Do You Stand Up for What You Believe In?

“All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”  -Thomas Jefferson

 Standing up for what you believe in. That’s a pretty important thing. 

How far do you go to stand up for what you believe in?  I have been pondering that question for a while now. I like to consider myself a caring, compassionate person.  I try to be there for my family, I help take care of my elderly, Mom. I hope my son would say that I am a good Mom and that I am always there for him. I know I could be a better friend, and make an effort to be better, because I believe in the need for good friends in your life. 

What about outside my little world?  Do I do anything to stand up for things that I feel strongly about?  I volunteered at the local library for a couple of years, but stopped doing that this past year, my business and personal lives were just too demanding.  I feel very strongly about a great many issues and am brought to tears when I hear stories of abuse of children or animals.  I volunteered with Lab Rescue of Florida for a year or two, that started to fade off after my hysterectomy and then again a business and personal life that is too demanding.  I used to do the local Breast Cancer Walk every year, haven’t done that in a few years. 

Every so often, I will hear about something that I would like to participate it. Last night on the news there was a story about a place in Kissimmee http://www.gktw.org/about/.  The story they had was about a fifteen year old girl who had kidney cancer as a toddler and was given a few years to live. She wanted to be a princess and went there and became a princess for a week that she was there.  She got better after going there and she is now completely cancer free. She volunteers there now. Here is the link:  Give Kids the World Story ABC News   It was touching and I was motivated to find out more and see what I could do to participate, but then my son found out he didn’t get a job he interviewed for and my focus was on encouraging him, dealing with other family stuff, you know “life.”

 There is a saying that moves me every time I hear or see it:  According to the US Holocaust Museum, the text is as follows:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me.

I know I personally need to start doing better at standing up and even fighting for things that I believe in. How about you? 

Business, Places and Things I recommend in Brevard County-Part Two

 The next recommendation I have for a service provider in Brevard County Florida is for a Veterinary Office. Anyone that knows me knows how much I love my dogs.  It is important for me to have a Vet that is not only going to be kind to my dogs, but that knows what they are doing and doesn’t charge an arm and a leg.  One such Veterinary office in Brevard county is:  Palm Bay Animal Clinic.  The Veterinarians at the clinic are: Drs. Paul & Jen Sikoski.  We usually see Dr Jen, but she was out the last time Sadie wasn’t feeling well, so she got to see Dr Paul.  Sadie hadn’t been feeling well, was not acting like her regular crazy self, seemed a bit warm, and was limping, so I made an appointment for her to go to the office.  They were able to see her that same day. 

This was Sadie on her way to the Vet.  She loves riding in the car.  

One of the things that I like about the office is that neither Dr suggests a bunch of unnecessary tests, just to get your money. Dr Paul told us that is could be a couple of things with Sadie, and some additional tests and even an x-ray could be done, but the treatment would be the same regardless, so unless we needed to know exactly what was wrong, he suggested just starting her on some antibiotics and bed rest.  The antibiotics were the easy part, even though she is not very cooperative at taking medicine, the resting was almost impossible.  She did manage to get better though, so that’s all that matters. 

The staff at the office is really easy to work with and very helpful.  The office was highly recommended to us from a lady we met through Lab Rescue of Brevard, She was the ‘foster mom” for Sadie and it just happened to be the week of Christmas two years ago that Sadie was given over to Lab Rescue and the weekend we were keeping her, to get to know her.  Being that it was Christmas, the foster mom had to go out of town, and wouldn’t you know it, Sadie got sick. She was vomiting and couldn’t hold anything down.  She was not legally our dog, but we couldn’t stand seeing her suffer, so we made the decision to take her to the vet. The vet we went to, charged us a lot of money, and there wasn’t even anything they could do.   She got better and we let the foster mom know what happened, not only did she get us re-imbursed for the vet bill, she recommended a new vet, and that was Palm Bay Animal Clinic.  We have been taking both dogs to them ever since. 

Cooper was even featured on their face book page: https://www.facebook.com/PalmBayAnimalClinic/photos_stream 

After Dr Jen said we needed to put him on a diet and he lost 10 lbs. 

So if you are looking for a great Veterinary office in Brevard county Florida, give Palm Bay Animal Clinic a try. 

How to Screen a Perspective Tenant Part Three:

This is the third blog in a series on how to screen perspective tenants.  The first two are:

 How to Screen a Perspective Tenant Part One  and How to Screen a Perspective Tenant Part Two

These blogs go into ways you can screen a tenant, before they even fill out an application.  Todays talks about ways of screening, once the application is front of you. 

