Other Side of the Coin Pt. 3...Realty Goddess Turns Landlord

Renting our home has become quiet an adventure!  I scheduled three showings on one day.  I try to keep the showings to a certain window time just to keep the madness down a bit.

There are PRO's and CON's of living in our house while it is being advertised for rent.  Pro's...I am here most the time so if I put an Open House sign outside people can just come on in.  Con's...I had to put a sign on my door that says "do not disturb the occupants" for the times we will not be showing. Someone actually rang our bell at 8:45pm one evening asking to see the house!  People are amazing!

What I am slowly realizing is this...I am having a hard time taking myself out of ownership.  I notice when I show our HOME I have a story to tell about our house.  I know our neighbors, I love this neighborhood and this little red brick house is a place full of memories.  Brick, mortar, nails and wood are what constitutes a physical house, but what YOU put in it  makes it a home!  This is what is making it so hard for me.  Renters come in, they walk through, they have their comments (all good so far) they open closets and cabinets and it feels...well, it feels...SO BUSINESS.  Stiff and stale.  I can't wrap my head around that.  Even though this will not be owned by our renters, I want to know they will have wonderful memories of the time they spend here.  I want them to care and love our home and treat it with the respect it deserves.  Gosh, I am such a hopeless romantic even with houses!

When I have buyers, that is what I picture for them.  Memories, love and laughter, a place where you come and lay your burdens down.  A place to cherish and relax.  Is it so wrong to want that for my renters as well?

It all boils down to this...it does not matter if you own or rent...EVERYONE DESERVES A WONDERFUL PLACE TO CALL HOME!

Our home has not found its perfect fit yet, but I know it's calling out to the right ones.  Showing our home has made me cherish my memories even more.  Every Christmas we had major family dinners, sang around the piano, decorated our home, baked cookies for our neighbors and loved ones.  We were the home to "BE" for the holidays!  We raised our child here, had BBQ's, supported our neighborhood.  We laughed, cried, sang and danced here.  So I am taking this time to reflect on these things and I am letting the blessings wash over me daily.  It is my hope that the next occupants have the same wonderful feelings we had over our nine years here.

Now if we could just decide on a property manager....UGH!

For now, we keep showing and interviewing....tune in next time for the next exciting episode of Realty Goddess Goes Landlord.

Blessings, peace and love from the Realty Goddess!

Follow me through this blog, twitter, facebook, google+ and foursquare. We will share laughs and love along the way!  

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!

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