Frequently Asked Questions
Some answers to commonly asked questions.
What do you charge for property management?
We charge a single 7% fee for property management, and that fee is only charged on rent that we collect. We don’t charge owners any management fee (or any fee) while a unit is vacant. We don’t markup any maintenance or collect any revenue for our property management outside of our single management fee so that we align our incentives fully with our property owners.
What kind of financials do you provide?
Squire provides access to every property’s financial statements 24/7, as we access the financials ourselves. We believe property owners should be able to see every aspect of the property management process, each receipt and all supporting documentation, and every tenant communication as it comes in so that property owners are on the same page. We have detailed and summary rental owner statements, customizable reports, and other useful analytic tools available on our owner portal.
We also provide paperwork for tax preparation, specifically 1099 filings for property owners.
Are you available 24/7?
Yes. We have a dedicated 24/7 emergency phone line and the ability to respond to emergency requests in real-time. One of our favorite anecdotes involves new tenants in 2018 being locked on a roof on their first night of residency and reaching out to our emergency line after midnight – only to find someone from Squire who lived nearby ready to help 20 minutes later with a set of keys. Fair warning: not everyone lives that closely nearby!
Do you charge for maintenance or repairs?
No, never! We think charging for maintenance fundamentally distorts the relationship between a property management company and its clients. We believe that any property management company that receives any compensation outside of its well-defined management fee is inherently susceptible to making suboptimal recommendations and decisions, regardless of good intent. We are also alarmed at the extent of non-specified vendor compensation that property management companies in Washington, DC regularly receive – that is, “payment for order flow.” We hope you require any property management company to make clear that it will never receive compensation from a vendor in any capacity at any time.
What makes you different from other management companies?
This is our favorite question: look at how we are paid. We only receive one of two fees – a management fee and a leasing fee, if we successfully lease your property. We don’t receive any compensation unless we deliver value to our property owners. We have aligned our interests with our property owners as a matter of our fundamental business structure. We have removed any obstacle to promoting that 100% alignment. Cancellation fees? None. Contract terms? None. Extra fees? None. We want our property owners to hire us at-will and to know that we work with them every day to deliver transparent and consistent value.
Do you manage HOAs?
No. We don’t because we aren’t good at it and it requires an entirely different day-to-day focus. We’re great at managing single family and small multifamily properties and at leasing properties quickly and making sure vacancy isn’t a threat to our property owners’ bottom line. We have tried attending monthly HOA board meetings and advising HOAs in need of assistance, but we quickly realized that would get in the way of being great at what we do best: residential property management. We have no HOA clients to distract from our property management, and we recommend you look for a company that can say the same.
Is it easy to cancel a management agreement?
Yes. Just notify us in writing if you’d like to part ways and we’ll make it happen right away. Nobody should have a property management relationship with a team they don’t want to work with. We often hear from prospective clients who tell us they’d like to switch over to us once their existing management agreement permits. We can’t stand that concept and hope you know that any client can fire us immediately, and we are a better property management company as a result.
So to be clear: we have no contract terms, cancellation penalties, or any clause or term that requires an ongoing relationship with our company if a property owner is not fully satisfied.
Do you sell properties?
No, we don't. We think it's important that we focus on residential leasing and management as our entire line of business. We feel this focus gives us an edge in the rental marketplace and lets us help property owners rest easy that they have our full attention.