So once you have gotten beyond the phone screening and the showing and have a complete application in your hands, you have got a lot of work to do.  If you have a good application, you should have collected a lot of information that needs to be checked out before you can consider the applicant for an approval.  The first and most basic step is to do a quick public records search, which is free of charge to make sure the person does not have any local felonies, evictions or anything else that would disqualify them.  You can also do a Google search of their names and see what comes up there. 

If I find something at this point, I will notify the applicant and give them their money back. I didn’t spend any of the application fee, and it only took a couple of minutes of my time. I find the person is not as angry about being rejected at this point, if they can get their money back.  Once I do actually run the information through the paid site that I use, they will no longer get a refund. 

I usually look over the application one more time, prior to running the credit. sometimes there are things that may have ben missed, like the dat they are looking to move in. is it reasonable or is it a month or more out? if it is more than a week or two, i usually contact the owner to see if they would be willing to hold the property for that long.  Are they smokers is another question on the application, that may warrant a call to the owner prior to running credit. Smoking is not allowed in the majority of rental properties these days, but some people still smoke, and they might say yes, to the smoking question, but state that they only smoke outside.  This can be true in some cases, and not true in others.  I like to give my owner the opportunity to make that call.  I also double check as to whether or not they listed a pet on the application, and if yes, what type and/or breed.  This is important especially if I did not show the rental property, and therefore did not have the opportunity to screen them on this at the beginning. 

If everything checks out, I move forward with the processing of the application.  As you can see, it is a lot more complicated than it would seem that is why a good property manager is a very good asset to have. 

Are You doing a Good Job for Your Client?

Every so often while doing comps or researching something on the MLS, I come across some examples of  real estate agents providing very poor service to their client.  I recently read a blog here on Active Rain that had multiple  photos that had been used in listings that were not very flattering to the property.  I have seen my share of those, as well as the listings that have no photos except for the front.  I understand that sometimes the client will insist the listing go in, prior to work being completed, or tenants moving out, so inside photos are just not feasible. I personally make a note of that in the MLS and get the photos in as quick as I can.  Some of the photos I see with no inside photos, are not having work done and are vacant and have been for a while (hmm wonder why?).   I know as a consumer myself, if there are no inside photos, I just move on. There must be a reason the agent didn't wantto show the inside.  Then there are those that just take lousy photos.  I am always surprised that the seller/owner doesn’t complain, after all most of them today have access to the Internet and have plenty to say about how the listing looks.  

Another example of poor representation of the client is when the home is listed in the wrong area, or as the wrong type. I have seen listings that say they are in one area and upon looking closer, can tell that they are actually several miles away and in area that is actually more desirable or just the opposite.  I have seen single-family homes listed as condos, manufactured homes listed as townhouses and wonder how long it will take the agent to realize it.  Our MLS has a way to police the listings. I prefer to just let the agent know with an e-mail and have done that and once or teice, I never even received a thank you from agents. 

It just makes me wonder how those agents stay in business, because a lot of them do.  Some of the listings I have seen with these type of issues are from well established agents who have been in business for a long time.  I guess they must be doing something right. 

My Favorite Things About Technology: Part 1

I am starting another blog series, this one will be about my favorite things about technology, both in my professional and personal lives. I came up with this as an idea fie a single blog, but realized it would be way more than what could fit in one blog.  So I will start out today with my most favorite thing.  

 So I would have to say that my very favorite thing about technology is the ability to stay in touch with loved ones in so many different ways.  this is especially important for me, since my son is a sophomore at the University of Florida.  As busy as I am in my property management business, I feel like I can always make time for him, because it is so convenient to do so. 

We did Face Time for the first time the other night. It was really fun. It was great being able to see his face and his dorm room in the back ground, it was kind of like I was there with him. I even tried to get the dogs to notice him on my iPad, LOL, but they didn't.  He got to see them though so that made him happy. 

 Thanks to technology, even when I am driving I can easily reach him, without having to be distracted by dialing or looking at my phone. I can just pull a lever on my steering wheel and use voice commands to call or text him.  I can even have his text messages read to me.  

Texting is another great way to stay in touch. I don't want to call all the time, I want him to feel like he is fully experiencing the whole being away from home thing, but I need to still be connected.  Last year, his first time ever being away from home for more than a week or two trip to Grandma's (once or twice), was really hard for me. I couldn't stand not knowing if he was safe, so every night we texted goodnight. It was reassuring for me and not too invasive for him.  This year though he asked me if we could stop doing it. It was OK with me.  The first year was the really hard one. 

