Owner FAQs

No. Many property management companies only provide limited services for discounted pricing; some firms are designed for owners who like to be very involved in the day-to-day management of their homes; and some firms (like Yellow Keys Realty) are Full Service firms designed to give owner-clients a full service, stress-free, hands-off experience, where we handle ALL aspects of the property management cycle with professionalism and expertise. Property Management in Pennsylvania is legally complex, and you want a professional overseeing what may be your most valuable asset. As you consider partnering with a property management company, but sure to ask them the following questions:

• Is each individual property manager licensed?
• What if I want to cancel my service with you? (Most property management companies have long term contracts with expensive termination fees. Yellow Keys Realty offers the only month-to-month contract in the industry with no termination fees or penalties; because we believe that we should earn your business every day and you should have the flexibility to leave if you want to.
• What "other" fees could you charge me? (Many property management companies have hidden fees for things like paying bills, eviction services or property inspections. Yellow Keys Realty does not charge for any of those services; they are part of our full service management service. Please refer to our pricing page to view what is included in our full service property management offering.

Any property manager who plans to manage, market, list or lease real estate must have a license under Pennsylvania law:

• 240 hours of education
• At least 3 years licensee in Real Estate
• Pass a comprehensive exam
• Full personal background check
• Insurance and banking requirements

Source of income is not a protected class under either federal or Pennsylvania state fair housing laws. That means that unless there is a local law which has an established source of income protection, landlords and property managers can choose whether or not to accept rental assistance or Housing Choice Vouchers.

Please refer to our pricing page for our fair and transparent pricing. (with no hidden fees)

We close out the monthly accounting cycle and do a direct deposit of your funds on or before the 15th day of each month.

No. We believe we should only be paid if you get paid. So our management fee is a percentage of the actual rent we collect. If we do not collect any rent, or if the property is vacant, you don’t pay us anything.

No. As your legal agent, Yellow Keys Realty signs the lease on your behalf.

Yes. We offer sales services to our owner-client group and we can help you buy another rental, or sell your current property when the time is right.

We offer our tenants multiple ways to pay the rent, they can pay directly through their tenant portal on our website, our App, direct deposit or even in person at our office.

We provide annual leases that renew automatically unless a 60 day notice is given by either party. Commercial leases start at 3 years.

We specialize in residential property management.
We take commercial and mixed use properties on a case by case basis.

• We provide a monthly owner statement.
• You receive a 1099 form at year-end for tax preparation.
• We also provide you an annual summary owner statement per property.

Yellow Keys Realty holds all tenant security deposits in our security deposit trust account. This is done to comply with State of Pennsylvania security deposit and trust accounting rules and regulations as determined by the Pennsylvania Real Estate Commission.

Although you do NOT have to accept pets in your rental, the majority of tenants come with pets. That means that if you choose NOT to accept pets, you are reducing your prospective inquiries by a lot. We do recommend our owner-clients allow pets, and we provide our owner-clients with a $1,000 pet damage guarantee.

We perform an annual mid-lease property inspection (at no cost to you). The purpose of this inspection is to ensure the property is being well cared for, there are no lease violations, and to look for potential deferred maintenance issues before they become a problem.

Yes, if we place a tenant and they break their lease during the first 12 months – we will release it for free.

When a tenant moves out we will do a property check-out and we will complete the security deposit return process. We will withhold any funds from the tenant’s security deposit that are legally due and allowable. Pennsylvania state law is very clear on what things may NOT be charged to a tenant’s security deposit and all security deposit returns are completed to comply with state law.

No. We are a relationship based property management business and we work with owner-clients who are looking for a full-service experience and believe in providing well maintained properties. We reject the idea of a landlord vs tenant mentality. Instead, we believe that when property management is performed with integrity, both the resident and the landlord benefit..

Pennsylvania law regulates many aspects of the applicant screening process including security deposits limits. Our security deposits are structured to provide maximum protection to the owner, while ensuring minimum financial impact to a qualified applicant.

Our extensive and proven marketing program attracts high quality applicants from a variety of sources. Please refer to our marketing page for more details.

No. You can trust us to minimize the risk of placing a poor quality tenant. Our applicant screening process has processed hundreds of applicants and we know exactly what to look for in a high quality tenant-resident. We comply with all fair housing rules and regulations as well as Pennsylvania applicant screening laws and Pennsylvania Landlord and Tenant Act (68 P.S. § 250.512).

The quality of a property is equal to the quality of the tenant it will attract. Therefore you want your property to be updated and CLEAN! We can take care of getting your property fully rent-ready to ensure it meets the state habitability requirement and attracts high quality applicants.

We will handle all repair requests (even the middle of the night emergencies) and we use pre-screened, high quality vendors.

Yes. We will collect a $500 escrow reserve from you. This is YOUR money and it will be deposited into our bank trust account as the reserve for YOUR property. We will potentially use these funds to pay for expenses that may arise between the time we send you your rental income, and the time we collect the rent from the tenant the following month. But we will always maintain this reserve as long as we manage your property. When we stop managing your property it will be returned to you.

While a property is vacant, you are welcome to do whatever make-ready work you would like to do on your property. When a tenant is living in the property, we do need to screen who is accessing the property for the protection of the tenant-residents. Therefore we will use our pre-screened and pre-approved vendors. If you have a favorite vendor please give us their contact information – we are always looking to add new high quality vendors to our group!

No. Our property management agreement is designed to give our owner-clients maximum flexibility (it is a month-to-month term with NO termination fees or penalties). It is also designed to allow us to serve our owner-clients with a consistent, high-quality, full-service management experience every time.