Real Estate and Beyond Blog: Manitoba

HARRY THE NEIGHBOR CALLED EPA BECAUSE RAW SEWAGE AT HER FRONT DOOR WHAT DO I DO?

I received a call this past week from one of the tenants that I just moved into the home. We completed the move inspection of the unit and everything was in working condition. I have to admit that the home did sit for six months based upon the owner's information. They were trying to complete the repairs on their own but it was obviously taking more time that was allowed. Do It Yourself(DIYL) believe they have plenty of time and money to do everything on their own. However, this owner called the office and said she had enough of doing it on her own and needed our assistance.

So, our team completed the remaining repairs in three days. Next, we rented this unit out in less than two weeks with a great tenants. The tenants moved in last week with great excitement. Well, it came to our attention that we had some plumbing issues via the weekend. We sent our plumbers to snake the drains and everything was working well.

The next neighbor reported Tuesday that raw sewage was near here front door form this unit since each unit is close to one another being a townhouse community. However, this neighbor called the Environmental Protection Agency to report this incident. Then, the EPA inspector called the owner and then me to inform us both we have 24 hours to fix this problem or he is shutting down the unit.

The plumber was dispatched to the home the following morning. The main problem was the outside caps were missing. We deduced that neighborhood kids were putting rocks into the pipining in which clogged it up. The plumber did the following steps to fix problem

• Put a camera down the piping to verify the problem
• Remove all rocks from outside piping
• Ensure all plumbing working inside and outside of the home
• Place caps on all outside plumbing pipes
• Lyme over raw sewage and remove it
• Send gift certificate to neighbor to apologize

It was just another day in Phoenix Property Management. I received a call the same day that had the same problem. I was having a pretty *@#*# day.

EVEN MY REALTOR DID NOT KNOW I HAD TO REGISTER MY HOME AS A RENTAL WITH THE COUNTY WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM YOGI BEAR

One of my favorite cartoon characters of all time was Yogi Bear. He was always trying to get the picnic baskets from the park visitors. I found the show to be funny and uplifting at times. Now, we can learn a lot from this fictional bear when it comes to real estate. Here are some of Yogi's better qualities that I can make us all better Realtors

TOP 5 QUALITIES OF YOGI BEAR

1. Keep the eye on the prize-overcome all obstacles to close the deal like the picnic basket
2. Persuasive-he could talk Boo Boo into doing anything
   
3. Persistence-never give up keep going day by day
4. Upbeat-Yogi was always kind and talkative to all in the cartoon
5. Resourceful-It is true that he had this quality no doubt

I was signing up another real estate investor for Phoenix Property Management. I can tell he did some research on me by the questions he was asking me via the phone. Most people do not do any research when doing business with their Realtor. So, he continued to ask me questions when I was at his home. He requested a copy of my real estate license in which I gladly handed over to them. He was quite impressed that I had everything in order. They felt good about doing business with me.

Well, I did some homework on my clients. I found out they had six other rental properties besides the one they gave me. So, I asked them about their other rental properties. They were surprised when I asked them this question. Then, the husband said to me "I SEE YOU DID SOME HOMEWORK ON US, ALSO VERY GOOD."

Well, he called me up an hour after our meeting asking me about his rental being registered with the county as a rental property. Well, I gladly gave him directions on how the process works. He was amazed that I knew that even information because EVEN MY REALTOR DID NOT KNOW HOW TO REGISTER MY RESIDENTIAL HOME AS A REANTAL WITH THE COUNTY.

I have always considered myself SMARTER THAN THE AVERAGE BEAR/REALTOR. I make this statement in the most humbling way. I am here to serve and protect my clients when it comes to real estate. I have continue to work hard and attendy paid real estate workshops to continually learn new things when it comes to real estate.

All those hours during my childhood watching YOGI BEAR made an improvement on my life.

THANKS YOGI BEAR NOW LET'S GO GET THEM PIC'NIC BASKETS!
 

People tell me I am not the average Realtor. Well, I have strived not to be the average Realtor in the Phoenix real estate market. I pride myself on learning all facets of residential real estate for the past ten years. Many of you know that I love to Phoenix Fix and Flip Homes from the Arizona Trustee Sales. Now, I know not too many Realtors undertake this task because one must make a decision to purchase a home within 24 hours from start to finish.

Here is current picture of one of the homes that we purchased from the Arizona Trustee Sales. The previous owners had to move fast because my investor purchased the home. We gave them 48 hours to move from the home. Yes, my investor offered them $1,000 to assist in their move. He gave them $500 to start and another $500 when the house was empty. This place was dirty. It is amazing how people live behind closed doors.

