Owner FAQs

In order to comply with the Florida tenant landlord law and Relax Property Management standards, the below items must be completed before we will advertise and rent a property.

• Professionally cleaned to ‘HotelRoomClean’
• Doors and locks all functioning properly. New locks installed between all tenants.
• HVAC system to be in good operating condition, with a new filter installed.
• Carpet professionally cleaned and looking fresh.
• All painted surfaces freshly painted with no mismatched touch-up areas. Repainting must be done corner to corner.
• All bedroom windows must have vertical or mini-blinds.
• No personal property or items inside or outside the unit. This includes furniture, knickknacks, toiletries, shower curtains, Kleenex boxes, kitchen or bathroom items, soap dispenser, pictures, etc.
• No lawn equipment including mowers, tools, etc.
• Garage floor swept.
• No exterior debris.
• Lawn cut and trimmed and landscaping fresh and clean.
• Smoke detector with a 10-year lithium battery installed inside each bedroom.
• Carbon dioxide detector on each floor where necessary. Suggest one in the garage.
• Back sliding door must have vertical blinds.
• All light bulbs working.
• Doorstops installed on all doors.
• Bathroom caulking must be fresh and free of any mildew.
• All mechanical components working as designed. Includes HVAC, plumbing and electrical systems, kitchen appliances, laundry appliances (if provided), sump pumps, water softeners, sprinkler systems, gas fireplaces, etc.
• Safety railings secure on stairs.
• Anti-tip device installed on range.
• Wood-burning fireplace(s) opening on the interior of the home shall be sealed with an aesthetically pleasing material.
• All windows must open, close, and lock properly and window screens be in good condition.
• No draperies on windows.

If you are a real estate investor considering hiring a property manager to manage your home, is that manager required to be licensed in Florida? The very easy answer is NO. You do WANT your property manager to have a Florida Real Estate license to be able to perform their duties legally and effectively. The state of Florida has several requirements that must be fulfilled before they will grant a real estate license. The applicant for a license must meet the following requirements:

• 60 hours of education
• Passing a class exam and a state exam
• Background check
• Continuing education requirements

No. Some property management companies offer only limited services for discounted pricing; some firms are designed for owners who like to be very involved in the day-to-day management of their homes; and some firms (like Relax Property Management) are full-service firms designed to handle ALL aspects of the property management experience. You want to look for a property management company that is properly staffed (not a one-person business for obvious reasons) and offers competitive prices to keep your returns optimized. Beware of companies that offer a lot of additional fees.

Relax Management is an experienced property management firm in Sarasota, serving real estate investors and residents since 2012. We combine 'old school' customer service (we actually personally answer phone calls) with the most up-to-date technology to create an unmatched experience for our owner-investors and tenant-residents. Founded by two investors who currently own property in Sarasota and Manatee Counties, we saw the need for a service that focuses on investors' needs. We love and believe in real estate investing and treat your real estate portfolio as if it were our own. Our property managers and operation manager are all fellow investors as well.

There are multiple laws governing rental real estate including federal and state fair housing, habitability laws, tenant rights laws, applicant screening, rent-ready standards, and more. We ensure your property and the management experience is fully compliant with ALL rules, regulations, and laws.

Any company can find a few clients to say something nice about them. The BEST way to research a company is to review independent reviews. Click here to view our online reviews. You can do your own Google search and see all the reviews of any property management company you are considering.

You will have one designated property manager that will be your contact at Relax Property Management. We manage over 500 homes, and the property managers have three support members on their team. We also have the broker/owner, operations manager, and office administrator. We feel it is important to have many people involved in the business in case there is an unfortunate event and so that our team can take vacations. There are companies that are one-person operations, which could leave you very vulnerable. Typically, more technology has to be used due to the workload. We will not sacrifice the support we feel is necessary to provide the service our owners-clients and tenants deserve.

View our fair and transparent pricing (with no hidden fees!).

No. We believe we should only be paid if you get paid. So our management fee is a percentage of the actual rent we collect. If we do not collect any rent, or if the property is vacant, you don’t pay us anything.

Our extensive and proven marketing program attracts high-quality applicants from a variety of sources. Learn more about our marketing program.

You must maintain any personal property and appliances in the home unless it is specifically excluded in the lease. That means that if you provide it, you must fix it when it breaks. We recommend you do NOT leave any personal property (including washers & dryers) behind. 95% of our properties do not have washers/dryers in place. Tenants in this region are accustomed to providing their own.

Properties that show well and are priced appropriately should rent in 30 days or less. We will provide you with price recommendations and weekly activity feedback to ensure we minimize any vacancy time.

