistic tracking our owners almost always understand, and are in full agreement when a price reduction becomes necessary
  • Fall and spring are by far the best time to find qualified tenants. Dec-Feb, as well as back to school (July-early Oct) are unfavorable times to find tenants. We have occasionally missed the mark during these times
  • Failing to provide the necessary information and required needs. Paperwork, repair / quote issues, and keys are the most common causes of rental delays. It is always best to drop off or mail keys yourself. When 3rd parties get involved, it results in a delay nearly 75% of the time

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A well kept rental house attracts well kept residents

With the rental market getting more competitive, and top-notch tenants are getting harder to come by, now is the time to make sure your rental property creates the best return on investment possible


The living situation and demographics of renters has changed dramatically since 2008

Tenants are fickle and hasty. They don’t like to keep appointments to view rentals. Occupied homes receive about 60% fewer showings than vacant homes, and are usually in mid-move condition, something most tenants rarely have the vision to see past. We still handle tough situations better than our competitors, but please bear with us as the task is much more difficult. Finally, approx 80% of tenants have a pet, and it’s usually a dog. Clearly, cutting your potential renter pool down to 20% of active renters is going to have a significant effect on marketing duration, and rental rate

If your home isn’t in attractive condition it will be hard to find attractive tenants

This isn’t an issue we’re unable to overcome, but it is a major cost that is rarely offset by the savings on repairs. In fact, most of the time owners leave thousands of dollars on the table to save a few hundred in repairs. It’s not quite as critical for some rental situations, so ask if you have major reservations. It’s common for us to make several calls or emails to iron out kinks and questions in the first week or two. We apologize, but because we’re flexible with our tenant selection system, we often need clarification for tenant questions early on

View MoveZen Rental Market Tips & Reports

Inc Magazine Inc 5000 Regionals Mid Atlantic

Press Release WILMINGTON, NC (February 27, 2024): Inc Magazine Recognizes MoveZen Property Management as the NO. 119 Leading Company on the Inc 5000 Regionals List, Mid-Atlantic Region

Press Release WILMINGTON, NC (February 27, 2024): Inc Magazine Recognizes MoveZen Property Management as the NO. 119 Leading Company on the Inc 5000 Regionals List, Mid-Atlantic Region https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/inc-magazine-recognizes-movezen-property-management-as-the-no-119-leading-company-on-the-inc-5000-regionals-list-mid-atlantic-region-302073690.html WILMINGTON, NC (February 27, 2024) – MoveZen Property Management, a unique and…
Read More Press Release WILMINGTON, NC (February 27, 2024): Inc Magazine Recognizes MoveZen Property Management as the NO. 119 Leading Company on the Inc 5000 Regionals List, Mid-Atlantic Region
Victory has the most stringent application requirements in the business, because we have plenty of leads and stay disciplined
investing in quality rental property is the best way for a household to build wealth
Our background checks consist of a national criminal search, credit search, reference checks, income verification and more

Our application process is as stringent as anyone in the industry, even if it means delaying income for the moment in favor of reduced expenses and headaches later. On average we decline 4 applications per property. If we accepted more applications, we could fill homes faster. However, everything we do here at MoveZen is long-term oriented and based on years of experience that tell us nothing is more important than high qualifications

We encourage tenants to submit a list of repairs they expect completed prior to move-in. Sometimes these are reasonable, and at times ridiculous. We use this as a method of gauging whether the prospect will drown us in maintenance costs / time. It isn’t uncommon for us to weigh this issue heavily when considering an applicant.

If the list is reasonable, we’ll present the request for approval before we secure the renter. Whenever possible, we highly recommend letting the tenants move in a few days early as it allows a pleasant period to uncover problems that frequently crop up after a home has been empty a while. No tenants move in without certified payment for security deposit, and first month’s rent. If they elect to pay and move early, it’s a great way to start the relationship off on a good note, and give us some breathing room on maintenance issues so common at this stage

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Maintenance issues are surprisingly common after even just a month of vacancy

It’s common for maintenance issues to arise after a home has been vacant for just 30 days or so. Longer vacancy usually lends itself to more move-in maintenance issues. To head off potential problems we discuss this issue with tenants prior to move in

It’s also quite common for issues to arise immediately after an owner or tenant has vacated because the previous occupant didn’t report the problem. Throughout the lease, a good rule of thumb to ensure that we as landlords and managers remain within the law is, if the item was functional in the home upon move-in, we are generally required to repair it unless user error is determined to be the problem. Some issues are more likely, but not always attributed to human error such as clogged pipes, and frozen disposals. Once again, we look out for you. Our contractors are well informed on the importance of investigating causes for service calls and quickly notifying the office. Of course, older homes consistently have plumbing issues, so variables such as this are applied as well. Other items rarely a result of human error are appliance problems, and HVAC. However we do require the air filter to be changed every 30 days, and our contractors investigate whether this is the cause

Rental proceeds are paid around the 10th

Rental proceeds are paid around the 10th of each month. Very rarely are checks delayed, which is usually the result of unpaid rent. Move-in accounting and tenant placement service accounting can sometimes take a little additional time as they are much more complex and typically have more incoming information. Please allow up to 10 additional days in these situations. We are charged a large fee for every ACH transaction, so if we only have one or two checks to pay, we do sometimes mail. If mailing is not a viable option please notify us immediately and be aware it could add a few days to payment.

Please consult your specific lease, but in most cases, the owner, and tenant must give 60 day’s written notice if they don’t want to renew the lease. Depending on several factors such as the quality of the tenant, the lease may renew for a year, or just go month to month. Once again, please consult your copy and make an important note to address the date when changes must be made