Answers for property owners

Self-manage if you live nearby, have time for tenant calls and know Ohio's landlord rules. Hire a manager when distance, time, after-hours repairs or several doors make that hard. Ohio landlords must, for example, return a deposit with any deductions itemized in writing within 30 days after the lease ends and the tenant moves out (ORC 5321.16), and give a written notice to leave before filing an eviction (ORC 1923.04). Tenant Placement suits hands-on owners, and Full Management covers the day-to-day.

Your cost depends on the plan you choose, and we give you a clear fee breakdown after a free, no-obligation rental analysis. Tenant Placement is a one-time leasing fee. Full Management is a percentage of the monthly rent, so the fee moves with your rent. Portfolio pricing, for five or more units, is custom. The analysis covers your property's market rent and a management plan showing exactly what we would handle and what it costs, with no hidden charges.

Full Management covers everything between you and your tenants: marketing and listing syndication, tenant screening and background checks, lease preparation and signing, move-in coordination, online rent collection and disbursement, 24/7 maintenance and repair coordination, vendor management and contractor oversight, an owner portal with monthly statements, and lease enforcement and renewals. Tenant Placement covers the first four of those. Your free rental analysis includes a management plan showing exactly what we would handle and what it costs, and the signed management agreement controls.

Ask whether the company holds an Ohio real estate broker's license, then ask about fees, what each plan includes, how repairs are approved, how you are paid and how the agreement ends. In Ohio, managing or renting buildings to tenants for others for a fee is broker activity, and a company doing it must be licensed (ORC 4735.01 and 4735.02). Swanzer Property Management is the trade name of 2020 Realty LLC, a licensed Ohio real estate brokerage. We are Cleveland-based and locally owned.

Yes. Under Full Management, tenants send maintenance requests through their tenant portal to us, not to you, and our vetted local trades network responds 24/7, with emergencies prioritized. We match the right local trade to each job, coordinate the repair, oversee the work through completion and show the results in your owner portal. That matters because Ohio law makes the landlord responsible for keeping a rental fit and habitable (ORC 5321.04).

Our average time to lease is 19 days. We get the property rent-ready with turnover, photos and listing, market it with wide listing syndication, and screen every applicant so speed does not come at the cost of tenant quality. Nineteen days is an average, not a guarantee: time on market depends on the property's condition, its location, the season and the market.

We manage rentals across Cuyahoga, Lorain and Erie counties. Cities we serve include, in Cuyahoga County: Cleveland, Lakewood, Rocky River, Westlake, Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights, Parma, Strongsville and Euclid. In Lorain County: Avon, Avon Lake, North Ridgeville, Elyria, Lorain, Amherst and Vermilion. In Erie County: Huron and Sandusky. Our offices are at 2800 Euclid Ave in Cleveland and at The Swanzer Agency Realtors, 8085 Leavitt Rd, in Amherst.

Single-family homes, condos and townhouses, small multi-family buildings, and commercial multi-family portfolios across Northern Ohio. We work with individual landlords, small and mid-size portfolios and out-of-state investors, and we are accepting new single-family and multi-family properties. Owners with five or more units can choose our Portfolio plan, which adds a dedicated account manager and portfolio performance reviews.

Every applicant goes through credit, background, income and rental-history verification. Applicants apply through our tenant portal with photo ID, proof of income and their rental history, and the application fee covers the credit and background screening. Requirements vary by property and are stated in each listing. We follow the federal Fair Housing Act and Ohio fair housing law, which bars discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, military status, familial status, ancestry, disability or national origin (ORC 4112.02).

Rent is collected online and disbursed to your bank account each month. Tenants pay through their secure tenant portal with one-time or recurring payments, and you can see real-time income, expenses and statements any time in your secure owner portal. Online rent collection, disbursement and monthly statements are all part of Full Management.

No. Many of our owners are out-of-state or remote, and we handle the property care and upkeep on the ground while your owner portal keeps you informed. For rentals in Cuyahoga or Lorain County, an owner living outside Ohio must name an Ohio resident as agent for legal papers and file that agent with the county auditor, unless they keep a statutory agent with the Secretary of State (ORC 5323.03). Cleveland, Lorain, Euclid and Elyria add local-agent or local-contact rules, and in Euclid, Swanzer serves as the local manager for our out-of-state clients.

A clear agreement states the term, every fee, what the manager handles, how much the manager may spend on a repair before asking you, how and when you are paid, how either side can end it, and how deposits, keys and records are handed over at the end. With Swanzer, services are provided only under a signed management agreement, and where anything on our website differs from it, the signed agreement controls. Your free rental analysis includes a management plan to review first.

We choose contractors from our registered vendor network, where each must hold the license their trade requires and current general liability insurance, plus workers' compensation where applicable. We match the right local trade to each job, oversee the work through completion and hold it to our quality standards. Vendor management is part of the service, and you see the results in your owner portal.

An Ohio landlord must keep a rental fit and habitable: follow health and safety codes, keep supplied systems and appliances working, and supply running water, plus hot water and heat unless the tenant controls them through their own utility hookup (ORC 5321.04). If a problem is not fixed within a reasonable time or 30 days of written notice, whichever is sooner, a tenant current on rent may deposit rent with the court, unless the landlord has three or fewer units and says so in writing (ORC 5321.07).

If rent goes unpaid, the landlord must give a written notice to leave, with the warning wording the law sets out, at least three days before filing an eviction, by certified mail, by hand or left at the home (ORC 1923.04). Three days is Ohio's minimum, so check what applies to your property first. A landlord may not lock the tenant out or shut off utilities to force a move-out, or seize belongings to collect rent (ORC 5321.15). Full Management includes lease enforcement, and we handle evictions.

Yes in Cleveland and the City of Lorain, and owners of rentals in Cuyahoga or Lorain County must also file contact details with the county auditor (ORC 5323.02). Cleveland requires each non-owner-occupied rental to be registered before tenants move in and renewed yearly at $70 per unit, due by March 1 under the ordinance (the City's page says March 31), and units built before 1978 need a Lead Safe Certification or exemption. Lorain requires a Rental Dwelling Housing License, and we keep city filings and inspections squared away there. Other cities set their own rules, so check each one yearly.