Property Management & Engineering Services in Virginia
Close to Washington, DC, and Maryland, the Northern Virginia region is densely populated and has much in common with its closest neighbors. Northern Virginia offers cultural and economic diversity, an expanding job market, and urban amenities that make investing in real estate an attractive option. The always-changing political scene draws both permanent and temporary residents to the area, adding to the opportunities for commercial real estate investors.
One Size Never Fits All
Income-producing properties each come with their own strengths and weaknesses. Owners will find that management strategies suitable for one property do not necessarily perform well when replicated for another. Yet the desire among investors and owners for maximum revenue remains a constant, differences in buildings notwithstanding. Ultimately, landlords seek ways to limit expenses while enlarging the margin of profit, without losing tenants. The Edge team addresses each property as a complete unique asset it is. Before executing any plan, Edge conducts in-depth research to audit existing building technologies, systems, and processes, in addition to interviewing tenants to arrive at the proper course of action.
Partnering with Property Owners
Our founding partners brought a substantial amount of business and real estate experience when they started Edge and our entire team continues to invest significant time and resources to stay attuned to the latest advances in property management technology and protocols. Edge recognizes that landlords often face complicated tasks throughout the year. With this in mind, our experts share specific areas of knowledge that boost their buildings’ revenue and value. The behavior and fluctuations in the commercial real estate market are vital areas of property management. In addition, the features that cause the best tenants to renew their leases are essential for a landlord to lift a property’s financial performance. This includes contractor negotiations, safety compliance, and necessary physical improvements.
Happy Tenant, Happy Landlord
Business partners that pursue the same goals always generate the most optimum results and this is true with the relationship between tenants and landlords. While landlords strive to make the most money, tenants always want to pay less and reduce expenses. Sometimes these interests run counter. Tenants are benefitted from interior environments that boost employee productivity, as well as help attract and retain talent, as well as settings that enable their companies to operate efficiently. Space – whether it be commercial office, industrial/warehouse, or retail space – that offers these attributes and is well-maintained, provides an incentive for tenants to remain in place. That is one reason why Edge makes tenant advocacy a vital component to its regular menu of services.
Public Obligations and Responsibilities
Building codes and safety ordinances are imposed by state and local governments to protect the interests of those who pass through the city’s many buildings. Owners are sometimes bothered by such regulations, whether justifiably or not. Edge comes alongside the proprietors to manage these responsibilities in a way that preserves financial potential while limiting liability and legal exposure. Not only are the sometimes-perplexing rules digested and explained, but our company applies them efficiently so that no unnecessary outlays are disbursed.
Building Operations, Capital Improvements, and Remodeling
The commercial brokerage community and end-users alike tout the extreme importance of location in any real estate decision and Northern Virginia has numerous compelling areas and communities in which to settle a business. Some of the most popular areas are Arlington County, Falls Church, Fairfax City, and Loudoun County, where commercial enterprises can find any number of strategic locations from which to operate.
Edge puts intense effort into selecting and negotiating with reputable yet reasonable contractors. While the work proceeds, property management companies do better when they neither micro-manage nor adopt a hands-off approach.
Edge puts confidence in its contracting and vending agents yet always maintains accountability to its clients. Therefore, our oversight of construction projects ensures that the owner’s interests are acknowledged and protected while the builder’s competence and professionalism are respected.
Even modernized buildings demand consistent maintenance. Edge fields a team of highly-qualified engineers with experience in commercial office, retail and industrial properties. Our group oversees the electrical, HVAC, plumbing, and security components of each site, in addition to making regular maintenance repairs and upgrades relative to building infrastructure.
Consistently Adding Value
Edge measures commercial property as a mortgage lender would: that is, how much revenue is the building producing? We seek a trajectory for every location that reflects an upward trend in income. Not every variable comes under direct control; for instance, the draining of commercial tenants in cities across the country due to COVID-19. The factors that can be influenced should all bend toward increasing property value. As noted above, this involves saving as well as investing. Discerning the best tax strategies, refinancing expensive mortgages, attending to maintenance early on, and holding on to positive tenant relationships each play a role in preserving and increasing the overall worth of a property. Edge looks out for the bottom line from every angle of management. Rental property management in Northern Virginia is more than a matter of filling vacant space.
Certain responsibilities like code compliance, for instance, demand thorough knowledge of local and state laws. On the other hand, best practices in this enterprise are common throughout the United States. On the surface, property management might look simple: lease space, clean common areas, collect rents and fix what is broken. Yet Edge seeks to continually improve building performance by also securing superior financing, negotiating win-win leases with tenants, scoping out other profit centers, and winning the best service from vendors.