Thanks to the technology that created hybrids, going up to Gainesville to pick him up, drive him back or just to visit, isn't such a hard hit on the wallet. It makes it almost painless to head up there as often as I do.  In September, I traded in my Cadillac CTS, that was not very budget friendly on the gas and got a Ford C-Max Hybrid.  So I have been making a lot more trips this year than last.  

So thanks to technology, I don't feel so lost while the center of my universe is off creating his own.  

Business, Places and Things I Recommend in Brevard County

I thought I would start a recurring blog topic on business, places and things that I recommend in Brevard County, FL.  There are so many it is hard to put them all in one blog. So I thought I would feature one or two every week or so, not only for new residents to Brevard, but for the locals, who may be looking for a new service provider or may be waiting to try a place out, without a good recommendation.  My focus is not so much to review places, but to keep this a positive blog and just write about places that I like.  

So my first recommendation is for a dentist:  Dr Paul Christianson.

The office is located in Suntree( although it is considered Rockledge, and has a Rockledge zip code): 7135 Turner Road, Rockledge, FL 3295 

 That's my car in front of the office yesterday :)

Dr Christianson is retired from the US Army and is the most laid back dentist I have ever known. He is honest and goes out of his way to help. He actually answers the office phone sometimes, and will come in on his days off to take care of an issue you may be having.   If insurance won’t cover something until the following year, he will do his best to help you to get through until that time. 

The office staff is wonderful as well.  Jennifer is the receptionist/appointment maker and more. She is extremely pleasant to deal with and does a wonderful thorough job.  She goes out of her way also to make things work for the patient.  Stehanie is the Dr’s Dental assistant and she is also wonderful. She cares about her patients and makes them feel at home and comfortable, in what is usually not a very pleasant experience.  The dental hygienist is new.  I have only been to her once and she is very nice also.
My husband has been going to them for about eight years and I switched over about five years ago. I can’t imagine going to a different dentist office.  I recommend this office highly.   Here is the link to their healh Grades page, apparently I am not the only one who thinks they are great.
Health Grades Dr Christianson

How to Screen a Perspective Tenant Part Two

 Yesterday I wrote part one on this topic: How to Screen a Perspective Tenant Part One

Today I will continue on the same subject.  Once I have screened the potential applicant over the phone and have determined that they might be good potential tenants, I make an appointment to show the property.  The showings can help to determine if this is a person that would be a good fit for the property and the landlord. 

The first thing that helps to screen potential tenants is whether or not they have arrived on time to the appointment. If they didn’t, did they call and let me know? Did they apologize? Or did they act like it is no problem that they showed up late?   This is different from a person being late for a showing appointment as a buyer, in that you or your owner, will have to deal with this person on a regular basis, on matters where things need to be done in a timely manner (pay rent, give proper notices), so this is a pretty important factor is determining a “fit.”

If they arrived on time, I will take a look at their car, do they take good care of it? Is it clean? This helps to give you an idea of how they will take care of the property.  This is not a make or break evaluation, just a good to know fact, as you more forward.  I also look at how well they take care of themselves and/or their children, basically for the same reason. 

The questions that they ask at the showing appointment are an important factor.  If they ask about property inspections and/or how often the landlord will come and see the property, that is worth noting.  They may have something to hide.  If they ask if it is a big deal if they are late once in a while, that is also worth noting, they are probably be going to be paying late.  If they go into a long convoluted story about no being able to get a good reference from their current landlord, because the landlord doesn’t like them because… (I have heard multiple versions of this one: the landlord doesn’t want to fix anything, there is mold, the landlord wants to move back in, and the landlord is doing illegal things.)  Sometimes these things do hold water, more often than not they don’t.  It is something that warrants a lot of additional investigating though, and takes a lot more time. 

If they decide they like the property and request an application, I give it to them and they look it over. At this point many potential applicants will ask questions about what exactly will disqualify them.  I have a list on the first page of things that will disqualify them, some read it first, some don’t. Either way, the questions span from:  what if I had a bankruptcy five years ago to what if I have an eviction, but it wasn’t my fault?  I had a couple one time that looked over the application, and then said well “He actually has been convicted of a felony, and is currently wearing an ankle bracelet as he is on house arrest.”  It wasn’t his fault though; he was falsely accused of stealing from his old job. Would the owner consider them? I explained that I would have to run it by the owner. This particular owner was willing to take almost anyone, and it was not a management account for me, just a placement.  The couple looked pretty rough, so I asked a few additional questions and she finally asked, “Is there anything that would automatically disqualify us?”  My response was well yeah, if either is a sexual predator or had ever been convicted of manufacturing or dealing illegal drugs.  Their response was to laugh and say "oh no, never". 

