Tower Property Management specializes in providing complete management or placement for owners of rental property. Renting and servicing the properties with their own employees.
Tower Property Management began doing business in the summer of 1999. Noreen and Donald Pond purchased the business in February of 2004. The Ponds have resided in the Lompoc Valley since 1987. They have been active participants in the rental-housing industry for over 40 years ranging from construction of rental units to their operation and maintenance. They began acquiring rental units in the City of Lompoc in 1978.
Tower strives to provide a level of service that is unmatched in the Lompoc valley. If you have need of a property manager to assist with your rental units or wish to rent property in Lompoc our friendly staff is eager to assist you.
Almost everyone is able to access the internet. Tower wishes to use the latest tools available to show our rentals units. We wish to serve our owners, for whom we manage properties, the ability to view their listings as well as pictures of their rental units online within one or two days of being listed for rent. We also wish to show our units that are available to the renters looking for a place to rent. We usually have a featured page of several of our units that also show a few pictures of the interior.
We receive inquiries from the East Coast, the Middle East and may other far away locations. It is invaluable to direct them to the Tower web pages and guide them through the pages as we look at the pages together. View out pages and then if you wish to be included on the Tower web pages just call our office. We also offer a web page service for owners renting their own property. Owners call or come in to our office.
Hiring a Property Manager for your property allows you to enjoy the income from your investment property without having to deal with the everyday details that are associated with a landlord/tenant relationship. In addition to rent collections on the owner’s behalf, a Property Manager also handles maintenance and repair requests from the tenants, serving of any legal notices to the tenants, and regular inspections of the property in order to determine that the unit is being properly cared for as well as to assure that all appliances and fixtures are in working order.
Placement services are available for owners who wish to care for and manage their own property, but do not wish to locate and screen new applicants. For a percentage of a month’s gross rent received on a unit, Tower Property Management will advertise the vacant unit, personally escort prospective tenants to the property for viewing purposes, accept rental applications and conduct thorough background investigations of applicants. Upon approval of applicant, collect security deposits and rents upon signing of rental lease contracts drawn by our company. After lease signing, Tower Property Management will supply the owner of the property with all documents pertaining to the placement of the new tenant, and at year end, tax statements will be mailed for income tax reporting purposes.
Reviewing an applicant’s former tenant and employment history as well as their credit history provides a picture of their conduct at home, at work and with their finances. Further background investigation can be performed such as a search of the Public Records for Civil and Criminal Court filings. When all these areas of an applicant’s background have been reviewed, the opportunity to acquire a responsible tenant is improved. At Tower Property Management, we have the dedication and the know-how to conduct such an investigation.
Tower Property Management employs several full time maintenance technicians as well as a maintenance supervisor in order to maintain and repair rental units under our management. These services include affordable minor repair of electrical systems, plumbing systems and fixtures, interior painting, general maintenance, as well as major renovations. Another advantage to having our own maintenance personnel is that Tower Property Management provides a 24 hour emergency on call technician that will respond to after hour emergencies. Having our own personnel is by far the most economical means of accomplishing repairs for client’s property.
Tower Property Management does employ a full time maintenance staff; however, we use outside independent contractors and vendors as well. In the event that a particular repair or renovation requires an outside contractor, Tower Property will procure bids from several different sources in order to obtain the best value for our owners’ investment. All bids are presented to the owner of the property before an acceptance of a proposal is made.Tower Property Management will then oversee the completion of the work and issuance of payment for services through the individual owner’s property account.
Operators of rental housing intended for human occupation are required to provide a standard of habitability fit for such occupation. In order to insure that level is maintained, an inspection should be made on a regular basis.
Some of the required standards are: Effective water & weatherproofing; unbroken windows and doors; plumbing & appliances in good working order; an adequate hot & cold water supply; electrical lighting & wiring in good working order; floors, stairways & railings in good repair and the premises to be kept clean and free from all accumulations of debris, filth, rubbish, garbage, rodents & vermin.
When inspections are conducted on a regular basis, the investment of the owner is protected. To discuss your rental property needs, call or stop by our office and talk to one of our staff members.
When management of an owner’s property is assumed, a review is made before the property is marketed. This includes setting a fair market rental value and determining any needed repairs or improvements to make the property more attractive to a prospective tenant.
A property manager can be a tenant advocate when issues arise. Possible areas include: repairs that come into existence during the occupancy that impact the tenant; inability to pay the rent on a timely basis; pest infestation and the unforeseen need to break a lease. Property managed by a reliable company gives peace of mind to a tenant. Call or stop by our office to check on the current availability of a wide range of rental units.
Simply put, so that you may enjoy all the benefits of rental housing ownership without “the headaches”. To meet the demands of rental property ownership you are literally on call all of the time. For example: Your tenant calls you at midnight. The water heater is leaking water into the hallway. Discussion with your tenant reveals that they are unable to turn off the water. To prevent further discharge of water, you will need to go or arrange for someone else to go to the unit. This is not an issue that can or should be delayed until morning, as further damage will occur. If your rental property were under management, this call would come to the property manager thereby freeing you from dealing with the issue. Our office has the ability to respond 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call 740-0023 or come by to discuss your rental housing management needs.
