The Customer-Focused Innovations We Hope Will Earn Raleigh’s Vote for The News and Observer’s Best Local Companies

Why We’re Asking for Raleigh’s Vote

Raleigh is an incredible city, and we don’t think we could be in a better place. We love managing homes across Wake County for mostly everyday homeowners with 2 homes or less.  From mom and pop reluctant landlords to a cross-country transplant with an inherited home, to frequent travelers who need basic housing help, we’ve got Raleigh housing needs covered.  We even provide industry innovations for renters, such as deeply discounted housing services provided for our many happy residents.

We are hoping our efforts will earn us your vote in The News and Observer’s Best Local Companies event.

Field Services: Solving the Small Repair and Pest Problems Residents Actually Face

In the early 2020s we built out an internal field services division. At the time, most of the industry was still passing every work order to a rotating cast of third-party vendors and hoping the resident wasn’t going to be too frustrated by the two-week wait. We couldn’t handle having our field reputation completely tied to contractors, and we also understood that with soaring rents would come justifiably soaring expectations and stakes. So we hired technicians, trained them to focus on a handful of the highest return on investment win-win tasks we could fill their schedule with, and the rest is history.  We couldn’t be happier with the outcome.

The 2026 Appfolio Renter Survey confirmed what we already suspected: residents rank fast, consistent handling of minor repairs and pest logistics near the top of what they care about. We’re not installing granite countertops and other high-margin jobs.  Our goal is to solve the most common day-to-day housing logistics challenges for all homeowners and renters.

Resident Benefits: We’re Housing Service Providers, Not Landlords

A landlord collects rent. A housing services provider delivers a service that a resident chooses, month after month, and can choose to leave at renewal. Those are two different businesses in our eyes.  Similar to the difference in Motel 6 and Marriott, we strive to be the latter.

The resident benefits package was a huge and challenging leap in that direction.  Especially since we had to build what was essentially a second business in the depths of the post 2020’s.  Despite those incredible challenges, we were proud to have been named to Inc Magazine’s Inc 5000 Greatest Companies list.  Specifically for the historically difficult years from 2022-2024.

The math for owners is simple. Turnover on a single-family rental usually costs somewhere between $3,500 and $10,000 once you count the vacancy weeks, the make-ready work, the leasing time, and the new resident onboarding. Anything that keeps a good resident in place for another twelve months pays for itself several times over. The benefits package is a retention tool and we have also expended a ton of effort outlining how profitable and rewarding it can be to focus on high-quality tenant satisfaction first.

The Under 1 Percent Eviction Record

Our twenty-year eviction rate sits under one percent, and that includes the post-2020 stretch when the industry average spiked considerably. The number isn’t luck. It’s the compounding output of a resident-focused operating model.

Consistent screening at intake catches problems before they become tenancies. Consistent communication throughout the lease means small issues surface early, when they’re still small. Consistent treatment, meaning we do what we said we’d do when we said we’d do it, means residents work with us instead of around us when something goes sideways.

This is hands down one of our proudest achievements.

Custom Home Services for Raleigh Owners Who Aren’t Landlords

Not every Raleigh homeowner wants to be a landlord. Some inherited a house and don’t want to sell it in a slow market. Some travel six months of the year and need someone paying attention to the roof and the HVAC while they’re gone. Some pulled the house off the market and want to hold until conditions improve.

Custom Home Services is our answer for those owners. It’s the third option between sell and rent. We handle the property care, the vendor coordination, the seasonal checks, the security, and the small repairs, without ever putting a resident in the home. It’s the operational infrastructure of a property management company applied to homes that aren’t rentals.

How to Cast Your Vote

The News and Observer’s Best Local Companies voting runs from 7/6 for about three weeks, and you can vote daily! Voting is quick. If our work over the past twelve months, or the last twenty years, has earned a spot on your ballot, we’d be grateful for the support.