In-depth tenant screening is the foundation of a good property management experience. Our first part of the process is meeting the tenant at the house for their informal interview. They don’t even know it is taking place, and it is always surprising what they divulge. Our in-house screening process uses technology plus traditional 'landlord references' to ensure we place high-quality tenants in our properties. We manually search Clerk of Courts and social media as well. We cannot depend on technology alone to find the best tenant. The property managers who will be managing the tenant make the final decision. Many firms have dedicated leasing agents who focus on placing tenants quickly for a commission, rather than finding the best tenant. Learn more about our tenant screening process here.

No. You can trust us to minimize the risk of a poor-quality tenant. Our applicant screening process has handled over 9,000 applicants, and we know exactly what to look for in high-quality tenants. We comply with all fair housing rules and regulations.

Although you do NOT have to accept pets in your rental, over 70% of tenants come with pets. Choosing not to accept pets reduces your prospective inquiries by 70%. We recommend allowing pets and provide a guarantee that requires dog bite insurance in the lease.

No. Florida state law does not include ‘source of income’ as a protected status. This has been discussed in legislation and may change in the future. We do have many subsidized tenants and can offer it if you would like.

We use an in-house, custom, attorney-prepared lease agreement designed to be fair and provide maximum legal protection. The law primarily protects the tenants, so our lease is designed to protect you. We also include a pet addendum, lead-based paint disclosures, mold disclosure, and crime-free lease addendum. Learn more about our lease execution process.

No. As your legal agent, Relax Property Management signs all of the legal documents on your behalf.

Our owner-clients have a secure online portal that provides 24/7 access to financial reporting. Learn more about our financial reports.

We close out the monthly accounting cycle and do a direct deposit of your funds before the 20th day of each month.

We perform an annual property inspection 90 days prior to the end of the lease. This inspection ensures the property is being well cared for, there are no lease violations, and to identify any potential deferred maintenance issues before they become a problem. We discuss this with you to determine if the tenant will be offered another lease term. Our maintenance vendors also act as our eyes and ears, letting us know if they see any issues during their visits.

We handle the entire rent collection process. Although it is rare, if a tenant does not pay rent, we manage the entire legal eviction process on your behalf. You will be responsible for the costs associated with filing the eviction and serving the tenant. If it goes to court, an attorney must be present, which is an additional cost typically under $1,000. We average three evictions a year with over 500 properties. Our property managers work to maintain relationships with tenants and help them connect with local charities or negotiate their departure amicably.

Yes, if we place a tenant who breaks their lease during the first 90 days, we will re-rent it for free. If the tenant breaks the lease, we will charge for the placement of a new tenant, and they will be responsible for their contract until that new tenant is found.

The quality of a property is equal to the quality of the tenant it will attract. Therefore, you want your property to be updated and CLEAN! We can handle getting your property rent-ready to meet state habitability requirements and attract high-quality applicants. Your kitchens and baths do not need to be...

We handle all repair requests, including emergency repairs, using pre-screened, insured, affordable high-quality vendors. Learn more about our maintenance support.

Yes, we retain a $500 reserve for any repairs needed on your property. This reserve is deposited into a non-interest bearing checking account at Enterprise Bank. The funds may be used to cover expenses that arise between sending you your rental income and collecting rent from the tenant. The $500 reserve will always be maintained as long as we manage your property. When we stop managing your property, the reserve will be paid out to you.

Relax Property Management holds all tenant deposits in our security deposit trust account to comply with State of Florida security deposit and trust accounting rules and regulations as determined by the Florida Real Estate Commission.

When a tenant moves out, we conduct a property check-out within 3 days of their departure and complete the security deposit return process. We will withhold any funds from the security deposit that are legally due and allowable according to Florida state law. If damages are extensive, we will communicate with you immediately following the property check-out. If a tenant disputes the claim, you will be contacted to determine how to proceed. We use a Move-In inspection report with extensive pictures as proof of damages if needed. We aim to return security deposits to tenants who have taken good care of the property.

While a property is vacant, you are welcome to perform any make-ready work you wish. When a tenant is living in the property, we need to screen those accessing the property for the tenant's protection. Therefore, we use our pre-screened and pre-approved vendors. If you have a preferred vendor, please provide their contact information as we are always looking to add new high-quality vendors to our group.

We strongly discourage the use of home warranty companies as they often provide a poor experience and outcome. If necessary, we will work with them, but a $75.00 fee is added for this communication. If they fail to meet our requirements of scheduling repairs within 24 hours, we will redirect the work to one of our qualified vendors.

No. We are a relationship-first property management business and work best with owner-clients who are looking for a full-service experience. We aim to provide a safe, clean home to our tenants and need owners who want to maintain their properties to achieve this.

No. Our property management agreement is designed to offer maximum flexibility (after the first year, it is on a month-to-month basis). It is also designed to provide a consistent, high-quality, full-service management experience. Systemizing our processes is key to delivering the service we promise.

Schedule an appointment with Alex Platt, our Operations Manager. He will answer any additional questions and assist you with onboarding your property into our full-service, proven systems. (941) 923-7200