Before I called the owner to see if he would even consider them, (against my advice of course) I put both names in Google and for each one a mug shot popped up.  They had each had several convictions for manufacturing and selling illegal drugs.  Even that owner didn’t go for that. 

How to Screen a Tenant: Part One

One of the biggest problems you can run into as a landlord is renting to the wrong tenant.  Its seems like a no brainer, but you would ne surprised at how many properties I have ended up with managing, because the owner rented to wrong person and they either finally got them out, but they trashed their house, or they pay late all the time and/or are in non-compliance in other areas in the lease, and the owner finally determines that paying the ten percent management fee is cheap in exchange for having someone else deal with the tenants.

There are many, many ways to screen a tenant.  Today I am going to discuss one of those and will feature some of the others in future blogs.  If you noticed I said some of the others. I am not actually going to give away all of my secrets. 

 After many years of experience there are certain things I look for even and or take note of, even before any paperwork is even started, or in some cases before the property is even shown to the potential applicants.  Today’s blog is about one of the ways to screen prior to showing the property. 

So the property is listed in MLS, on my website and various other websites.  The phone starts to ring and I have someone who would like to see the property.  Here s the first thing I consider.

 Do they answer my preliminary screening questions clearly and precisely or are they vague or uncertain? 

 I always ask the person when they are looking to move, how many people and if they have any pets.  If they are hesitant on any of these answers, my proverbial antennae are up.  I may follow up with a couple of clarifying questions, and determine that they are just nervous for some reason or determine that they are not being totally honest.  If I feel they are not being totally honest, I will ask for their full name and tell them I will call them back to schedule an appointment. 

In the meantime, I will pull their name up in public records and unless they have a common name, I can usually get some information on them.  They may have said they weren’t exactly sure when they need to move, possibly the next week or so, and there they are in the public records, with an eviction filled and waiting for the final judgment. Maybe they stumbled with the answer on whether or not they had a pet or not, and there they are with animal control violations against them.  Both of those things have actually occurred. 

 If I find any information that would adversely affect their chances of being approved at that stage, I call them back and tell them what I found and sometimes they argue with me, and sometimes they don’t, either way I don’t schedule a showing with them.  If I can’t find anything, I call and schedule a showing and move on to the next round of screening. 

Things I love about Brevard County: Part One

There are so many things that I love about Brevard County so I figured it would be a great subject to make a recurring blog about all of them.

The first one I am going to write about is the weather in January, February and March.  While there are so many things to love about Brevard, I have to admit that for me the heat isn't one of them.  I don't do well in the heat. I avoid it as much as I can.  Thank God for air conditioning, for cars with air conditioning and for malls and restaurants with air conditioning.  If it wasn't for air conditioning I wouldn't be able to live in this area.
This time of year however is what I look forward to all year long.  So while the majority of the country is freezing cold, we are enjoying mostly cool, crisp days that enable us to pull out those sweaters and jeans and sometimes even boots.  I love being able to wear my boots.  Last year we had such a warm winter I didn't get to wear any.  This year I have worn several pairs a couple of times each.
I enjoy being able to open the windows and enjoy the wonderful breezes.  I love being able to straighten my hair and not have it curl and frizz up the minute I step outside.  I love being able to wear jackets and blazers and sweaters and fuzzy socks.
I love that when it gets cold and stays cold for a few days, the manatees will come to a canal by my house and I get to see them up close.  I love getting hot drinks at Starbucks, instead of my usual Frapicinnos.  I also love that there is no chance of snow and that I will have all of this to look forward to again next year.

This was the temperature from the screen in my car this afternoon:


It was such a beautiful day, it inspired me to write this blog.

All You Need is Love... and a Dog, or Two

Yesterday’s blog was all about my adorable chocolate lab named Cooper and today’s is going to be about his equally adorable counterpart, Sadie. 

We adopted Sadie from Florida Lab Rescue from a wonderful women who fostered many labs, Denise(there will be more about her in a future blog).  We had decided that it would be good for Cooper to have a companion.  Although I work from home, I didn’t have a lot of time to play with Cooper and we figured another dog would do him good.  I am not sure if he has actually forgiven us yet.  LOL, Sadie has turned his quiet peaceful world upside down. 

 Sadie is a beautiful yellow lab who we like to compare to Kramer from Seinfeld.  She is crazy and silly and wants nothing more than to please and to be loved.  She is our problem child you could say.  She barks too much, she gets into the trash, she steals things off the coffee tables, all of which Cooper has never done.  She also tries to lick everyone and when I mentioned this as well as the jumping up on people, to an owner of mine who has several labs, his suggestion was to get a squirt bottle with water and squirt her with it when she licks and or jumps up. Well we tried that and she loved it. She is getting better with the licking now, but stil tries to do it, if she is super excited. 

