Owner FAQs

We manage multi-family apartment buildings as well as single family homes and condominiums.

Yes, Paragon Property Management Group LLC is an Illinois licensed real estate brokerage. In Illinois, any company that offers property management services must be licensed in Illinois.

Yes, we have an internal maintenance staff to handle repair issues as they arise. Our staff can handle many general repair items, allowing us to respond quickly to tenant concerns, manage quality, and maintain strong tenant relations. For repairs requiring specialty tradespersons we will coordinate with contractors as needed such as: plumbing, electrical, heating, masonry, roofing, etc.

Yes! We help our clients buy and sell real estate, whether it be personal homes or investment real estate. Please see more information on our Sales page.

We can pay utility bills associated with the property and any vendor or contractor expenses. However, the owner should pay the mortgage, taxes, and insurance.

After closing out the monthly accounting cycle, we send owners excess funds by direct deposit often as early as the 10th of the month, but no later than the 15th.

The quality of a property is equal to the quality of the tenant it will attract. Therefore, it's best for your property to be updated and clean. We can take care of getting your property fully rent-ready to ensure it meets the minimum rentable standards and attracts high-quality applicants.

Properties that show well and are priced appropriately receive applications within the first week or two. However, to ensure the best long-term success for your property, we must emphasize our thorough tenant screening process and ensure we only select qualified applicants. To ensure the property attracts responsible quality applicants, we will recommend repairs necessary to ensure the property is in good rentable condition, provide our target rental price recommendations supported by data from nearby rent comparables, and provide weekly leasing activity report including any feedback to ensure we minimize any vacancy time.

Yes, we are very experienced in managing tenants with housing agency rent subsidies. Although it is more effort, we find that it is overall a good approach to include depending on your property and market. Rent subsidy programs can be beneficial for property owners that wish to make their apartment available to a wide pool of applicants and to secure steady rent income. These programs can take a bit of administrative effort, coordination, and repairs to pass annual inspections. But we are very experienced with working through the details of such programs.

We have a set of criteria that include income, employment, rental history, eviction history, background check, and credit history. We meet with prospective tenants review the Tenant Handbook and to get clarification on any items from their application if needed. We comply with all federal and state laws governing applicant screening.

No. We are experienced leasing and property management professionals with extensive education in fair housing laws. As the property manager, it is in our best interest to make the best decision possible in tenant selection as we have to manage the direct relationship with the tenant and will be directly involved with any issues that arise. We must have the owner's trust in our experience and abilities as professionals. We also have guarantees to protect the owner in case issues arise, which can happen, regardless of how robust our tenant screening process is.

Yes, a copy of the fully executed lease will be uploaded and viewable from your owner portal. Paragon signs the lease as management agent on your behalf. Owners do not sign the lease.

Our standard approach is to set security deposits at 1.5 times the rent price. To give our prospective tenants more options, we offer tenants a Security Deposit Waiver Program. This gives the tenant the option to pay a small monthly amount (determined based on the tenant’s credit score) to waive the requirements for the security deposit. In these cases, we cover the owner for any applicable damage or loss up to the security deposit amount. We take the risk in this case but can spread our risk across our large portfolio. The program benefits our owners since it allows tenants to maintain more funds on hand to manage finances (and to pay rent with), and helps the apartment be more attractive to tenants by reducing their up-front cash outlay, while still ensuring the owner has a standard level of protection in case of issues.

We hold tenant security deposits in our separate escrow account. Note that security deposits are the property of the tenant and must not be commingled with other owner funds. The security deposits must be managed according to strict City of Chicago guidelines, and only upon move-out by the tenant will the security deposit be dispositioned accordingly once the property condition is assessed.

Each month typically around the 10th, but no later than the 15th, we will issue your owner reports covering the prior month. This includes: rental owner statement, rent roll, and delinquent tenant report. Note that through your owner portal you can view financial information or generate reports at any time as well.

