Baldwinco Properties

Frequently Asked Questions

Our company manages residential and commercial properties. Our residential properties include single-family homes, duplexes, apartments and condominiums.

Our commercial properties include mini-storage units, office, retail, restaurant, light industrial space, garages, and others. We manage commercial properties ranging from single-user buildings to shopping centers. We refer the management of condominium associations (homeowners associations) to Association Management Group-Forsyth, LLC.

We manage properties in the Piedmont Triad Region on North Carolina. The primary counties we serve include Forsyth, Stokes, Surry, Randolph, Davidson and Davie. In some circumstances we may also handle properties in other counties.    

Our office is at 1500 S. Hawthorne Road, Winston-Salem, N.C. 27103. This is the corner of Hawthorne Road and Knollwood Street.

Our office is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

From the home page, click on Residential Rentals. This accesses a fully searchable list of our available rental properties. You can search by location, price range, size and a number of different amenities. By clicking on the thumbnail photo, you can enlarge the photo and see additional information on the property. The property page is also printable as a flyer.

We try to provide detailed information on our web page and on the available property handouts. This should include one or more photos of the property, the address, rental rate, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, type of heat and air, which utilities are provided. If there is a restriction against pets it is often but not always reflected on the web page. The web page and printed list of available properties are generally your best source of information on the properties.

Typically the properties on our web site or list of available properties are immediately available. Sometimes we may begin marketing a property before the previous resident has moved or before it is available for rent. In such cases, we try to note the available date on the property information. We strive to keep our web page updated daily so generally rented properties are removed within 24 hours.

The nature of our business is that we often experience a very high call volume. We regret the inconvenience that reaching voicemail may cause you. Please do leave a voicemail on the appropriate line and we will return your call in a timely manner. For the convenience of our customers and clients, each member of our staff has a direct phone line and a direct email address. This is the most efficient way for you to reach the party you need. Typically, our customers and clients know the name of the Property Managers and Customer Service Representatives who directly handle a specific property. We request that you make every effort to use these direct contact lines to contact our staff. If you call through our main lines each staff member also has a direct extension. If you know a staff member’s first or last name but not their direct extension, you may press “411” for a dial by first or last name directory. We hope the use of email and of our direct phone lines will make your customer service experience with Baldwin Properties as smooth and efficient as possible.

To best accommodate your schedule and ours we utilize a “Key Checkout System” for most property showings. Our customers have found this to be a very beneficial way to view a property. You can see the property on your own time and at your own pace. The easy key checkout steps are as follows:

  • Identify up to 3 properties that you would like to view.
  • Go to the Baldwin Properties office closest to the rental property during regular office hours.
  • Keys are checked out for up to 24 hours Monday thru Thursday between the hours of 8:30am – 5pm and on Fridays, 8:30am – 3pm, NO WEEKEND CHECKOUTS.
  • See our office hours and directions.
  • A $20 returnable deposit payable by cash or check and government issued ID are required for key checkout.
  • Thank you for returning all keys in a timely manner.

Note: for various reasons we have several properties that are “By Appointment Only”. This is generally noted on the web page or list of available properties.

Our company generally manages non-furnished properties. However, from time to time we may offer a furnished home, apartment or condominium. Please check the section in the Residential Properties Search Options titled Residential Property Details for specifics on furnished homes.

We do manage a number of homes and apartments for which a Section * voucher may be used. You may check the Section 8 Accepted Option on the Residential Listings page or come into our office for a list of Section 8 properties.

Great! We were hoping you would ask. Step One is to please make sure you have seen the property you are interested in. We do not lease properties which have not been viewed by the prospective tenant. Step Two is to fill out an application. Applications are available in our offices during office hours or 24/7 through www.baldwinco.com. You can also click on the link below for an Application in English or Spanish:Application Form para Español Oprima Auí Aplicacion

Click here to get Adobe Reader.

Applications may be submitted to any of our offices. Step Three is to pay the $40.00 non-refundable application fee and to show our Customer Service Representative your photo identification and documentation of your Social Security Number or other appropriate government issued identification. Step Four is that we will be checking your Credit and Criminal Reports and verifying your income and rental references. Our Credit and Criminal Report checking service is very fast. The delay in processing an application nearly always comes from delays in your employer or income source verifying income and of previous landlords/property managers verifying your rental reference. Due to these delays, it can often take up to 3 business days to approve or deny a Rental Application. However, you can help speed things up. Please see “How can I expedite the Rental Application Process” below.

Like you, we want to make your application process as quick and easy as possible. Here are some tips for helping us to do that:

  • Please complete your Rental application thoroughly. It often takes extra time for us to obtain information from applicants that could have been provided with the initial application.
  • Please make sure all contact information on your application is accurate and is the most direct way to contact you or a reference. Any information such as a direct line, fax number or email address for your employer or current landlord is very helpful.
  • Let you employer and landlord references know we will be contacting them and that you would like for them to respond quickly. Again, this is the most typical reason for a delay.
  • Bring valid verification of income and your landlord reference with you. This can really speed things up!
  • Please do not make numerous calls to our office checking on your application. Taking these calls in person or by voicemail typically only slows the process. If you do need to contact us, please use the direct phone line or email address of the Customer Service Representative you are dealing with. This will greatly enhance the efficiency of the process.