She always seen to find some trouble. We had an area in the yard partioned off, so sod could grow. she got stuck here and hoped nobody would notice. 

 

She hates baths. 

 

 She won't let you forget it's 4:30, time for dinner.

Sadie has brought a lot of laughter and joy into our home and has provided a playmate for Cooper. They do enjoy wrestling and playing tug of war. Cooper however, likes some time to himself the just relax, or get some sun, and if Sadie wants to play, and will not leave him alone. She will grab him by the color and actually drag him until the collar comes off. Some days he just has to hide under my desk. 

 

We have had Sadie for two years now and she is a wonderful addition to our family.  

 

 

 

A dog is the only animal that loves you more than he loves himself

I am currently participating in the 2014 Jump Start blogging challenge on Active Rain, and posting a blog a day for the month of January.   Being that there is a dog lovers group, I thought it was time that I wrote about mine. 

Anyone who really knows me, knows how much I love my dogs.  They are my babies, my angels, my precious girl and boy…. Those are just a few of the terms of endearment they hear everyday.  They are the stars of my personal Facebook page and take up the most room on my photo stream.  That’s says a lot, being a property manager and taking tons of pictures of properties at move in and move outs.

 

This blog is going to be about Cooper:

 

We got him from a breeder. After a bad experience with trying to adopt a little bit of an older lab, we wanted a breeder with an excellent reputation and paid a pretty penny for him.  We found one in Malabar, way out in the middle of nowhere.  We got on a waiting list for the latest batch of labs, that were just born and there were several chocolate and black. I wanted the chocolate. The breeder was really great, she posted photos at fist of all of them, and each had a different color collar.  We had fist pick of the litter, since we put our money down first and since I wanted chocolate, and my husband wanted a male, we had three to choose from.  When they were about three weeks old, we started being able to view the litter multiple times a day for hours at  a time if we wanted, on web cam.  It was so awesome and it didn’t take me long to fall in love with the one with the red collar.  It wasn’t just my choice though, we all had a say, so I kept am open mind.  Orange collar was pretty cute and a favorite of one or two in my family. But there was just something about the one with the red collar. 

We went to meet them finally, and that was when we could make our choice.  I think it was pretty unanimous at that point. He was just so darn adorable.  He wandered away at one point, and actually followed my husband back to the group, and fell asleep in my arms. 

 

It was so hard to wait the three more weeks to bring him home.   I was lucky at that time to work in a small office where they were pretty laid back on some things and got to bring him to work for a few weeks, until he could go a little longer without going to the bathroom.  From day one, he was the sweetest most adorable dog there ever was.  That was almost five years ago and we consider ourselves blessed every day to have this wonderful angel in our lives.   

 

 

Are Manners and Civility a Thing of the Past?

I hope not.  I personally don’t think so, but a recent news story about an older man, slapping a crying two-year-old boy left me shaking my head and wondering.  I am not sure if it is just me getting older, but I have been feeling more and more lately, that people are just downright rude.  It seems that good manners are getting harder and harder to find, why is that? 

The man in the story was sitting next to the Mom and the toddler and when the plane started to make it’s descent, the child started to cry. The man slapped the child, was supposedly overheard uttering racial slurs and told the mother to keep her kid quiet. Thankfully other passengers came to their aid, so it seems the whole world hasn’t lost their minds, but I feel like stories like this one are getting more and more common.  Here is the story from USA Today.

I have noticed that more and more people are answering their phones in restaurants, and speaking loudly, with no consideration for those around them.  There seems to be more rude children, to whom the words/phrases “please”, “thank you” or “excuse me” are like a foreign language.  I can’t tell you how many times I have gone out of my way to hold a door open for someone, and never gotten a thank you, or even a smile.  One of my biggest pet peeves is foul language in public.  Well it don’t like it in private either, but   I find it really offensive when out in mixed company in public.  It is almost as if the people doing it don’t even realize it’s offensive.   I personally have always equated foul language with a lack of class, and honestly I still do.  Several years back I visited Virginia Beach and was thrilled to see the signs all around prohibiting foul language. That’s my kind of town. Unfortunately I have never seen that anywhere else. 