In order to concentrate on our rental business Tower does not list or sell property of any kind. Occasionally we do have individuals looking for property that we can refer to you
If you wish to sell your own property Tower Property Management can arrange to show pictures of your property on our Property by Owners page. This would include a nice view of the outside with a complete information section. This section would include all information that you wish to provide along with your phone number. There is a choice of either two or four interior views depending on the option that you choose.
Call our office at 740-0023 if that option is of interest to you. If you wish there are other Realtors that we can recommend for you to use.
Keep in mind that most Realty firms have sales as their major service and rentals as a secondary operation. Some do put management first and offer sales second. Tower Property Management has rental management as our only business. We can concentrate on renting your units with complete attention to your units and tenants needs with an onsite staff that will do repairs as needed as well as emergency repairs at all hours.
We will adjust our service that we provide to exactly what you wish from placement of tenants only which provides full screening of applicants and a contract between you and the tenant. Up to and including full management which will pay all of the bills, including the mortgage payment. We offer many choices in between. If you are renting you own property we now provide a free list of owners renting their own units. May we help you?
The short answer is yes with conditions. The conditions are: be a resident manager at the site of the apartments or court. The other option is to possess a real estate broker’s license. These are many CA Department of Real Estate regulations governing rentals that are not managed by the owner.
Since California has the most Landlord/Tenant laws of any state in the United States, it is wise to have a knowledgeable professional managing your units. A property management company bases their rental business procedures on accepted business practices as well as the laws governing the renting and operation of units. With ownership of rental housing comes liability. Using a friend could put the owner at risk if the friend was not knowledgeable with rentals and could provide the basis for losing a friend. Selection of someone to manage your rental units should be based upon criteria establishing that person’s credentials to manage. Tower can do the proper management for you.
We have a fine placement program that finds and screens all of the prospective tenants as well as provides and obtains a lease from the tenants for you.
That is our position and why we focus exclusively on the management of residential rental housing. Today’s Landlord-Tenant laws are so numerous and so exacting that it is very difficult for anyone that is not in the business to keep abreast of them. Through years of operating rental housing, we have acquired considerable knowledge about managing units in a legally compliant manner. Additionally, we have established many affiliations that enable us to be current with the information needed for dealing with issues that arise through operation of rental housing.
Adding to the procedural side of management, we have a maintenance department with a staff that can deal with most of the needs for repairs that occur. The service most frequently requested is for plumbing issues followed by appliances or heating devices that do not work. Having in-house staff to promptly resolve these requests results in customer satisfaction for tenants and owners alike.
With all of the new laws being enacted to protect tenants it is probably better for owners to obtain the services of a property manager. If you do not wish to have a property manager at least join a good property managers association. We can refer you to the one that we recommend and belong to ourselves if you wish.
Our office is in Lompoc so that is where our main concentration of service is located. That works best for maintenance and emergency repairs as well as collection of rents.
We have managed property from Orcutt to Solvang. We would like to list your property for placement or management. We have a very flexible choice of services that we can discuss with you. Tower can also list your property if it is outside of Orcutt, Lompoc or Solvang if you wish to handle the showing and the rent collection yourself. We have an excellent web page that can feature your property so that it can be seen nationwide.
Come in to our office or give us a call at 740-0023. Laura handles our client contracts but anyone in our office should be able to assist you.
By all means, if you sign a placement or management agreement with Tower we have a Maintenance Crew that can take on extensive repairs. If any of the work is beyond the scope of our crew we have sub contractors that we have available that will assist us. We usually are able to do most repairs with our own crew such as painting, plumbing, electrical, flooring, tile work, carpentry and more. We have extensive experience in completely replacing kitchen and bathroom cabinets as well as floor tile.
If you do not wish Tower to take on the work or if it will be an extended period of time before we can accomplish the work we have contractors that we can recommend to you. Come in to our office or call 740-0023 to discuss your needs.
There are laws protecting tenant’s rights regarding inspections. You must allow a tenant who is moving out and has given a ‘thirty day notice’ an initial pre move out inspection. This inspection is conducted in the last two weeks of their stay. This inspection is to allow the tenant the opportunity to make corrections needed in order to obtain the most possible refund of their security deposit.
Tower also provides move in and move out inspections. The move out inspection will provide information regarding any damage or harm to the property that has occurred during the tenants stay. That tenant’s move in inspection is then compared to the move out inspection to determine charges to be made against the security deposit. These inspections also allow Tower to inform the owner of items that may need to be dealt with before a new tenant moves in.
Tower performs periodic inspections as a service to our owners. We check all appliances, plumbing, electrical, and the general overall condition of the unit. This inspection is designed to protect the owner’s asset by identifying and repairing small problems before they become large ones.
Move In Inspection: An inspection with a written report & photos (optional) is of paramount importance after inception of the Initial Inspection law dtd. 1/1/2003. No tenancy beginning after 1/1/2003 can be held responsible for pre-existing conditions. This is the basis for evaluating changes to the unit after the new tenant assumes possession.
Initial Inspection: A notice of the right to this inspection is required to be provided to the tenant after notice of termination is given or received (not required when termination occurs as a result of a 3 Day Notice). This inspection provides a checklist identifying cleaning or repairs for tenants to cure prior to move out
Move Out Condition: This inspection is performed after the tenant surrenders possession, necessary to establish any charges to the security deposit. An itemized statement detailing any deduction from the security deposit funds must be sent within 21 days after the tenant has vacated.
Recommendation: Conduct periodic inspections of occupied rental units to view conditions in the unit.