We offer tenants convenient options to pay rent including

• Online payment through their tenant portal using checking account or credit card
• Cash payment at convenient nearby retail locations including Walmart, CVS, 7-Eleven, and Walgreens

Should a tenant become late in paying rent, we initiate our process of notices, late fees, and tenant contact attempts. Should the situation not show signs of improvement due to tenant financial constraints, we will recommend offering the tenant a sum of money to help them vacate the apartment by an agreed-upon date. This approach can help the owner save time and money as compared to an eviction. We will proceed to eviction, however, if needed. After gaining possession of the rental unit we can assign a collections agency to attempt to collect the balance.

We perform periodic inspections at each apartment typically twice per year. We are checking for items such as leaking water (at or around toilets, sinks, faucets, plumbing, radiators), evidence of insects or mice or other pest control issues, lease violations, safety hazards, property deterioration, or other issues within the unit. This also helps the tenant understand that we are looking out for them and taking care of the property. We have found that tenants sometimes do not notify us about certain issues which can lead to bigger problems later whether affecting other tenants at the property, emergencies call-outs, or property deterioration.

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.

Yes. We collect initial owner funds prior to the start of management. The initial funds are your money and fund your account for typical monthly operations and a contingency reserve. We will maintain the reserve amount during the time we manage your property. When we stop managing your property we will return all remaining funds back to you. The reserve amount for your property depends on the estimated operating costs, so we have guidelines based on the number of units. Please refer to the Owner Handbook for more details.

We understand the importance of gaining insights from past clients, but we've opted not to provide references for a few reasons. Firstly, we respect our clients' time and don't want to burden them with reference calls. Our clients are busy individuals with their own commitments, and we prioritize their satisfaction above all else. Secondly, we've found that references don't always offer much value. Most prospective clients find our testimonials and online reviews to be more than sufficient in gauging our credibility. Additionally, our transparent approach, absence of long-term contracts, and multiple guarantees ensure that our clients have peace of mind when working with us. We believe in full transparency and have detailed information about our services available on our website and in our Owner Handbook. Moreover, we offer a complimentary property management consultation to discuss your specific needs, goals, and property details, ensuring that we're the right fit for you. If you still have reservations about working with us after exploring all this information, it's possible that we might not be the right fit for your needs. We prioritize building relationships with clients who are genuinely excited about partnering with us and ensuring their satisfaction every step of the way.

• Initial owner discussion - discuss your priorities and concerns, your property, and see how we can best help you achieve your goals.
• Review our Owner Handbook, Management Agreement, and Fees List to ensure you are in alignment with our approach and basic fee structure and understand if you have any questions.
• Coordinate for property walk-through by our property manager if required.
• Sign documents via e-sign.
• Provide required owner and property information through our onboarding process. This includes leases, tenant info, proof of ownership, proof of insurance, etc.
• Submit initial owner funds online via owner portal.
• Make arrangements for keys and access.

It depends on how quickly you can submit the information and documents, initial funds. We recommend allowing for at least one week so as not to create a rush situation or any confusion. If you have an existing property manager, it will depend on the transition plan you arrange with them after you provide them notice of termination. Some owners have us transition management as soon as can be coordinated while others plan for a 30 or 60 day plan with their existing property management firm. We can take over at any day of the month whether the 1st of the month or any day in the middle of the month. We prefer to provide notice to existing tenants at least 2 weeks in advance of the management start date so the tenant can be made aware, understand who to contact, and know where to send rent payments well in advance of the management start date.

We provide our welcome letter to existing tenants typically 2 weeks in advance of the management start date. This letter provides an initial introduction to the tenant regarding our new management services with information on how to contact us with any issues and where to send rent payment. Our property manager then coordinates for in-person visits to meet each tenant, walk through their apartment with them, identify any concerns and note any concerns raised by the tenant. This helps to establish a relationship with the tenant and allows the property manager to identify any issues that might need to be addressed.