Business wise, there have been numerous people that I have encountered that have been rude.  I have had several possible applicants show up really, really late and not even apologize. I have been stood up countless times, even after confirming the appointment that same day.  One time I was meeting a young lady to pick up the security deposit for a rental property. I had to go to the property anyway, so I told her I would meet her so she wouldn’t have to drive as far. She had been about a half hour late when I showed the property, but I had several other showings scheduled fifteen minutes apart, and the other people were early so it worked out ok.  By the time I had finished what I needed to do at the property, she had not shown up. I called her and she did not answer.  She was already a half hour late at that point.  I left a message saying I would wait fifteen more minutes, and then had to move on to my next appointment.  She did not call me back, but her father did, saying she was having car trouble, could I wait a half an hour, she needed to get a ride. I said I would, but that was my limit, I had another appointment in one hour and needed to get there.  A half hour passed and she did not show up.  I left, as I was leaving the complex, I saw her pulling into the complex (in the same vehicle she had been driving previously).  I did not go back, I had another appointment and had already wasted enough of my time. She called me and was really irritated that I left. She said” I saw you leaving the complex, and you must have seen me, but you just left anyway” I was flabbergasted. I tried to explain that I had another appointment, I had already gone way out of my way, and I had to leave period. She told me that she was late because her grandmother was in the hospital, and couldn’t I please just cut her and break and come back.  Funny her father never mentioned that when he said her car broke down.

I strongly urged that owner to re-consider renting to her.  The owner was a “placement only”, so I didn’t have to deal with her, but I didn’t want the owner to have to deal with her either.  In my opinion, someone who is that ill mannered will be a problem.  After all manners are a sign of respect, both for the other person and for your self.  The lack of them, would indicate a lack of respect for others for yourself, for the property etc…

The owner actually decided to rent to her, even after my strong recommendation not to. They moved forward, signed a lease with her, and she moved in on a Saturday. The following Monday morning (I remember it because it was a holiday), I was getting texts from her and calls from the owner, that she wanted out of her lease. She decided she couldn’t afford it.  She had no respect for the fact that she signed a lease, a legally binding contract between her and the owner.  I luckily did not have to be involved with that, but the owner allowed her out of the lease and in the two days she was there, she trashed the place.  She somehow stopped up the brand new toilet the owner had put in upstairs and the place was flooded when they came to get it ready to re-rent. 

On a positive note, my peers in the real estate business and the majority of my owners and tenants are pleasant, and well mannered.  So it seems to me that manners do still have their place in the professional arena.  Now if only they would find their back to the malls and restaurants, and movie theaters. One can always hope.   

Check Out My New Port St John Rental Listing

Check Out My New Port St John Rental Listinghttp://actvra.in/49wB

7215 Whitney Ave Cocoa, FL 32927

$1050

Wolters Realty & Property Management is proud to present this beautiful home that is available to rent as of February 1, 2013.  It's a bright open three bedroom two bath house with vaulted ceilings, upgraded light fixtures and ceiling fans. It is 1,236 of living square footage, with a 408 square foot garage. It features an eat in kitchen with:

• maple cabinets
• Dishwasher
• Built In Microwave
• Electric Stove
• Refrigerator
• breakfast bar
• pantry
• and a lovely bay window, to enjoy the peaceful scenery.

The master bathroom has garden tub and there is walk in closet in the master bedroom, there are french doors that lead from the dining room to a large 17 X 16 screen porch, overlooking the wooded and privacy fenced yard. There is also an inside laundry room with cabinets, and a two car garage.  The backyard is really big and perfect for a get together with friends and/or family.  The home is in a great location, just 18.60 from Port Canaveral, 28.5 miles from Patrick Air Force Base, and 31.81 miles to Orlando and just minutes to SR528. 
It's close to several A Rated schools, churches, restuaants and shopping.  Yo can get to Jetty Park Beach in a half hour or less by just jumping right on SR528. 
Pets are welcome, with a $250 pet deposit and must not be included on the aggressive breeds list, that is used by insurance companies.  These breeds include:

- Akita                                       -Giant Schnauzer
- Alaskan Malamute                    - Great Dane
- American Stafforshire Terrier     - Husky
- Bullmastiff                               - Pit Bull
- Chow                                      - Presa Canario
- Dalmation                               - Rottweiler
- Doberman Pinscher                  - Saint Bernard
- Eskimo Spitz                           - Wolf Hybrid
- German Shepherd
Cats are ok, as long as the males have been nuetered. 

The MLS number is 686376 and you you can get more information on my website:  www.woltersrealtyandpropertymanangement.com 
This house will not last long, so make sure you check it out today.

Are You a Helper?

My son gets impatient with me because he says I am always helping people.  I laugh at him and ask him what am supposed to do just walk away? He says "yes, you already have too much to do".   I feel bad that he thinks that way.  He was always taught not to talk to strangers as a child, and I guess it mostly stayed with him. I wasn't taught that and had a Mom that talked to everyone and a Dad who helped everyone.  So maybe that's the difference?

