An apartment managed for owners in New York

Assessment and recommendation

Before recommending anything, we visited the apartment, photographed every room and checked the systems that most often cause problems in older Jerusalem buildings: water heating, plumbing, electrics and signs of damp. The owners received a written assessment that separated what had to be fixed before tenants moved in from what could wait, together with a realistic rent range for the neighborhood and the apartment’s condition.

Our recommendation was deliberately modest: repair and refresh rather than renovate. The layout and finishes were sound. What was holding the apartment back was wear from months of standing empty and an ageing water heater.

Work performed

With the owners’ approval, we coordinated a repaint, replaced the water heater and arranged a thorough clean. Once the apartment was ready, we photographed it, marketed it to long-term tenants, ran every viewing and screened the applicants. We presented the owners with our recommended applicant and the reasons for the recommendation, and coordinated the lease once they had agreed.

At move-in we recorded the condition of the apartment in writing and with photographs, so that there would be a clear reference point at the end of the tenancy.

Communication and approval

Because the owners were seven hours behind Jerusalem, we agreed a simple way of working at the start. Every recommended item came with a quote and photographs, and nothing went ahead until the owners had approved it in writing. For small routine repairs during the tenancy, we agreed a spending limit below which we would proceed and report afterwards, so that minor issues would not wait on a transatlantic exchange of emails.

When a leak under the kitchen sink was reported during the tenancy, we went to look at it ourselves first, arranged one of our regular plumbers, confirmed the repair was complete, and the owners received a short written update with photographs.

Result

The apartment was let to long-term tenants and remains under our management. Rent collection, maintenance and tenant contact are handled locally, we make sure the tenants stay on top of arnona, water, electricity and building committee payments, and the owners follow the property through regular statements, with photographs whenever repair work is done. They have one point of contact in Jerusalem, and they no longer need to travel to deal with the apartment.