New Property Management Onboarding

Ask before drafting the packet — the answer drives whether you send a W-9 or a W-8ECI. US-resident owners (individuals or domestic entities) get the W-9. Foreign investors holding US rental property elect ECI treatment via W-8ECI so rent is taxed net rather than withheld at 30% gross under FDAP rules.

Use the firm's NARPM-style management agreement with the management fee, leasing fee, and renewal fee filled in. The property profile captures owner emergency contact, lockbox preferences, repair authorization limit, utility account details, and HOA contact info.

Required so you can issue the year-end 1099-MISC for rent disbursed. Without a W-9 on file you must backup-withhold 24% on owner draws — a frequent first-year onboarding mistake when the form is treated as optional.

The W-8ECI election treats US rental income as effectively connected, taxed on the net at the owner's filing — without it, you must withhold 30% of gross rent and remit on Form 1042. Confirm the owner has an ITIN before sending; the form requires one.

ACH form captures the owner's bank routing/account for monthly draws. The additional-insured authorization permits the firm to be added to the owner's hazard policy — required before any vendor steps on the property to limit the firm's liability for vendor accidents.

HOA disclosure captures the association name, contact, dues amount, and any rental restrictions (rental caps, minimum lease terms, tenant approval requirements). Mortgage disclosure flags any owner-occupancy clauses that the lender has not waived — a common reason an investor-converted home cannot legally be rented.

Pull each envelope and confirm completion status, including initials on every page of the management agreement. Partial-execution is a common gotcha — owners initial pages 1-3 then miss the addendum signature.

Download the completion certificates from DocuSign alongside each PDF — the certificate is the audit trail that proves who signed and when, and is what you need if the owner ever disputes the agreement terms.

Cross-check routing and account numbers against a voided check or a bank letter — a fat-finger on the ACH form sends the first owner draw to the wrong account and requires NACHA reversal paperwork to recover.

Email the owner's insurance carrier with the signed authorization and request a revised COI naming the firm as additional insured on the dwelling policy. Do not list or show the property until the updated COI is on file — vendor work pre-COI exposes the firm directly.

Set the portfolio name to the owner's legal entity (not their personal name if title is held by an LLC). Configure management fee percentage and any flat fees per the executed agreement so monthly statements compute correctly.

Enter the owner's TIN/EIN from the W-9 or ITIN from the W-8ECI, the ACH banking, and the 1099 distribution preference. Mistyped TINs surface as IRS B-notices the following January — verify against the form, don't retype from memory.

Capture address, unit count, year built, square footage, bedrooms, bathrooms, and HOA. Flag year-built before 1978 — this triggers the federal lead-based-paint disclosure requirement on every future lease, and the system flag prevents leasing staff from skipping it.

Use HappyCo or zInspector to capture room-by-room photos with notes. Identify habitability items (HVAC, water heater, plumbing leaks, roof, electrical), cosmetic items (paint, flooring), and curb-appeal items. Anything that affects warranty of habitability has to be resolved before listing — leasing into a non-habitable unit is a defense the tenant will raise.

Walk the punch list with the owner, separate must-fix-for-habitability items from optional improvements, and get written approval on scope and budget before dispatching vendors. Verbal approval doesn't survive an owner statement dispute three months later.

Most states require working detectors at every move-in. Test each device, replace batteries, and log the test date in the property file. A missing or non-functional detector at a future fire or CO incident is both a fine and a habitability defense the tenant will use.

Photograph only after paint, flooring, and cleaning are done — listing photos with maintenance materials in frame cause showing-to-application drop-off on Zillow and Apartments.com. Shoot wide-angle, every room plus exterior, in landscape orientation for syndication.

A 60-90 second walk-through filmed steady on a phone gimbal supports self-show technology like Tenant Turner or Rently and reduces in-person showing load. Narrate sparingly — feature highlights, not a sales pitch.

Use Zillow Rent Zestimate, Rentometer, and three to five recent leased comps within a half-mile and similar bed/bath. Send the owner a written recommendation with a target rent and a price-to-lease-by date so the asking-rent decision is documented if days-on-market drag.