I never really gave much thought to whether I considered myself a helper or not.  It came up fairly recently when we were running late for an appointment and I needed something from CVS.  As I was rushing in a lady stopped me to ask me if I knew how to use the Red Box, to return a movie. I actually do, so I stopped and helped her.  When I got back I in the car, my son asked me why I took the time to help that lady, when I was already running late.  I told him that I wouldn't dream of saying, "sorry figure it out, I am in a hurry."   We got on that subject while driving and he pointed out several occasions that he witnessed me "helping" and tried to convince me that sometimes me "helping" someone can be dangerous.  I agreed with his point, but didn't change the way I feel.  I pointed out that he too sometimes helps people, for example if someone can't reach something at the grocery store, he helps them.  He also holds the door open all the time for people, a few times I was like okay, that's enough, we have to go.  So I don't think he's as self serving as he wants me to believe he is.  The conversation continued and my final answer was, "I guess I am just a helper."

LOL, I started writing this blog while waiting at the Dr's office, and got interrupted by my appointment, ended up at Starbucks getting a latte and paying with my Starbucks app on my phone and a young man questioned me about using Passbook instead of the app, and why it is better.  I explained I didn't use my passbook app, because I didn't know how and he ended up helping me to do that and we chatted for a while while drinking our coffee.  My plan was to sit there and write my blog while having my coffee, before moving on to the next stop, but I ended up talking to him until I had to go.  I thought it was really ironic that the subject that came to mind was helping people and someone ended up helping me today. 

My propensity to help people doesn't always carry over to my professional life.  I have been doing property management long enough to have heard pretty much every sob story.  I can't recommend that my owner rents his property to someone who does not qualify, and that would be a risky person to rent to, just because I feel sorry for them.  In my line of business, I have had to evict families with children.  There was one really horrible situation.  They ignored the 24 hour notice from the sheriff, and had their crying children helping moving their stuff out while  myself, the sheriff and the neighbors stood by watching.  Before you start thinking I am a horrible person, the reality is that I work for the owner. It is my job to help him get the most from his investment.  That being said, I offered that particular family multiple options to avoid eviction.  They choose to not communicate with me and left me with no option but to start the process.  I had no prior experience with this family, I didn't rent the property to them.  I took over the management after they were already there and hadn't been paying for a while. 

I will never forget that day and those children but the reality is, if the parents would have communicated with me, it could have gone differently and I may have been able to help them to avoid that experience.  There have been numerous other situations that didn't turn out as badly, when the tenants stopped paying rent.  There are ways to do a good job for the owner, and still treat the tenants with compassion and respect.  I feel good about the balance I am usually able to create.  I am proud to say that I go above and beyond for my owners and even for my tenants at times.  I do a lot of things that the average property manager does not do.  I guess that just goes back to me just being a "helper."
This topic came to me this morning while waiting at the doctors office an elderly couple came in and right away a woman offered her seat(it was crowded) then the person who had sitting next to her offered his seat, and than that same lady opened the door for a woman in a wheel chair.  it all got me thinking about helping people. 

What about you? Are you a helper? 

How's The Rental Market?

How's the rental market? I get that question all the time.  I have to admit, I am not a big fan of the question. Its such a vague question, that it's really difficult to answer.  Are they asking which type of market we are in? A landlord's market? Or a tenant's market? Or maybe they want to know if things are renting at higher prices than in the past? Or are they renting faster? Is it hard to find a renter? Or it is easy to find a renter?  Are they a possible investor trying to determine if buying a property to rent would be a good idea? Maybe they have an elderly relative that wants to downsize and wait for a better sales market to sell, so is flirting with the idea of renting?  Or maybe, they are just trying to make conversation and a long lengthy answer would be inappropriate.  What type of an answer is the person asking the question expecting? 

 Sometimes the way to figure out what type of an answer they are looking for is easy to figure out due, to the context.  For example if an owner that I just notified that their tenant will not be renewing their lease that is up next month, I understand that they are wondering if it will rent easily and for the same price or better.  That question is easy to answer.  If it is someone calling me that I have never spoken to before, I try to get some more information before actually trying to answer, but some people don’t make it easy to figure out exactly what they are hoping to learn.  If it is someone on line behind me at the grocery store, and we strike up a conversation, it can be easy to assume that they are looking for a vague answer and just trying to make conversation, that is not always the case either. 

 It can be a complicated question.  To answer it intelligently requires some additional information.  Without any additional information, my answer tends to depend on the time of the year, the environment where the question is asked and making assumptions about the person.   So a lot of the people that ask me this question may not be getting the answer they want.  That’s why I am not a big fan of the question. 

