Homeowner FAQs - How does Alcove work?

In this article, we answer some frequently asked questions from homeowners and property managers.

Why rent by the room?

When you list your property on Alcove, we enable it to be leased to a shared group of roommates. We do this by breaking the home into more "consumable" units and leasing by the bedroom.

There is a much larger market for roommate rentals than there is for entire single family homes. By splitting your home into multiple, unique products, we can generate more rental income for you (15-25% more gross rent on average).

On the tenant side, these more "consumable" units are highly sought after for a multitude of reasons:

• Preferences - The ability to choose lease lengths and budget, rather than needing to find roommates who fit their exact time length criteria

• Price - Private rooms in shared homes are less expensive than studio apartments, offer access to better amenities, and offer more square footage per dollar to the renter. In addition, tenants take less risk by renting a room instead of finding an entire place and then dealing with the burden of finding good roommates, furnishing the place, and setting up home utilities

• Services - Alcove makes it easy to provide shared housing services like screening of roommates, utility setup, digital payments, common space furnishings, and more.

These are just a few reasons why renting your home by the room is best for both homeowners and tenants. It makes shared living easier - See our Case Studies here.

How does Alcove save me time and money?

Alcove does all the marketing (a marketing engine 40+ listing channels), touring (virtual and in-person), and application processing of the property for you.

Alcove owners also get access to our on-demand vendor services, where you can book managed services like property setup, move out cleanings and inspections, turn painting, marketing materials, and furniture installation - At 50% off market rates.

How do I get paid as the homeowner or property manager?

You get paid for each individual bedroom as soon as someone moves into it. This allows us to incrementally monetize your home, reducing vacancy.

Additionally, you can start monetizing your property instantly with per-bedroom payouts to your bank. When a bedroom in your property fills, you get paid. No more disparate payments from tenants (Paper checks, Venmo, Zelle, etc.).

Are there any fees to me as a homeowner?

No. There are no fees of any kind to the homeowner or management company. Our platform are charged to the tenants and/or their sponsoring employer.

Who is on the lease?

The Tenant and Landlord are the entities on the lease. There is no need to worry about drafting individual leases as template lease terms and policies are provided by Alcove.

My listings are already in the MLS. Do I need to do anything else?

All you have to do is list your property on Alcove. From there, you'll be able to schedule a marketing materials shift directly during your onboarding

Does Alcove work in HOA neighborhoods?

As Alcove is focused on long-term roommate rentals, the majority of our properties are single-family homes or townhome units that are part of an HOA.

The homeowner holds the responsibility for ensuring compliance with applicable covenants. If the HOA has a minimum lease length requirement for their covenants, you should make sure to update this requirement on the Alcove Manager Portal.

See more details here: Does Alcove work in HOA neighborhoods?

How is Alcove involved once the home is rented?

Alcove provides a fully inclusive shared housing experience for its tenants. As long as at lease one bedroom lease is signed with Alcove, we diligently market and tour the property until the remaining bedrooms are filled. 

By enabling individual renters to access single family homes, Alcove increases net operating incomes by 50% on average. We also help homeowners and property managers save a large chunk of time by managing all their set-up, lease-up and turn processes.

Every roommate is required to obtain renters insurance that include coverage for bodily injury and property damage for the minimum amount of $100,000 per roommate.

How long does it take to rent a property?

On Alcove, factors that impact lease-up time can include the property's availability date, the quality of its marketing materials, access for property tours, and seasonal demand fluctuations.

Based on 2023 data, the median lease-up period for Alcove properties is 24 days. With Alcove's Smart Pricing tool, which optimizes rent rates and occupancy, the lease-up timeline reduces to 14 days:

• 85% of homes with Smart Pricing are leased within 30 days

• 96% of homes with Smart Pricing are leased within 60 days

Read the full article for more information: How long will it take to fill my home with Alcove?

What is the application process for potential residents in my property?

Alcove sources the most qualified renters you could find. Our selection process is highly competitive and requires owner/property manager approval. 

Roommate safety is incredible important to our community - this is reflected in our comprehensive screening process. Perspective candidates complete their applications on our platform and all screening information is shared with property managers. They are individually approved by the owner/property manager before they can move-in. The following is information about our background check:

TransUnion Rental Screening Solutions is our background check partner. All our occupants are screened with SmartCheck Premium, which is the most extensive rental check that is offered by TransUnion. This covers credit, criminal, evictions and income insights. All these are attached to our occupant addition addendum for approval from the property manager.

When an application is ready to be approved, you will receive an email notification and resident can be approved on https://alcoverooms.com/manager/tenants

How frequently do residents turnover?

Our leases with residents are 6-18 months with some rare exceptions, but are most commonly 12 months.

Have any other questions? If they were not answered in this article, please reach out:

Email: owners@alcoverooms.com

Text: (919) 899-4096