Owner FAQs

Yes, Candlewood is a fully licensed Real Estate Company as is required by the State of Wisconsin. Our office employs multiple people who are trained and licensed in Wisconsin Real Estate and Rental Laws. We consistently are going through continuing education to assure we are up to date on changes that affect our industry.

Candlewood is locally owned and operated and has been handling Real Estate Management and helping renters since 1999. Our owners and employees all live in this community and we support local events and the daily use of local Vendors all in an effort to keep our community strong.

If you are interested in having us manage rental properties for you, select HERE to send us a message with any questions or inquiries.

Wisconsin law requires that property managers who collect earnest money (ie rents/deposits) or negotiate and execute lease agreements MUST hold a valid real estate license. While we don't sell real estate, Candlewood is a licensed real estate office with numerous staff trained and licensed with the State.

Each month rents are collected and bills are paid. The following month we process the financial statements and make any disbursements to the owners by the 15th of that month.

In general, Candlewood will price the property so that it is inline with market rents. As an owner, you are free to over-ride that at any time if you would like the property higher (or lower).

We do our best to screen tenants, but there is no guarantee that a tenant will perform well. Unexpected life changes for renters can impact the ability to pay rent, even if they looked great when first approved. We do offer a tenant placement guarantee that should anyone in an annual lease, not make it 9 months of the initial term, we will release it with no additional costs to you as the landlord.

The management fee is for the routine monthly work that goes into the management of your property. This includes collection of rents, paying bills, following up on late rents, preparing monthly financial statements, being available to your residents via phone/email and during office hours, maintaining tenant records, monitoring the property, Most importantly, the monthly management provides separation between you and your residents. It's the security that you know the property is being managed professionally and in-line with current local, State & Federal laws keeping you out of trouble.

A leasing fee is an additional fee paid for each new lease we sign. Placing tenants is an expensive and time consuming project, and the leasing fee is to cover the cost of securing a new tenant for you. These costs include marketing your property via advertising, marketing, signage, website promotions and online solicitation. Additionally we do the property tours, notification of current tenants, and screening applicants. Most importantly, we prepare lease agreements that protect you as a Landlord and that comply with State and Federal laws. As these laws change, so do our agreements. The leasing process ends with us executing the lease, and getting them moved in. Ultimately, all this advertising and work we do helps reduce vacancy and in most cases will pay for itself if the property rents sooner.

A renewal fee is assessed when a resident renews. This fee covers the cost of us surveying the rents and negotiating a renewal of the property they reside at. As part of this process we prepare the legal documents to extend the lease for another term and then coordinate getting it executed with the residents. We assure that these renewals comply with ever-changing landlord/tenant laws to keep you out of trouble.