Other Side of the Coin Pt. 2....Realty Goddess Turns Landlord
Alright, I must admit, the shaking and sweating has not really stopped since my last post. Now that I am on the other side of the coin, I can REALLY put myself in my client's shoes.
Let me tell you where we are. I have made a virtual tour of my home. Wanna see it? http://www.zingding.com/856585 There you go! Ok, so I am advertising and showing my precious little home. Being in the business, I know how important it is to have a good property manager. Little did I know just how hard that would be. We have interviewed four and three out of the four actually followed up with us. Every property manager sees things differently and only two of the four belong to NARPM. That's the National Association of Residental Property Managers. http://www.narpm.org/
When working with Property Managers, it's important to know they will be working for YOU. So ask for a copy of their property management agreement before signing anything. Ask questions, do your research, do NOT just pick the first one you find. Do they run credit checks, what are the up-front charges, do they handle payments electroncially, can they handle evictions if things go wrong, will they help in finding good repair people for issues and if so is there a cap on getting those done with your approval...(whew, see what I mean?)
You will need to make sure all possible tenants are screened appropriately. It's important you know the rental history and credit history of the person living in your home! I get conflicting info on this but I feel it's important to do a background check as well, but that's the HOMEOWNER SIDE OF ME!
Will you take pets? If so, will there be limits to what kind, size, how many? Will you require a full months deposit? Will the tenants be responsible for utilities? These are just a few of the questions you will have to answer if your decide to rent your property out. Be prepared!
Alright, so we are showing our home now. I have had about 500 hits on my virtual tour. (yes rental vacancy rate in Denver is about 1.4%; VERY LOW) I have now shown my home to about 15 people but I have no applications as of yet. That's ok, it's only been advertised a few days. In my case, I am the one showing my home. That has been an interesting adventure. Tenants want to tell your their background and negotiate immediately but I have to step back, take a deep breath and say, you will have to fill out an application, write a letter if you want to explain anything that might pop up and do the proper procedures for an application. I show leasing property all the time but now I have to remember that the same procedures apply even though this is MY home. I am still Laura Key, REALTOR®, (that's Realty Goddess to the world) and that means I have ethics and housing laws to uphold. I stand by my profession and I will uphold all my duties. I LOVE my job and I want to keep it, nothing unethical is worth risking my license.
So bring it on....it's a new journey and a new adventure. I shall keep you updated as we go along.
To be continued.....
Follow me on this blog, twitter, facebook, google+ and foursquare. Maybe I will make you smile a little during your day, maybe I have some education for you or maybe I can just allow you to take a little breather from your hectic day! Love, blessings and peace from the Realty Goddess!
