Owner's FAQs

What experience do the owners of the company have in managing properties?

Carrie has been involved in Real-Estate for 20+ years. 

How many rental units do you manage?

Currently, our company manages around 150 units. 

Are you currently active investors in your market?

Yes. We are active investors in the Western New York Real-Estate market and have several rental properties in our own portfolios. 

What professional organizations do you belong to?

Continuing education, compliance & networking is very important to us:
- National Association of Property Managers (NAPM)

What kind of properties do you manage?

We specialize in single-family and smaller multi-family residences such as: Single-Family Houses, Town-homes, Condos, Duplex, Triplex and Fourplex Units, small commercial 5-20 unit apartment buildings, AirBnbs and Midterm Rental units.

Are you local or national?

CrossState.Management is a locally owned and operated Western New York and Eastern Pennsylvania Property Management Firm. The cities of Erie (PA), Buffalo (NY), Niagara Falls (NY) and Rochester (NY) area and surrounding markets are our market focus.

How big is your team?

Our Team consists of 4 full-time staff. We also have a large extended team of professional vendors that deliver outstanding services on our behalf.

What services do you offer?

We are a full-service Real-Estate Outlet which means that we have licensed real estate professionals on our team that will help you buy, sell, rent and manage your rental properties.

Our Rental Services include Tenant Screening, Tenant Placement, Rent Collection, Bookkeeping, Financial Reporting, Property Inspections, Maintenance Coordination and Eviction Oversight.

What are the tenant placement and property management pricing options?

- Property Management is 10% of the Monthly Rent with a $50 minimum
- Tenant Placement is 50% of the First Month’s Rent
- Lease Renewals are $99.

Do you have an onboarding fee?

We have a $89 On-boarding Set Up Fee that is charged to the Owner. This fee accounts for the Initial Home Survey, setting up bank accounts, contacting existing tenants to get them and you into our software property management system.

Do you provide payment statements?

Yes, On the 15th of every month we will send you a detailed owner's report containing an income-expense report, invoices, receipts, and surveys. In addition, you may access this information 24/7 from your online Owner Portal.

When are owners paid?

Rent is collected from the Tenant between 1-5th of the month. After we have collected rent we process all of your expense payments to vendors and collect our monthly management fee. Then our accounting team pays/disburses money to Owners on the 15th of every month. At that time Owners will also be emailed a monthly report containing a detailed income and expense statement and copies of all invoices paid.

When I'm ready to sell do I have to sell my property through you?

Although we would like to earn your sales business you are not required to sell the property through the licensed sales associates that are on our team. Please note that most of our clients do decide to list and sell their investment property with the licensed real estate associates on our team when they are ready to cash out and move on to the next phase of their journey.

They find that it is the best course of action because we already have a great familiarity with their property. One of the great benefits with listing through the licensed sales associates that are on our team is that we already have other investor clients that are usually looking to increase their portfolios. Additionally our licensed sales associates market on the MLS and other major websites. 

How often is my property inspected?

We perform a comprehensive interior and exterior inspection and report of the property:
- During the on-boarding process,
- At tenant move-in,
- At tenant move out,
- At the middle of the lease term,

In addition, whenever our Maintenance Technicians visit the property they report back to us concerning the condition of the property.

The goal during these inspections is to identify any "red flags" such as deferred maintenance or lease violations and nip them in the bud before small problems escalate into big problems.

How often will I get updates on my portfolio?

We email owner reports monthly which include property notes along with detailed financial and maintenance reports pertaining to your account. Please note that these reports are available 24/7 on our online Owner Portal.

Also know that you can call or email us should you have questions or concerns regarding your account with us.

How long are your properties typically vacant?

Typically, 21 days or less. It is not unusual for us to place tenants in under 7 days. We start marketing for new tenants 30 days prior to the end of each lease term to ensure low vacancies. 

What is the average length of tenancy?

Our standard lease is 12 months. At the current time our tenants stay on average 3.25 years. Our belief is that the better we take care of the property and the tenant's needs the longer the tenants will stay with us.

Do you allow owners to be a a participant in choosing tenants?

No we don't for a few reasons.  The goal is to follow a proven system and set of checklists. to remain objective vs subjective and to avoid mistakes and liability
1. We have systems in place that work to better serve you. We do this day in and day out and have a screening process that we do not deviate from to ensure success and decrease liability.
2. We also want to protect you and us from Fair Housing Lawsuits that can easily result in not following our system verbatim for every prospective tenant.
3. Here is a link to our screening parameters. If we approve the applicant then that means that they have passed and that's all that is necessary to avoid making statistically bad judgment calls.
4. We haven't had to evict a Tenant that we placed in over 1.5 years using our system
5. You chose us for a reason. Because you felt that we could and will manage your property effectively... which we will do as long as we follow our systems and procedures.