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. 

 

 

 

Beautiful Three Bedroom Two Bath Condo in Cape Canaveral

MLS 672537