Switching Managers
Switching property managers in Amarillo
Yes, you can change property managers, even with tenants in place and leases running. Your residents’ leases stay in force, their security deposits move with the management, and a new manager can take over in about one to two weeks once your current agreement allows it.
Signs it's time to switch
Most owners don’t switch over one bad month. They switch when the same problems keep coming back:
| What you’re seeing | What good looks like |
|---|---|
| You don’t hear from your manager unless you chase them | A monthly statement plus a plain-English monthly report, and replies to your emails. See our sample owner reports. |
| Your rental has sat vacant for weeks with no plan | A written rent analysis from comparable leases and a price check at set points while it’s listed. How we price your rental. |
| Repair bills you can’t explain, or repairs that never happen | A clear repair limit you set, invoices attached to your statement, and a published coordination fee. Our fees. |
| Maintenance requests go unanswered and residents call you directly | Residents submit requests online, a team triages them, and you’re contacted only above your limit. |
| Your statement is hard to read, or fees show up you didn’t expect | Every fee on its own line, and a fee schedule published before you sign. |
If your current manager can’t show you these, it’s reasonable to look elsewhere. Questions to ask any property manager, including us.
Step 1: Read your current agreement
Before you give notice, find three things in your management agreement:
- The notice period. Many agreements require 30 days’ written notice.
- Any early termination fee. This often applies only during the first term.
- What happens at the end. When the final accounting is due, and how deposits, funds and records are returned.
Give notice in writing and keep a copy. If you’re not sure what your agreement allows, we’ll read it with you. This isn’t legal advice, and for a dispute you should talk to an attorney.
Step 2: What has to transfer
When management changes, these move from your old manager to your new one:
- Current leases and any addenda for each resident
- Tenant ledgers showing what each resident has paid and owes
- Security deposits. The money has to move, not just the paperwork. If your previous manager doesn’t transfer a deposit, you as the owner are still responsible for it to your resident.
- Keys, garage remotes, gate and lock codes
- Open work orders, warranties and vendor information
- Any pending notices or legal matters, such as a late-rent notice or an eviction already filed
- Your funds: any reserve and undistributed rent, with a final statement
At Blaze, we don’t take over a property with residents until the leases, ledgers and deposits are in hand, or until you’ve confirmed in writing where the deposits are held. That protects you and your residents if a question about a deposit comes up later.
Step 3: What Blaze does when we take over
- Agreement. We sign a management agreement electronically. Our fees are published: 10% of rent collected, $0 setup, $0 while vacant. See every fee.
- Intake. Through our online onboarding portal you give us property details, insurance, keys and access, utilities, and, for occupied homes, the leases, ledgers and deposit information.
- Handover from your old manager. We request the transfer items above and reconcile the deposits against the leases.
- Notice to your residents. Each resident gets a written notice of the management change: who to contact, where to pay rent, and that their deposit is now held by Blaze. Their lease terms don’t change.
- Onboarding inspection. We walk the home room by room and send you two PDFs: an Inspection Report with photos and a priced Make-Ready Worklist. For an occupied home, we schedule the walkthrough with your resident within the first 30 days. The report becomes the baseline for the next move-out. How the onboarding inspection works.
- Setup and first statement. Your property and residents go into our management system, you get your owner portal login, and your first monthly statement and report follow.
What it costs to switch
- $0 setup. No onboarding fee.
- 10% of rent collected each month. No fee in a month when no rent is collected.
- No leasing fee for residents already in place. The 30% leasing fee applies only when we place a new resident. A 15% renewal fee applies when a current resident renews.
- No separate fee for the onboarding inspection. It’s part of taking over the home.
- No early-termination fee on homes that come to us with residents in place. Our first-term termination fee only applies to homes where we placed the resident.
Your old manager may charge a termination fee under their agreement. That’s between you and them, and it’s worth checking before you give notice.
Tenants behind on rent, or an eviction in progress?
You can still switch. Tell us up front. We review the ledger and any notices already served, then follow our standard eviction process. Texas evictions follow strict notice and court steps, so we don’t skip a step or restart one without knowing where the case stands.
And if you ever want to leave Blaze
We think you should know the exit before you sign:
- 30 days’ written notice. Your final statement and funds arrive within 30 days of the end date.
- During the first 12 months, the early-termination fee applies only to homes where we placed the resident. For each of those homes, it’s the greater of the management fees left on that resident’s lease or $1,000.
- Homes that came with residents already in place have no early-termination fee. For example, if you bring us six homes and we place residents in three, the fee applies only to those three.
- After the first term, there’s no cancellation fee.
Can I switch property managers in the middle of a lease?
Yes. Leases are between you (the owner) and your residents, so they stay in force when the manager changes. Residents get a written notice of who to pay and who to call.
Do my tenants have to sign new leases?
No. Their current leases continue. When a lease comes up for renewal, it renews on our lease form.
What happens to my tenants’ security deposits?
They transfer to the new manager along with the leases and ledgers, and we reconcile every deposit before we take over. If your previous manager doesn’t transfer a deposit, you as the owner remain responsible for it to your resident, so it pays to get them moved.
How long does it take to switch?
About one to two weeks for our side once you’ve signed. The bigger factor is usually your current agreement’s notice period, often 30 days.
My current manager won’t hand over the deposits or records. What now?
It’s rare. Ask in writing and keep a copy, because your agreement and Texas law put duties on the outgoing manager. If the records still don’t come, we build a fresh record of the property and its residents, and we document that the prior manager didn’t cooperate with the transfer. Any deposits they don’t transfer remain your responsibility to your residents, and you may need an attorney to recover them.
I live out of state. Can I switch without coming to Amarillo?
Yes. Signing, intake and your owner portal are all online, and the onboarding inspection gives you a photo record of the home without a trip.
Is there a fee to switch to Blaze?
No setup fee. You pay 10% of rent we collect, plus the leasing fee only when we place a new resident. There’s no early-termination fee on homes that come to us with residents in place.
Everything an owner should ask, answered
No guessing and no sales pitch. Read our fees, our numbers and our policies before you ever call.
Ready to switch?
Tell us about your property and your current agreement, and we’ll walk you through the handover and what it would cost. Serving Amarillo and the Texas Panhandle. Call (806) 414-6021.