Holiday Hours
We will be closed on Monday, September 2nd for the Labor Day holiday and will resume normal business hours on the following business day.
We have updated our company holiday calendar in 2024 in an effort to give everyone here at Stone Oak more time off with their families and friends. You can find our holiday closing schedule on our website.
Summer 2024 Market Update
The first half of summer was as expected in terms of leasing and sales data. The market continues to normalize after years of an upward trajectory, and we think this trend will continue for the foreseeable future. An article posted (before clicking be warned that the website is full of pop up and autoplay junk) by the local ABC affiliate KVUE does a good job of summarizing the sales and inventory data for Central Texas. That article is derived from the Austin Board of Realtors data available in summarized infographics here.
Below is the infographic for the Austin - Round Rock - San Marcos area:
The data shows the trend of increasing inventory and active listings, lower sales, increasing days on market, and other factors that impact the rental market. If this trend continues it will continue to slow the rental market, increase competition for potential tenants, and reduce rent and renewal rates while increasing the need for move-in and renewal incentives.
We’ve mentioned in the past that incentives are back in the leasing market, so considering some kind of offer proactively to attract a tenant to a vacant property or keeping them at lease renewal should be discussed with your property manager. Incentives can be offered to both new and renewing tenants. A reduced or free period of rent on a new lease is very common right now. With lease renewals some tenants may ask for something like cleaning the AC ducts or providing a mid-lease carpet cleaning for example, which is a small expense relative to a turnover. The act of simply not, or minimally, raising the rent when offering renewal terms is also a good way to keep a tenant who doesn’t want the expense and hassle of moving. While you don’t have to offer anything we want everyone to be aware about the increasingly competitive nature of the lease market.
MOLD - What should you do?
Summer is the most common time of the year for tenants to report suspected mold or other growth. When a tenant reports suspected growth of anything inside of a home it becomes a balancing act between protecting the landlord from unnecessary expenses and the obligation of the landlord to protect the health and safety of a tenant.
Every situation that arises has to be handled based on many variables including the tenant’s approach and concerns. Some situations are reported to us as simply stating that they found something suspicious, but they’ve cleaned it up and are just letting us know. Other situations are the exact opposite of that where a single dark spot on a wall or elsewhere results in an immediate demand for testing and full remediation. One of the most extreme situations we’ve encountered is during a move out the tenants emptied a closet that was full from floor to ceiling, which revealed growth on the whole wall behind their belongings that went completely unnoticed. These are only three of an infinite number of scenarios, and the best solution to this problem is prevention.
We actively encourage tenants to report any unexpected moisture in the home to us so we can address that immediately. The longer moisture is present the more likely growth will take hold. Some common sources of moisture are condensation accumulating in poorly vented bathrooms, leaky pipes and drains, exterior leaks, AC condensate overflow, leaking AC ducting, and poorly sealed doors/windows among other things.
Every lease written by Stone Oak has a required mold addendum that addresses the topic and provides additional resources and information. It is something that landlords may want to familiarize themselves with either before or if this issue is reported. An additional resource from the American Apartment Owners Association discusses this topic thoroughly here although the protocols may vary based on the type of home and other factors.
Liability Insurance Policy and Landlord Protection Program
On June 5, 2024 we sent out an email to all of our clients with some general updates and about changes to how we handle the liability insurance requirement of the management agreement, and the Optional Assurances program that many of you are participating in. If you missed the email please take a moment to read it, and if you didn’t receive it let us know so we can send it to you again.
We continue to work through processing these changes and will follow up over the next several weeks. These emails will have important information so please keep an eye out for that correspondence.
Data Breaches and Scams
In our last few posts we’ve covered several data breaches, and it seems every day a new one is being announced publicly or by mail to affected parties. In the context of being a client of Stone Oak we want to continue reminding our clients about these breaches because a lot of this data can be used in social engineering and phishing attacks, which could involve your data being used by someone who poses as your property manager or other contact as part of a scam. We see these attempts internally as scammers send us email posing as fellow employees or managers of Stone Oak.
That being said, we want to remind you that we will never call you to ask to confirm or provide your bank info, social security number, or other personal information on the phone or by email. We will also never ask you to pay for anything with gift cards, cryptocurrency, etc. All of our emails will come from our domain, www.stoneoakmgmt.com, or through our software as a long string of letters/numbers from the domain @stoneoak.mailer.appfolio.us. Our property management software includes a texting service that will not match our office number, but if you try to call that number it will go directly to our main office phone line.
Here is some helpful information about Caller ID Spoofing, and other common scams. Also the US Federal Bureau of Investigations resources about common scams are good to be aware of.
Please stay vigilant, maintain a healthy amount of skepticism, and contact us directly with the number on our website or our direct emails if anything looks questionable.
Corporate Transparency Act
In 2021 Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) that went into effect on January 1, 2024. This new law may apply to some of our clients, so we want to help spread awareness. If you own your investment(s), or anything else, in an entity such as an LLC or Corp, you may need to file information with the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN). There is a summary of this new law available on the FINCEN brochure and additional information and resources on their website.
There are exemptions to this law, but it is strongly recommended that you speak to your legal advisor or accountant to discuss the requirements and compliance deadlines. There are many articles that have been published after the law’s passing, and quite a few since the end of 2023. More information can be found on this legalzoom.com article, using the official links above, or doing a search for the CTA to start your learning journey.
Thank you for being a client of Stone Oak Property Management. Please don't hesitate to contact your property manager should you need anything at this time.
Reminders:
Maintenance Approval Process Changes
In addition to the info below about funding repairs we want to notify all owners that we are modifying our escalation process when we can’t reach our clients in order to make sure we are complying with property code requirements. In bonafide emergencies we are acting within our authority to mitigate damages, however after it has been contained or in non-emergency situations we reach out to our clients for work authorization that is required above the limit set in the management agreement. In those cases we now have a strict process going into effect that will have a time-based escalation if we cannot reach you. The time frame will be that if we can’t reach you by the 3rd day from when we first reached out we will then reach out to your emergency contact who can aid us in getting authorization or contacting you. If you’d like to update your emergency contact we have on file please contact your property manager. Keep in mind that this contact should be someone outside of your immediate household who you trust to make decisions on your behalf if you cannot be reached by them or us.
Funding Make-Readies & Maintenance for Your Property
Please note that it is Stone Oak's policy that the owner has reserve funding on hand with Stone Oak to help us commence work faster when it comes to make-readies and maintenance on your property. Stone Oak cannot perform maintenance without first receiving authorization and funding, which can slow down the turn-around times of our vendors and their availability in this market. This can also potentially create a negative experience that tenants will remember when it comes time to renew, and we always want to avoid turning over the tenants. Any time we request authorization for work on your property, the best practice is to immediately fund your account when you provide written authorization to move forward. This is as simple as going into your owner portal and using ACH for a free transfer, or if you prefer a credit card the processor charges a fee as part of the transaction.
Keep in mind that tenant charges on your account are not considered an offset to this amount as we keep a strict accounting system for both our and our client's benefits. Any tenant chargeable items will be posted to their account, and once they are paid it is immediately credited to your account. If you have any questions about this reserve amount held with Stone Oak please contact your property manager.
HOA Compliance Notices
Did you know your HOA can send important notices and compliance letters directly to Stone Oak to enforce? Yes! We can take care of that for you! Please be sure to provide your HOA with Stone Oaks direct contact information so we can ensure timely delivery of notices.
Please contact your PM for more information.