All of our properties are offered in accordance with Federal Fair Housing Laws. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or handicap.

Credit Requirements:

Our approval decisions are based on verifiable income, rental references, court records and the recommendation of an application processing vendor who bases their recommendations on a computer model analysis of credit and criminal reports. Baldwin Property Management evaluates each person applying to live in its managed properties with a credit-risk scoring system that is provided by an independent consumer reporting agency and consistently applied to all of applicants. This scoring system uses a statistical model to estimate the credit risk that an applicant may not satisfactorily fulfill his/her lease obligations. The statistical model was developed from data regarding actual residents and their payment performance of their lease obligations. Prior to final acceptance of each applicant, Baldwin Property Management will use this system to provide us with a numerical score that represents a relative measure of the credit risk associated with that applicant. Each applicant’s credit-risk score will be compared to our acceptance policies to determine whether or not the applicant may be accepted. If your application is rejected based on your credit-risk score, or accepted with certain additional conditions, you will be advised what factors most adversely affected your score and you will be given the name, address, and telephone number of the consumer reporting agency that provided the credit-risk score to us. An applicant who is rejected based on his/her credit-risk score, or accepted with certain additional conditions, may obtain a copy of the consumer report(s) on which the credit-risk score was based, and may initiate an investigation to have any erroneous information contained in such reports corrected. The consumer reporting agency will advise you of the actions that you may take in order to do so.

Baldwin Property Management conducts a criminal background search on each person applying to rent its managed properties. It is our policy not to accept prospective residents who have been charged with and/or convicted of certain felonies and/or misdemeanors. Prior to final acceptance of any applicant we will use an independent consumer reporting agency to search for public records of any such criminal background on that applicant. If the criminal background report indicates that one or more such felony and/or misdemeanor records were found, those records will be compared to established acceptance policies to determine whether or not the applicant may be accepted. If your application is rejected based on the discovery of public records that indicate an unacceptable criminal background, you will be given the name, address, and telephone number of the consumer reporting agency that provided the criminal background report to us. An applicant who is rejected based on such a criminal background report may obtain a copy of the report and may initiate an investigation to have any erroneous information contained in the report corrected. The consumer reporting agency will advise you of the actions that you may take in order to do so.

Good credit is important to our application approval process. It is not however our only criterion. Strong income and rental references may help counter poor credit in our approval process. If your credit is marginal but your income and rental record is strong, we may approve your application with special conditions, such as paying a higher security deposit.

Most often the properties we manage are not available for purchase. From time to time we may offer a rent-to-own opportunity. If a property is being offered as rent-to-own it will be noted in the information for that property. If it is not noted, you can also inquire directly to our lead property manager for that property as to whether a purchase or lease-to-own is a possibility.

We do not “hold” properties and a property is not considered rented until a Residential Rental Agreement has been signed and a Security Deposit has been paid. If you application has been approved you will need to schedule an appointment to sign the lease and post your Security Deposit before other interested parties do so.

Our standard lease is for one year. There are some situations under which we might consider a shorter term lease. If you are interested in a short-term lease on a specific property, please inquire directly to our lead property manager for that property. We reserve the right to charge a higher rent for leases under one year.

We generally do not measure or provide square footages for our rental properties. For newer construction we do sometimes provide the as built square footage.

We strive to provide properties that are clean and ready-to-rent. When you view one of our properties please let us know when you turn the key in if for any reason the property did not seem clean or ready-to-rent to you. It may be that scheduled work has not yet been completed. We manage properties ranging from brand new construction to homes over 50 years old. Brand new homes sometimes have “punch list items” which need attention. Older homes can often have their own issues, some of which just go with older homes and can not be reasonably cured. (Some of these issues give older homes their character!) We can not guarantee that every item you request will be remodeled, replaced or repaired. Please note bring any items of concern to the property managers attention before you sign the lease. Also, you will be asked to complete a “move-in inspection form” after you sign the lease.

Our rents are set based on the fair market rental for the property. Generally speaking, the rents are not negotiable.

The Security Deposit on all properties for rent are equal to one month’s rent unless a Security Deposit Special is noted. We also reserve the right to charge a higher Security Deposit.

Because we manage a variety of properties for a variety of clients we do not have one policy that applies to everyone. If at all possible we would like to accommodate prospective tenants with pets, unfortunately that is not possible for every home or apartment. Here a few general guidelines: If the property information states “yes” to pets then we allow certain pets with a pet fee or a pet deposit. There may still be restriction as to the type and size of pets and indoor vs outdoor pets. If the property information states “no” then we do not allow pets at that property. If you absolutely want one of our “no pets” properties and believe that an exception should be made for you and your pet, please provide us with a written petition as to why and we will present it to our client, the property owner. Specific pet references from previous landlords can be very beneficial in the pet decision process. Pet Fees are non-refundable and do not apply to specific damage caused by your pet. Pet Deposits will be refunded if there is no damage caused by your pet and all other terms of your rental agreement have been met. Your regular Security Deposit will also be applied towards any pet damage.