E.P.I.C. Strategies Excels in Preserving, Maintaining Client Properties

E .P.I.C. spells it all: Extraordinary Properties, Intelligent Commerce, not only as a source for the most comprehensive and relevant real-estate sales and services but also in the areas of property management, preservation and renovation services.

“Preservation focuses on bringing and maintaining the properties to marketable condition,” said Elena Delgado-Jenkins, founder & president of E.P.I.C. “Management focuses on marketing, financials, tenant and occupancy administration, and risk management; we believe in providing consistent, high-quality services at an affordable price.”

Delgado-Jenkins explained that in terms of preservation and management, clients are looking for a partner to maximize their return on investment (ROI) for the property through efficient performance.

“As a broker and property manager, we act in the best interest of the client, maintaining the property, evaluating yields and return on investment,” Delgado-Jenkins said. “Relationships are built and established with local professionals and Realtors to ensure that each property is completely assessed and all issues are reported to our clients.”

Delgado-Jenkins, a more than 20-year veteran of the industry, said that understanding and communicating basic housing economics, such as measuring and evaluating yields and ROI to clients, is essential.

“We have an extensive list of industry partners that enables us to have the capacity to perform any preservation or repair service on a nationwide scale, whether in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands or the continental United States,” Delgado-Jenkins said, adding that E.P.I.C. is processing its Small Business Administration certification

as a minority-owned, woman-owned, veteran owned real-estate services business. Servicing both residential and commercial ventures, E.P.I.C. excels in assisting clients in purchases and sales since the company is also a brokerage firm with partners in the U.S.

E.P.I.C.’s beginnings stem from Delgado-Jenkins’ recognition of the need for a kind of “navigator” among U.S.-based businesses, investors, private clients and the island.

“Based on the premise that relationships are business, and having worked all my adult life on the U.S. [mainland], I understood the needs, wants and goals better than most, and positioned myself as a liaison between them and the island,” Delgado-Jenkins has previously told Caribbean Business.

No matter the business or field, E.P.I.C. always has clients’ unique specifications and needs in mind. Delgado-Jenkins added that whether a client is looking for a property to sell or buy, as an investor or asset manager, she quickly adjusts internal processes and procedures by staying informed and being in line with clients’ new directives or shifts in priorities. Flexibility is important, she said, including the ability to understand and match clients’ vision with the services or products that can make them a reality. This vision is at the heart of E.P.I.C.’s success.

“Creating a tailor-made internal set of processes and procedures for our staff to follow, along with a customized quality-control plan, is important,” Delgado-Jenkins said. “Thus, we help to ensure all tasks are completed in a timely manner and accurately, based on the asset managers, investor and/or client’s requirements,” she added.

All this experience and its approach to the business make E.P.I.C. a valued partner for investors attracted to Puerto Rico through the incentives of Acts 20 and 22. Acts 20 and 22 were signed into law in 2012 and feature tax benefits to lure capital to Puerto Rico. Act 20 encourages the establishment of companies that export services from Puerto Rico. The law provides a corporate income-tax rate of 4%, no tax on dividends paid to local residents and no withholding tax on outbound dividends to nonresident owners. Act 22 seeks to attract new residents to Puerto Rico and exempt those residents from commonwealth taxes on investments and passive income, namely interest, dividends and capital gains.

Besides helping them find the right property, through its services, the E.P.I.C. Strategies team can provide guidance and consultancy to clients on the nature and processes of the acts themselves. This may include such details as amendments to the acts that have to be considered or features that people may not be aware of, such as the fact that while after a given date investors who had rented a property will be required to purchase a property, or as simple as the fact that these tax breaks or relief will be in effect until 2035. Delgado-Jenkins and E.P.I.C. have already assisted clients who have come to Puerto Rico because of Acts 20 and 22, helping them search for and find a property for rent or to purchase.

“We are always there for the clients throughout the entire process,” Delgado-Jenkins said.