Thursday, January 17, 2008

Secretarial skills have always served me well

As we head into the Central Virginia rental season * renewals go out in Feb and re-renting has already started * I am thankful that I started my real estate career with good secretarial skills.

My first real estate gig was as a secretary in a small office with 5 to 7 agents…I answered phones, did mailings of listings (pre-computers and MLS), filed listings and transactions. I then segwayed into working for a local real estate developer and then as a property manager * then called an on-site resident manager.

All along this path, I used my secretarial skills learned in a 6 month course at the old Jefferson Professional Institute now National Business College. I continue to use those skills each day in my property management business and those skills have served me well.


Not only can I compose and write a cogent business letter, I know how to search Staples and Office Depot for time-saving and organizational office supplies. “Sign Here” stickers for lease and form signatures, proper weight copy/fax paper as well as laser printer color copies.


I am surprised how many business people and vendors don’t appreciate the use of a smaller size return envelope in their quest for information or payments….our local Realtor association spends money each month to send me a bill for $29 but does not enclosed a SAE (self-addressed envelope) for payment.

For 20+ years, I have always provided self-addressed size #6 envelopes to tenants for the payment of their monthly rent. I provide them in the front pocket our 19+page Resident Handbook that also contains a USPS mail forwarding kit, property condition check-list form and reminder to change utilities, complete the checklist and provide us with their new contact information.


While VAR and NAR have affinity agreements with the likes of UPS and FedEx, I continue to use mailing services of the USPS….our new resident lease packet including our Resident Handbook are sent out Priority Mail and often arrive at the same time if not sooner than a more costly packet from UPS/FedEx.

While many in our profession often thank their first real estate broker or property manager for providing them the skills and education they have used to advance in their profession, I want to express my appreciation for those early secretarial courses that have served me so well over the last 40 years. 

Posted by Wallace S. Gibson CPM at 17:40:02 | Permalink | No Comments »

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Where will all the Realtors go?

NAR and local association Realtor dues are payable by the end of January….many Realtor organizations as well as NAR are curious as to how many members they will loose because of the slow down in the real estate market.

Local real estate offices are also wondering to how many “bodies” they will have on their team to generate income to cover their office overhead.

I wrote professional dues checks this month totaling almost $1,200 - granted - I pay half of that amount to IREM * the Institute of Real Estate Management and the Richmond IREM chapter * so my costs are double what the normal Realtor/agent would have.

According to our local Realtor association, almost 50% of agent members did not have either side * listing or selling * of a real estate transaction this year.  A few years with no income will be hard on many newer/unseasoned agents who don’t yet have repeat clientele or a referral base for purchasers.

The next few years will be good for the property management business.  I frequently get calls from property owners who ask if I am “still accepting properties to manage”….many management firms in CA, TX and FL are turning away properties because they don’t have the staff or resources to take on the number of unsold homes that are flooding the rental market.

The IREM publication Journal of Property Management has articles on where the next generation of property managers will come from.  I suspect that many will come from the ranks of discouraged Realtors who want to remain in real estate AND make money. 

The lure of the BIG REAL ESTATE COMMISSION has always been a myth.  As a property manager, I have probably made more money in the last 20 years that 95% of US real estate agents over the same time period. 

Maybe the realities of the current market and the actual costs of being a real estate agent will weed out the dead wood in the industry and the market and the industry will come back better and stronger.

Posted by Wallace S. Gibson CPM at 22:38:21 | Permalink | No Comments »

Friday, January 4, 2008

Landlords want more than just the RENT….

A phone call today from an insurance company representing a local family whose home burned over New Years clarified an aspect of being a landlord that I am often hard pressed to explain.

The insurance company representative was pleased to advise me that, should the home be suitable, the insurance company would rent the property and pay me the rent….they just needed to ask me some questions regarding the property.  I advised the insurance representative that while I appreciate the situation of her insured family * homeless in minus 20 degree weather * I would not rent to the insurance company and that I required completed rental applications for all of the adults in the family.  The insurance company could pay the family who could pay me; however, the lease would be in the name of the adults in the family as I wanted them to be responsible for the condition and maintenance of the property.

She again assured me I did not understand - the insurance company would pay the rent and I assured her that I would not put my property owner clients in a position of attempting to sue the insurance company if their insured family destroyed or damaged the property.  If the family was not responsible for the terms of the lease, there is no guarantee that the property would be maintained during the lease.

Over the last four+ years, I have had several fire-displaced families in my rental homes.  I currently have a family renting a home in the same subdivision where they are re-building the home that burned in June, 2007.  Their insurance company paid them the entire rental amount of the one year lease and they pay their rent to me monthly.  They were required to pay their own security deposit as the insurance company had no way of tracking the refund at the end of the lease. 

This process seems reasonable to me and in today’s conversation when I attempted to explain that the collection/payment of rent is not my only concern as their prospective landlord, she was incredulous that I would expect more than just the rent and that I would want to hold the residents accountable for the property condition at the end of the lease term.

I wished her success in her quest for rental housing for her insured family and suggested she call individual property owners who may be willing to work with her on the insurance company’s terms….I am sure there is someone in need of a rental tenant who won’t look past the collection of the rent every month.

Posted by Wallace S. Gibson CPM at 02:06:35 | Permalink | Comments (1) »