Currently, this home has been renovated with a tenant in place.

For more information, please visit www.FixAndFlipAHouse.com

HARRY'S TOP FIVE REASONS WHY RENTALS STAY VACANT FOR A LONGER PERIOD OF TIME PHOENIX PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

I met up with an investor from California who wanted to hire me to manage his property. I spoke with him over the phone last week to learn more about his property and to set realistic expectations before signing up to be his property manager. He had very simple realistic expectations. All he wanted was a good tenant paying monthly rent and to get a return on his investment each month since he was retired.

Well, I finally met him in person this weekend to sign him up for property management at Properties R Us LLC. Many of you know what we only charge $60 per month per door for full property management service. Wow! How do you make money by charging so low? We do and we are happy to serve the real estate investor community.

His next question to me was "WHY DO YOU THINK MY RENTAL HAS STAYED VACANT FOR THE PAST FIVE MONTHS?

I told him that was an excellent question to ask a professional. So, I gave him Harry's TOP 5 REASONS WHY RENTALS STAY VACANT SEE BELOW

1. Business is slow so Realtor goes into property management to generate extra cash
2. Bad marketing and not having enough exposure
3. Home itself is dirty and not presentable
4. Realtor not processing and qualifying tenants. Then, availability to show the rental. Makes a big difference
5. Owner asking too much for rent vs market rate

We have a bingo. The investor did tell me that the Realtor assisted in purchasing property had just started a property management company. Voila! just started a property management company overnight. He said I can see that was the problem. He did not have a team or processes in place to handle my rental. Plus, he was charging me $75 per month even when it was vacant.

Let's do the deal. I am expecting to have this rental filled in the next 30 days for this real estate investor. We are here to serve the real estate investor community. Properties R Us LLC is a full service property management company that only charges $60 per month per door. We get the job done hands down.

I AM GOING TO WITHHOLD MY RENT UNTIL YOU MAKE THE FIX THE REQUESTED REPAIRS ARIZONA PROPERTY MANAGENEMT

The Phoenix rental market continues to rise as more and more people are forced to rent due to unemployment and bad credit. There are a number of people that are unable to obtain a conventional mortgage. The only other alternative for people is to RENT a Home. I have witnessed families coming off mortgage payments of $2,200 per month to $1,000 for monthly rent. There is a sense of relief for them.

We are in the heat of the summer here in Phoenix. Yes, air conditioners are a hot topic in the summer time when they do not work correctly. People become just irate when the A/C goes down. Luckily, we are able to respond quickly with our contacts in the field. We do our best to make things happen.

I received a phone call last week from a tenant that report her A/C out and expected us to get someone to her house that day. I informed her that I will do the best I can. The temperature hit 110 degrees that day. We had four other A/C units down that day. I explained this to the tenant. Then, she threatened not to pay the rent for the time of her inconvenience. I listened to her patiently while she explained to me her frustration.

The lease clearly states that tenants are to inform us of all repair requests in writing so we can respond them. Tenants are not allowed to hire their own repairman and expect to be reimbursed. Many times the part has a warranty on it or we can obtain better pricing from our source of contacts.

Stay calm and we will dispatch someone right away to ensure that the A/C is fixed so you stay COOL.

MY TOP 10 EXCUSES TO PLAY GOLF TO INCREASE REAL ESTATE SALES

I have been playing golf for the last twenty-five years of my life. I remember it was not a manly sport in high school. I learned to play golf from an older gentleman within my community. He taught me how to play the game and to have sportsmanship at all times. Why do you play golf? Have you wanted to learn to play golf and never had the time to pick up the sport? Well, here are my top 10 Reasons to Play Golf:

1. Networking-Great sport to network with people for four to six hours at a time.
2. Health-Great way to walk off pounds
3. Think-One learns strategy when playing golf based upon the location of ball and tee.
4. Consistency-Golf teaches you to be consistent at all times when swinging the club.
5. Pride-Hard work does pay off based upon the score after the 18th hole. It is easy to keep track of progress after several games.
6. Social-Golf is a tradition with many people. Golf is considered a rich man's game. Great way to socialize with affluent people once you learn how to play the game correctly.
7. Fun-Golf is a game that relieves stress and be one with nature. Have fun while you play the game.
8. Opportunity-Many times I get paired up with people that I do not know. It is easy to strike up a conversation with people. I have obtained many new friends by going to the golf course on my own. I always meet new people both young and old.
9. Patience-Golf teaches one patience.
10. 19th Hole-This is a great way to talk about what happened on the golf course and to reconnect with people at the end of the game.

I hope this list motivates people to start playing golf. I like #6 and #10.

Which is your favorite number?