Frequently Asked Questions from Owners and Clients

Since 2016, JPM, LLC has used Rent Manager for our primary PM software solution.  Rent Manager provides full property accounting functionality, tenant and owner web access, maintenance tracking, a robust database, and easy integration with many other software programs.  Rent Manager also integrates it’s own VOIP phone system, which allows the ability to record all phone calls within the software.

In order to efficiently and effectively rent vacant properties, and provide quality customer service to our existing residents, JPM, LLC is currently required to use over 20 different software providers on a daily and monthly basis.  For a complete list of our technology partners, please visit Our Technology Partners | Johnson Property Management LLC.  These providers serve valuable purposes used daily in property management, such as online payment processing, payables processing, background screening, pet and animal monitoring, and electronic showing assistance.

The early winter time period between Thanksgiving and New Years is by far the slowest rental period of each year.  This is caused by a combination of bad weather, and rental prospects being focused on holidays rather than changing rental housing.  This is why JPM, LLC does everything possible to avoid November and December vacancies, including structuring lease periods to not end during these months.

JPM, LLC specializes in long-term (longer than six month) residential asset management. It is our core focus. All of our systems and procedures are structured around long-term leases and tenancies between 6 – 14 month initial terms. Tenants that have fulfilled their initial lease term without issue are generally offered a lease renewal option for another time period, or allowed to stay month-to-month at a higher rent rate.

JPM, LLC has always utilized a traditional calendar month bookkeeping and reporting style. Monthly Rental Reporting statements are both emailed to all clients and posted to Owner Web Access on the last calendar day of each month. This typically includes a Rent Roll, a P&L Statement (separated by property), a Summary Owner Statement, and a detailed Owner Statement. In addition, up-to-date information regarding financial information is available to each Owner/Client on their Owner Web Access, which can be accessed 24×7.

Through the use of our primary rental listing software, Showmojo, our website listings at www.jpmidaho.com (our website) are syndicated to over 50 other rental listing websites. These include Zillow and Trulia, which are the most accessed and used listings sites in the US at this time. For a full list of the 50+ sites our listings are included on, please view https://hello.showmojo.com/features/syndication-partners/. We also manually enter our listings on Boise Craigslist, and the listings are renewed on a daily or every other day basis.

Yes. Tenants are required to have a minimum of 100K Liability insurance prior to the time of key transfer. This insurance is important for the protection of property owners and properties in case of accidental damage or injury that occurs at the property to tenants, guests, etc. At the time of application, prospects let us know if they already have 3rd party tenant insurance, or if they will be purchasing insurance through our vendor insurance supplier YRIG. Proof of 3rd party insurance must be submitted to YRIG prior to key transfer, and YRIG tracks policies during the tenancy to ensure coverage is maintained. If tenants do not have 3rd party insurance, or do not purchase a policy through YRIG, they are automatically enrolled in JPM, LLC’s Master Policy for $16 per month, which provides them with $100K liability insurance during their tenancy.

JPM, LLC uses Experian, the most trusted of the major credit bureaus to run a tradeline report on all rental applicants.  Amrent, a national public record and criminal record database, is used for background checks on each rental applicant.   Rental verifications are done as needed, dependant on the applicant’s prior landlord, and the expected validity of the rental verification.  Employment verification is made based on the applicant providing current copies of paystubs, or deposit information from their bank.

Yes, JPM, LLC requires a Management Agreement be signed for an initial one year (12 month) term for management. This is due to recovering enough management income to justify time spent in “on-boarding” the property into our softwares, and familiarizing our staff on the property. And then eventually “off-boarding” the property if the property is sold or again self-managed.

As with any free market based on supply and demand, “market” rent rates are always changing in the Treasure Valley. Several years ago, Zillow.com became the “go-to” rental listing source for rental prospects and managers. Zillow provides various property and area filters that make comparing similar properties rent rates quick and easy in the Treasure Valley. Another great rental pricing resource that we commonly use is rentometer.com. This site provides similar data to Zillow on comparable rental properties that have been listed for rent within the last 6 months in any area. Lastly, we still do reference Boise Craigslist, and our managed rental listings with those of other property owners and managers.

With many years of experience, we recommend pricing at “market” rent rates, or even a small percentage below (2-3%) market rent rates for comparable properties. The goal is to find a balance between maximizing rental returns for property owners, and retaining quality tenants for as long as possible. In our experience, net income will be higher on any property class with lower vacancy rates by pricing at or slightly below market, discouraging tenants from renting elsewhere, or purchasing homes. If owners or managers pursue more aggressive pricing strategies and price above market rent rates, tenants will typically only rent short term, and then transition into other housing. The bulk of expense in investment property is generated with property turnover, related to cleaning, painting, and maintenance expense, vacant utility expense, and loss of rent.

Our advertised rate for full service residential management is:
One to four rental units ……………………. 8% of rent collected.
Five or more rental units …………………..7% of rent collected.

Johnson Property Management does not have an elaborate fee structure in addition to our base management percentage. We do charge two other service charges in addition to our management percentage as an offset to a couple of additional services we offer, which are part of our management agreement. They are as follows:

$100 lease renewal service charge: If JPM is able to successfully renew an existing tenant for an additional one-year lease term, thereby preventing a vacancy, there is a $100 owner charge. This is much less than a vacancy would cost an owner due to turnover expense and rent loss, and is intended to offset the additional labor time involved in working with the property owner and tenant, and creating & executing the forms needed for a renewal.

$25/unit annual technology charge: Many of the software platforms we use have a ‘per unit’ pricing structure. As we manage more rental units, we are charged for the providers services that we use to effectively manage your property. We ask that our owner clients contribute $25 per door per year to help offset that cost. For example, a duplex would cost $50 for the entire year for that property.

NO! JPM has never used maintenance as a profit center, has never marked up parts or labor, nor have we ever entered into ‘vendor agreements’ with providers that give us any kind of a kickback or incentive to utilize any particular vendor. The amounts that are invoiced for parts, labor and services are exactly what is passed on to our owner clients, and our tenants as applicable. The amount that we are invoiced for is the amount that is paid – no gimmicks.

Absolutely. Vacant units are checked & inspected on a regular interval by our inspector. They are checking the progress of any vacancy work that was ordered, making sure the property shows well, checking for security (window/door locks etc…), making sure the heat is on/working during Winter etc…

Yes – as part of our base management service an exterior survey is conducted six times per year, or every other month. Owner clients have varying opinions on conducting occupied/interior property inspections, and during the onboard process we work with each client individually on whether or not they want interior inspections conducted and on what frequency. From there the inspections are scheduled on a recuring interval, and are $60/each per our management agreement as it is an optional service. Discounts may be provided if multiple inspections are conducted at the same property in the same day. A full inspection report with photos is produced and reported to the owner.

As an alternative to paying a traditional cash security deposit to secure a property, we offer a ‘zero deposit program’ to prospective renters that waives the need to pay a traditional cash security deposit up front. They instead pay $45/month along with their rental payment. By offering this program, JPM, LLC generates more applications from a broader pool of prospective renters. The monthly $45 is used to purchase $2,500 worth of coverage for any tenant responsible charges from our renters insurance provider, Your Renters Insurance Group (YRIG). Also, the applicants must still fully qualify for the property in terms of meeting all of our rental qualification criteria.