What New Owners Ask Us in the First 60 Days
The first two months after handing your property to a manager are the most question-heavy. Here are the ones we hear most from new Meridian owners, with the answers we give them.
How long will it take to get my house rented? For a well-priced single-family home in Lubbock, expect 2 to 4 weeks on market during a normal season. May through August moves faster because Texas Tech students, incoming faculty, and medical residents drive most of the demand. December and January are the slowest. If your property has been listed 21 days with limited showing activity, the price is almost always the issue — not the photos, not the listing platform.
What rent can I actually get? We price against real, current comps within a half-mile of your address, not zip-code averages. For wider context, RentCafe's July 2026 data puts the average Lubbock apartment rent at $1,148. Single-family homes in Tech Terrace, the medical district, and Lubbock-Cooper school zones command more than that. Homes on the east side or in older stock command less. We give you a range, then you pick where in the range to start.
Why do you screen so hard? I have an applicant ready. Because eviction in Texas is fast but not free. A bad tenant costs 2 to 3 months of rent, damage repair, filing fees, and the JP court process. We verify income at 3x rent, run full credit and criminal, and call actual prior landlords — not the current one, who has a reason to say nice things. A vacant week costs less than a bad move-in.
What happens if rent is late? Rent is due on the 1st. If it is not paid by the end of the 3rd day, we assess a late fee and deliver a three-day notice to vacate by email, mail, and door post. That notice preserves your right to file an eviction if the tenant does not pay. Most tenants pay within that window. The ones who do not, we move on quickly rather than let the balance grow.
Do I have to approve every repair? No, and you would not want to. Anything under $500 we handle without calling; that keeps small issues from turning into big ones. Above $500, we call or email for approval unless it is a genuine emergency (active leak, no AC in July, no heat in a freeze). Texas requires landlords to make a diligent effort to repair conditions that materially affect health and safety, so waiting on approval for a burst pipe is not an option.
What about the winter freezes? Every December we send tenants freeze prep instructions: drip faucets, open cabinet doors, disconnect hoses. Burst pipes are the most common cold-weather claim in West Texas, and most of them happen in vacant homes or homes where the tenant left for the holidays with the heat off. If your property is vacant during a freeze warning, we schedule a walk-through to check it.
When do I get paid? Owner disbursements go out between the 10th and 15th of each month, once rent has cleared and any invoices for that month are paid. You get an itemized statement with every disbursement and a full year-end package for your accountant.
Most of these questions come up because a new owner's last experience was either self-managing or working with a manager who did not communicate. We answer them the same way every time because the answers do not change based on who is asking. If a question is not on this list, it is probably on the list we send with your onboarding packet.
