Owner FAQs

We don’t require any funds upfront and only get paid when the property is rented.

• Tenant Placement Fee: One month’s rent
• Monthly Management Fee: 8%
• Renewal Fee: 15%
• Depending on the state or county, additional fees may include: Lead paint test for properties built before 1978, MDE Registration, Radon test, Coordination fees, Rental license fees (per property, per jurisdiction), Registration with the Montgomery County Rent Registry & District of Columbia Rent Registry, Assistance with Basic Business License inspections in DC, and other fees as applicable.

We work as a team and you will have access to our whole team, During onboarding, multiple team members may reach out, but Denzel Marshall, head of the Maintenance Division, will be your main POC afterward for maintenance items, or call the main line to ask for assistance in any area and we will route you to the correct team member.

We conduct a professional photo shoot and virtual tour, advertising across Realtor.com, Zillow, MLS, Homes.com, our website, and over 100 other platforms, as well as through contacts with relocation firms, embassies, and military.

Toni Nottingham, the in-house statement expert, will assist with any queries and follow up as needed.

Yes, we offer discounts for Active or Retired US Military or Foreign Service officers.

We require tenants to maintain the property as it was given to them. Inspections are conducted before move-in, every 6 months and after move-out, with digital photo documentation. We can utilize the security deposit to offset damage in excess of normal “wear & tear” based on each jurisdiction’s guidelines.

We Disburse rents 3x a month, on the 5th, 10th and the first Friday following the 10th, it may take 1-4 business days to clear your bank.

We contact tenants via call, email, and text. If unresolved, depending on jurisdiction, we file a 10-day notice or non-payment case in court, which could lead to eviction proceedings if necessary.

We use preferred vendors vetted by GGPM, all licensed and insured, ensuring quick service and accountability at preferred pricing. We also troubleshoot with the tenants on the phone to walk them through scenarios that could be remedied without a visit by a vendor.

We prefer our contractors due to familiarity with our system. If an outside contractor fails to respond within 2-4 hours, we proceed with our vendors. We also require all vendors to be licesned and insured, if your vendor is not we will not use them.

Send us the contract, and we’ll honor it, coordinating as needed.

We recommend canceling it. Home warranties can cause issues with tenant scheduling and approval processes, leading to frustration.

Emergencies include gas smell, fire, electrical issues, uncontrollable leaks, roof leaks, and critical safety issues.

Yes, we can handle repairs of any scale, and some homeowners choose to make improvements during or after tenancy as a tax write-off.

We assist by sending “utility transfer forms” signed by you and notifying providers. Bills may be redirected in your name c/o GGPM and our address. We may ask Landlords who live in the US to assist in transferring utilities into your name since 2025 utility companies are becoming difficult to work with and may not allow GGPM to set up service in our name due to security deposits required and non use of a commercial address for billing. One option we have found is we use a company called Citizen who can assist in the transfer during the gap, but they charge $10.00 per utility to set up for you. Call us for more detail.

A Basic Business License, required in Washington, DC, for rental properties. We recommend Rent Jiffy for assistance.

GGPM manages 606 properties combined in DC, MD and VA, with a team of 10 full-time and 2 part-time employees.

Yes, Broker Dave Goldberg is licensed in MD, DC & VA and we can assist. We typically sell around 20 properties annually and bring extensive experience in home preparation and negotiation. Since we know you, the property, and have a program we call the “Game Changer” program, we can coordinate repairs after the tenants vacate, to prepare the property for sale using our preferred vendors and defer payment of those repairs until settlement. Goldberg Group has sold over 115 homes in the past 5 years averaging 23 per year.

Ideally, nothing. If necessary, we’ll help dispose of items like paint or cleaning supplies, as leaving “hazardous materials” can violate the lease in most jurisdictions.

These items can be sold to tenants for $1.00, transferring liability to them with an agreement to sell back upon lease termination, or tenants can sign a lease addendum not to use them.

A clean home is required upon turnover, which we can coordinate for you with our preferred vendors. This may include services like house cleaning, carpet cleaning, gutter cleaning, dry vent cleaning, fireplace chimney sweep and additional wipe-down may be needed prior to tenant occupancy.

We verify Emotional Support Animals [ESA] via a pet screening service and review applicant responses. Click here for a summary: Pet screening site – we use www.petscreening.com – if a pet is approved, we require Tenants to pay $30.00 per month for our preferred A+ pet insurance policy, which covers liability protection for Tenants and Landlords, and offers up to $1500 of additional coverage for damage above and beyond the total amount of the security deposit.

In Virginia, rent is due by the 1st of the month and is considered late if not paid by the 5th. We will then assess a late fee of 10% of the rent amount. If the tenant's payment is still not received in our office by the 15th of the month, we pay the Sheriff’s office $15 per adult tenant to post a Sheriff

In Virginia, 5 days after a Sheriff’s notice is posted to the home and we still haven't received rent, we can file an unlawful detainer through an attorney. It may cost the landlord $500 to file and pay for the first court date. At any time, the tenant may exercise their once-a-year right of redemption by paying all debts. If they do not, we may refuse partial payments or receive them and send the tenants notice of acceptance with reservation. The first court date may be 60-days from the date of non-payment. Assuming we win the court case, we would wait another 10 days and file a writ of possession, and the Sheriff’s office would then schedule a forcible eviction. Such action may take an additional 30 or more days. Most debts get settled out of court and most tenants move out before the Sheriff forces them out. For issues with nonpayment of rent in Maryland or Washington DC please reach out to your client care team directly.

The first two months of rent are flipped: the first full month's rent is due before the lease start date, and then the following month includes the prorated amount. Since the leasing fees are based on the rent collected that month, the first month will reflect a full leasing fee and management fee, and the second month will reflect a reduced management fee based on the prorated rent collected. On the third month, things will get back to normal and into a normal cycle.

Unless otherwise noted in the lease, as some landlords provide a lawncare package included in their rent as an amenity to the tenant, tenants are responsible for maintaining the lawn [mowing grass]. Tenants are not responsible, per lease, for trimming shrubs or pruning trees or weeding mulched beds. This was removed as tenant responsibilities about a decade ago, as we found tenants were causing more harm than good, by pruning at the wrong season, often resulting in dead plants, ruining proper shape, and even the removal of perennial garden beds assumed to be weeds. We typically recommend an annual yard service, to maintain shrubs and trees to the proper shape, and weed and mulch beds, to ensure a decent appearance.