When you have a vacant unit and all of the turnover work is completed, you want to make sure the home is rent-ready. If it is, you’re ready to lease it to great tenants. The leasing process starts with an outstanding marketing strategy.
Creating a Listing for Your Property
If you work with our team at United Properties of West Michigan, the listing we create for your Grand Rapids rental property can be immediately viewed. You’ll receive an email notification with a link to the marketing page that’s on our website. If you see any corrections that need to be made, you’ll have the opportunity to respond to that email, and we will make the necessary changes.
Showing Your Property
We have a full-time leasing agent on staff, and we utilize the latest technology to show our properties. This investment in people and tools allows us to use a combination of electronic self-showings with automated lockboxes and in-person showings. Our goal is to capture every possible lead while that lead is interested. Our showing process allows each prospect the maximum opportunities to view our vacant units. It helps us to reach a larger tenant pool and it takes your property off the market faster. Some prospective tenants prefer to see the home with our leasing agent. Others want to see it on their own time, independent of anyone from our team. We are unique in our ability to offer showings either way.
Our leasing team works hard to get your property rented as quickly as possible to the most qualified tenants. Your leasing agent visits properties, follows up with prospective renters, and works to secure approved applicants for your property. We also have a full-time application processor to process applications as they come in.
High Tenant Screening Qualifications
When we screen tenants, we do so thoroughly and consistently. Our required qualifications are top in the industry. We thoroughly check rental history, we complete job verifications, and we look at every applicant’s employment history. We also do full background and credit checks.
Our income standards are non-negotiable. We require prospects to make at least three times the amount of monthly rent as provable income. We have implemented these requirements so that we can provide you with the most qualified tenant.
As we’re marketing your property and screening tenants, we will set you up for automatic notification reports which provide the weekly activity on your property and share any feedback provided from showings. Even without the notifications enabled, we’ll communicate with you about the process. You will be notified via email once we have secured a holding deposit, and we’ll be sure to let you know how much the deposit is, and when the tenant would like to move into your property. Please keep in mind these funds will not be distributed to your owner’s account until the following month.
If you have any questions about our marketing and leasing process in Grand Rapids, please feel free to contact us at United Properties of West Michigan. We’d be happy to tell you more.
Sergio joined United Properties in 2020. He is a graduate from Pickens Technical College as a Nurse Assistant and as a Small Animal Care Provider in 2010. In the past nine years, Sergio has had various jobs, all focused around customer service.
Eden joined United Properties in 2016. Eden graduated from Davenport University in 2015 with an Associate’s in Business Administration. She’s the Executive Assistant to the Owner of United Properties, with a focus on procedural documentation. She enjoys playing guitar, reading, and doing outdoor activities. Eden is trilingual and able to communicate in English, Spanish, and American Sign Language. 
David joined the United Properties team in 2019 as the Director of Client Relations and Business Development. In this capacity, he is responsible for leading all leasing, application underwriting, tenant relations, accounts receivable, process improvement, remote workers, and general office functionality (essentially anything outside of maintenance and service). David comes from a longstanding career at a Fortune 15 company primarily in a sales and customer service leadership role.
Tim VandenToorn serves as Managing Partner of United Properties of West Michigan, working closely with our owners and overseeing the day-to-day operations of the company. Tim also started United Realty, which serves as a brokerage for United Properties and assists investors with the acquisition of investment properties.
Matthew joined the United Properties in early 2020. He is a graduate of Lee University with a bachelor’s in Intercultural Studies and also a master’s in Discipleship and Christian Formation. Matthew serves as a project manager over the Rent Ready process. He has 20 years of construction experience and over 10 years of experience in leadership positions. He oversees a team of technicians and schedules outside vendors getting properties back to the United rent-ready standard so that they can be leased again.
Carla joined United Properties in late 2019 as a billing specialist. Carla ensures invoices are received from contractors and bills them out in a timely fashion.
Cristina joined United Properties as the billing assistant in October of 2020. She has experience as a technology professional, an English-Spanish translator, and has worked the past several years as the treasurer of her condominium.
Rick is one of the newest members of our team. He has an extensive background in customer service. He and his wife are raising their 4-year-old son. Rick loves beef jerky so much he makes his own.
Harriet joined United Properties as a billing assistant in February of 2021. She has experience as a bookkeeper and a Property Manager for a Real Estate account. She was a working student during her college days. Harriet loves cleaning because she thinks it is therapeutic. She also loves watching series during her free time, and she’s a fur mom of one dog. Her inspiration to work every day is her family.
Diego has an extensive background in customer service and, most recently in Maintenance and
My name is Paulina Gonzalez. I have been working for the company since early 2021. I studied social work and have 7 years of experience in customer service. I speak English and Spanish. I am very patient, and I like to ask a lot of questions to learn a lot. I enjoy small road trips and cold rainy weather. I have a 3-month-old puppy, and he is my favorite thing in the world.
Jessica has a Bachelor’s Degree in Financial strategies and public accounting and is studying a masters in Blockchain and Fintech regulation. She has previous experience as a customer service representative. She speaks English and Spanish. She loves taking long walks with her three dogs, hiking and road tripping during the weekends.
Chris Good is new to the United Properties Team since June 2022 as a Business Development Manager. With years of experience in both the construction industry (Master Electrician) and the Real Estate industry (Broker), he will closely work with new and experienced investors to facilitate their real estate goals.
Melba Alvarez
Enrique Vergara (Henry)
Alyssa Lawrence
Mike Cleveland