Past Clients & Testimonials
MIKE SIMMONS
Principal Director of Acquisitions,
Stewart Investment Partners
As an operator with institutional financial partners, strong accounting and reporting is a must. The Edge team consistently produces for us, with on-time, accurate reports and attentiveness to those urgent needs that always surface on short notice. That, combined with knowledgeable and reliable engineering, and professional management top to bottom, has been our Edge experience.
JOHN KRAEG
Chief Financial Officer,
Haleakala Ranch
We are a Hawaii Corporation and Edge manages our DC – Maryland properties, which are on the far side of the mainland for us. Therefore, having dependable and timely “full-service” professional property management is important for us; especially during Covid. We get this level of expertise and service from Edge.
MARLENE SWAN
Investment Manager,
Aetna Real Estate Investments
We have a long and successful relationship with the partners at Edge and hired their team to help us turn around two of our very challenging REO’s in the DC Area. Their flexibility and drive to succeed is absolutely one of our best partners in the country.
Areas We Serve in Virginia
Arlington – Alexandria – Sterling – Ashburn – Fairfax – Reston/Herndon – Chantilly – Manassas – Woodbridge – Richmond – Virginia Beach
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Frequently Asked Questions
Additions and renovations are never vanity projects. When Edge advises capital improvements, it is always done with enhancing value as the aim. This includes higher rents and a greater resale price. Among our strengths is ongoing market research. If the data tells us that enlarging or redesigning a space will attract or retain the best businesses, we pass that on to the clients. Always aware of the landlord’s financial capacity, we are conservative in our estimates and recommendations.
A good one certainly does. The government wants to improve its revenue just like property owners do. When Edge gives clients a vision of enhanced earnings, we fully account for larger burdens. Those are borne by tenants, within reason and are offset by lower vacancy rates and augmented remittances per occupancy. The constituent units are worth more even as the public obligations increase. In other cases, contracted work is for better function and has little effect on the local property tax assessment.
The name refers to section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code. Simply stated, a 1031 exchange is when an investor trades one property for another. The two subject parcels must be “like-kind,” IE. of similar condition, function, and dimensions. Only investment properties are eligible for a 1031 exchange. Once a like-kind relationship is established, the party trading up can acquire a more promising asset without the Internal Revenue Service recognizing it as a capital gain. Another advantage is that there is no cap on the frequency of availing oneself of the 1031 exchange.
Our growing staff of engineers performs all the services an owner expects of property management companies in Northern Virginia. Among them include attending to myriad malfunctions and disorders in both the suites and the common areas. In addition, reformatting units for new tenants (including replacing locks) is a standard duty, as is tending to the building’s aesthetics, painting, landscaping, and installing fixtures in accordance with disability laws. The department also supervises and collaborates with contractors and third-party suppliers.
Edge engineers also work closely with builders and other contractors hired to perform capital improvements and additions. Those working on Edge-managed properties must be evaluated and qualified by our own professionals. Once selected, they are held accountable to our engineers in the conception and execution of designs, cost estimates, budget constraints, and keeping the projects on schedule. In short, there remains an elevated level of accountability yet an equally large deposit of confidence in those charged with doing the work. This “trust but verify” philosophy occupies the heart of sound property management in the Northern Virginia region.
Not only can we advocate on behalf of building occupants, but it also serves our clients that we do so. Attracting quality tenants, and preserving a contractual relationship with them, is a crucial component of a well-performing property. The tenants should not feel like prisoners and leases should never be viewed as sentences. Instead, Edge seeks to make its sites advantageous for businesses, the kind of locations that work for them in the long term. Edge cemented such a mutually profitable relationship recently with a tech company in Virginia.
Acknowledging the utility and soundness of retaining excellent renters in no way diminishes Edge’s attention to its clients’ needs. Indeed, the tenant perspective is weaved into the landlord advisory services provided by Edge as an agent of rental property management. We keep clients abreast of market trends and share techniques to boost demand for their spaces. In other areas of management, Edge reviews leases to identify legal exposure and unrealized benefits from specific clauses.
Our colleagues are our competition. Property management is a tough business and competing calls for a strong work ethic and intelligent decision-making. Edge focuses on elevating ourselves by constantly striving for progress and improvement. The proof is in the property. As our collection of satisfied clients grows, we build on successes and adjust when encountering setbacks. Through it all, we strive to make each asset we manage more efficient, attractive, and profitable. Undergirding all our successful management narratives is the establishment of authentic bonds of trust and confidence.