Hometown Property Management co-owner Andrew Barkis says it’s a great time to look for a single-family rental home.
“We’re definitely coming into the right time of the year,” he says of the high season that runs May through October. “Most people start to come out of hibernation. We wait for the winter to end, and then we all start to move around.”
More homes will be coming on the market, meaning choices galore for renters.
And because the economy is slowly starting to pick up, Barkis sees encouraging improvements to the overall marketplace.
“There are a lot of homes for rent, and that’s stabilized the market pricing and, in some cases, driven the prices down a bit,” he says. “We’re seeing more incentives and opportunities.”
A previous Thurston Talk feature article detailed how Barkis’ Hometown Property Management is the only NARPM-certified property management company in the region – a distinction that should catch the attention of anyone looking to live in a rental home or rent out a property that they own.
The listings on Hometown Property Management’s website are varied and constantly added to. “We have a lot to choose from and the pricing is really good,” Barkis says. “That will only increase as we move into the summer.”
And although brand new homes being rented out that were commonplace a few years ago are harder to find – there simply hasn’t been a lot of building – Barkis says the market is seeing a lot of quality homes coming into the rental pool.
Whether you’re looking to rent a high-end waterfront home or a 2-bedroom family home in a suburban development, Hometown Property Management has something for everyone.
“At the top end of uniqueness, we have a beautiful waterfront home out on Eld Inlet,” Barkis says. “It’s a one-bedroom, 1,600-square feet, completely remodeled. And $2,200 is an amazing price for a high-end home on the water with a view, access to the water, and beautiful gardens.”
In fact, Hometown Property Management has several waterfront homes available, which isn’t often easy to find. They also offer mid-size and smaller homes and duplexes.
“We’re finding newer rental homes in that $1,600-$1,800 range for a huge four-bedroom home,” Barkis says. “There are a lot of nice homes listed right now.”
Three-bedrooms tend to range in price from $1,295 to $1,400 a month.
“We have some good entry-level stuff, too,” Barkis continues. “with nice little homes around $1,100.”
You can keep on top of the latest quality listings on Hometown Property Management’s website or Facebook page.
“At Hometown Property Management we are constantly and consistently working to improve our systems,” says Barkis. To that end, Hometown hired local marketing and advertising firm GCI to assist them in improvements.
Together, they developed a campaign called We’re Listening, which has gathered feedback from surveys of tenants and owners.
“Based on all that feedback, it gave us some really great insight into areas we can improve upon and areas we’re doing really good at,” says Barkis.
Barkis took his staff on a weekend retreat to Alderbrook in February, where they worked with a facilitator to pore over the comments received from the We’re Listening campaign.
“People wanted more flexibility and access to our services,” Barkis explains. To that end, some of the tangibles that came out of the retreat include a change in operation hours, adding two extra hours during weekdays for customers to come into the office to do business. Hometown Property Management is now open from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Hometown Property Management is currently open on Saturdays by appointment, and will institute regular summer Saturday hours for showings and lease signings.
“We’re also now doing a ‘certified for occupancy’ program,” Barkis continues. “Because some of the feedback we got was that there were little things that were missed – cleaning issues, a light bulb out, or smoke detector beeping.”
Now, when a house is ready to be rented, a team goes in and does a complete inspection. They then leave a letter that the home is certified and ready for occupancy.
“We just want to assure them that all those things are done when they move in,” Barkis says of this additional inspection step.
Hometown Property Management is also in the process of redeveloping its website.
“I think we have a great website now, but this will be even more improved, with even more customer-friendly services,” says Barkis.
It’s changes like these that help keep Hometown Property Management at the top of the ever-growing list of property management options.
“Because there are so many changes within the real estate market, we’re starting to see more and more ‘property managers’ entering the marketplace,” Barkis says.
These are different companies and people who don’t necessarily have the background, experience, and certifications of a professional company, like Hometown Property Management does.
“We don’t change with the market,” says Barkis. “We don’t sell at some points and do property management at other times. We just do single-family property management. So it’s consistent.”
These newer, inexperienced companies will come and go. The question renters and homeowner who rent out their homes must ask is: Am I going to have that same consistent, high quality service a year from now? If something happens, will they know how to take care of me and take care of the house?
“By renting from Hometown”, says Barkis, “you’re going to know that we’ll be there tomorrow.”
Hometown Property Management
1600 4th Ave. E.
Olympia WA 98506
360.456.7368
877.456.7368