I think I am pretty knowledgeable on the rental market in Brevard County, but without truly understanding what someone wants to know, it is hard to answer such a vague question. 

So if I run into someone at Publix, who asks me that question, how would I answer it? I think I would say.  “The rental market is good.  It slows down this time of year in my market, because I specialize in long-term residential rentals. I am not an expert on the snowbird rentals, but this time of the year is great for those.  It may be a little more difficult to rent a property over the holidays, but it does happen.  You may not get the same price that you would in June or July, but if the property is in rentable condition, it should rent for a decent price, fairly quickly.”  Typically an answer like that will lead the person to ask additional questions that would be more specific, and easier to answer in a more detailed way. 

The other side of that answer is that if you are looking to rent a long-term residential property that is in poor shape not clean and not “rent ready,” you would be out of luck.  There are too many other rentals to choose from.  In this area we have a lot of property owners, hanging on to properties after moving away, to wait and hope to get a better price in a couple of years.  A lot of these owners are losing money, because they bought when the market was high, but they are smart enough to realize that getting some of your mortgage and other expenses is better than getting none of it. That goes back to the price right part.  so for them the market isn't great, since they are losing money, but it's good, because they are getting something. 

So, the majority of the time, I actually tend to answer their question with a question. I know that doesn’t sound good, but I think it sounds better than giving a generic answer and not showing them just how much I do know about the market. 

What about you? Are their questions you get asked a lot, that are more difficult to answer than they would seem?

 

 

 

You're Never Gonna See No Unicorn!

"A long time ago, when the earth was green,

 

There were more kinds of animals than you've ever seen.

 

They'd run around free while the earth was being born.

 

And the loveliest of them all was the unicorn.

 

 There were green alligators and long-necked geese.

 

Some humpy-backed camels and some chimpanzees.

 

Some cats and rats and elephants, as sure as you're born.

 

And the loveliest of them all was the unicorn."  

Those are lyrics from a song called The Unicorn, by the Irish Rovers, and written by Shel Silverstein  It was played in my home often when I was growing up.  My Dad grew up in Ireland and moved to the US when he was 19.  My mom is 1st generation Irish American and my parents actually met in Ireland.  So Irish music was played pretty frequently in our home.  You can check out the You Tube Video for the song here:  

As a side note I was blown away to find out that this is the same Shel Silverstein that wrote the books Where The Sidewalk Ends and The Giving Tree, those being favorites of my son when he was little. He especially loved The Giving Tree.  I didn't even realize that those books had been around when I was kid. 

Sorry, back to my blog-I met with a gentleman about a year ago that reminded of that song, and of the elusive unicorn.  He was from out of the area, (he may have been misled by the buyer’s agent he used) and assumed he was going to get way more than the rental market would allow for a home that he purchased for he and his wife to retire in twenty years or so. When we met, at the house, I showed him all the comps and discussed the market.  He told me he wanted $2,400 a month minimum.  I was a bit taken back by that, since the comps were indicating a rental price of about $1400.  I spoke with him about it, and pointed out that what he was hoping for a number that was about $1,000 above the market, (including an active rental listing next door for $1,000 less) he said he was not willing to rent it to someone who would not be willing to pay the extra money.  
He explained that the type of tenant he wanted was one that would be willing to pay that extra amount.  I tried to understand why anyone would be willing to pay that much more for a nearly identical property.  He said it would show that they were a “better” type of tenant.  Hmm, I have never encountered such a tenant. Is there such a tenant? Someone that wants to pay more than fair market value for something, just because they can?  If there was a tenant like that, I have never encountered them. That’s what made me start to think of that elusive of unicorn that I have heard about. You see the Unicorn is differently, because I have never even heard a story where someone has claimed to have seen the unicorn. Not like the Loch Ness Monster, or Bigfoot, those guys have been seen and even photographed. The unicorn to my knowledge has never been spotted or photographed. 

I personally don’t take highly overpriced listings. I will go a little higher than the market suggests, if there are special or unique things about the property, and sometimes I get it. Sometimes I don’t. I ask the owner’s to keep an open mind and with feedback from me on how many showings, and comments from potential applicants, adjust the price accordingly. If they are not willing to do that, there is no point in working with them.  I am not going to make any money on an overpriced listing and I am going to end up with an unhappy client. 

 

I made a note to myself to keep an eye on the property t see if it was listed and/or rented.  it was listed by a realtor, for the $2400.  It did not rent and was withdrawn at the original listing price of $2400 a year later.