Rental prospects who have become familar with Zillow are now advising me that the rental rates on my homes for lease are TOO HIGH (NEVER that they are too low).   Although they should know that these Zestimates are rarely indicative of the actual RENTAL value of the property, they want to use it as an argument for me lowering the rent. Unfortunately, Zillow does not have one thing that I have - I KNOW what the property is worth on the rental market * TODAY...at this time of the rental season to the # of rental prospects in the prospect pool.   Additionally, I KNOW what the last 2 (3, 4, 5) residents have actually PAID in RENT for the property so LOWERING the rent because of an artificially created rental guestimate is not going to work......and they don't get points for even trying.   07/21/2014

PLEASE RENTERS CHECK TO KNOW THE BACK GROUND OF WHOM YOUR LANDLORD WILL BE. SOME OF THEM LIVE OUT OF THE TOWN OF THE HOMES THEY RENT AND HAVE A CRIMINAL BACK GROUND..FRONTING THEM SELVES WITH A COMPANY NAME. ASK THE OWNER OR OWNERS NAME. THEN CHECK THE INTERNET. MEN WANTING TO KNOW TOO MANY QUESTIONS ABOUT MY FAMILY AND CHILDREN TIPPED ME OFF. I CHECKED AND FOUND OUT MY LANDLORD TO BE WAS A VA STATE SEX OFFENDER. WE NEED A LAW ADDED IN VA LEASES TO PROTECT OUR CHILDREN AND OURSELVES FROM THESE FELONYS. THESES PEOPLE HAVE A KEY TO THE HOUSE WE WILL BE RENTING AND CAN JUST WALK OR SNEAK IN AT ANYTIME THEY WANT. IM A SINGLE MOM AND THIS HAPPENED TO ME IN LOUSIA COUNTY. LANDLORDS ASK RENTERS ABOUT THEIR BACKGROUND! BETTER START ASKING THEM QUESTIONS BEFORE THEY GET YOU IN ON A LEASE. IM JUS... 02/23/2013

I have a tenant who wants to renew his lease/tenancy for 2 months past his current lease end date of Friday, August 17th. I have offered him the renewal term he wanted at a $50 per month increase.  I've made this offer twice and he has rejected it. I sent him his move-out check-out instructions today via e-mail and he replies that he is not leaving until the end of October. Back and forth and I provide him with a copy of his SIGNED extension notice whereby he agrees to vacate by noon on the 17th and I again make him the offer of renewing through October at the higher rent. It seems like he is miffed that I am reminding him of the agreement HE MADE and that he has no right to occupy the property past the AGREED TO residency end date of the 17th so he writes me a long e-mail disparaging m... 07/25/2012

...commumnicate with their landlord so that there are no surprises that need to be addressed AFTER the fact. ...Getting married.  Individual tenants can certainly fall in love and have a boy/girl friend or a new spouse; however, ADVISING the landlord that this is happening and ASKING if anything needs to be done is BETTER than sending a wedding invitation.  The new spouse may need to complete application paperwork and be added to the lease OR there may need to be an entirely NEW process started to qualify the new spouse/significant other....ASK FIRST! ...Obtaining custody of a minor child.  Sometimes a part-time parent can become a FULL-TIME parent through legal action or happenstance.  Advising the landlord of the possibility allows the landlord to address any issues with neighbors, et... 07/05/2012

I suspect because he got a recent one of my DIY landlord mailings, a military homeowner e-mailed me that he has self-managed his local townhouse for 8 YEARS * from his station in EUROPE.......and he needs my help. His current tenant is moving out in June, his new tenants are moving in a week later and he has hired a local "handyman" to do repairs to the property. He wants to hire me to 1) check out his current tenant; 2) tell him what he needs to do; 3) check the repairs that his local "handyman" will be doing before he pays him; and 4) check in his new tenants. Again, he is very proud that he has been able to self-manage his property from half-way around the world. My response was that over 8 years, his lease form should have changed with the annual changes mandated by the VA legislatu... 04/16/2012

I have a long-time property management client who is refinancing her local rental home before she starts a trip of several months. The appraisal was done last week and I e-mailed the lease and lease renewal letters to the mortgage broker last week.....TODAY I get a call that the exterior needs to be pressure washed, a screen door fixed and a piece of dry rotted wood replaced......NO PROBLEM in 8 inches of snow. HELLO!  it is 28 degrees and there is snow all over the ground.  Screen door is the resident's responsibility as they backed into it....the piece of wood, no problem; however, pressure washing mildew (they call it mold) in SUBfreezing weather does not work and will create a worse problem than what is there. I advise the lender what I can do and suggest they withhold $300 from my ... 03/06/2012

  On my way into work this AM, I'm picking up 2 nice cut flower arrangements at my florist.  I ordered them last week so that they would be ready for me to pick-up and hand deliver.   One is going to the service coordinator of my new HVAC service firm and I will take the other one to the front desk receptionist at the office of the gated community where I have almost one-third of my rental inventory. In addition to these flower arrangements, I have a cute musical Valentine card and a $100 Sephora gift card with each flower arrangement. When I ordered these last week, I reminded the 2 MALE property managers I am mentoring to think of who makes their BUSINESS lives easier and they BOTH poo-pooed me for acknowledging those who assist us in doing our jobs. Meanwhile, I get an e-mail last ni... 02/13/2012

One of the "profit center" fees I thought I would never charge I am now charging - for RENTAL/Landlord verifications. I have a policy of ONLY providing this information IN WRITING with a copy to the new landlord AND a copy to my residents * NO She Said/He Said if their new landlord blames ME and the information I am providing for their not getting their new rental home. I also charge a $25 "forms fee" for this.  I started charging this fee when I was getting Rental Verifications from multiple lenders when departing residents were buying a new house and they were "shopping" for a lender. I request that these forms be brought to my office ALONG with a $25 check and I will complete them and MAIL them back to my residents and to their new landlord.....sorry, no FAXES.  If the resident wants... 02/07/2012

I just received an e-mail about the new rules and regulations being promulgated at an HOA property where I manage some rental units. They are to be effective TODAY*April 1 * and were approved by the board of directors earlier this week. NOT SO FAST!  These rules should 1) have been provided at the time of the signing of the lease for Virginia common law leases; OR 2) with REASONABLE notice and they can not MATERIALLY change the tenants' bargain in their lease. SO * what is a HOA to do?  First * use the rules and regulations in the by-laws and CC&Rs to develop them. THEN, IF they need to be changed; do so PRIOR to an Annual Meeting of the Unit Owners AND provide them with the notice of that meeting.  Have the changing of the Rules and Regulations as an item on the Annual Meeting agenda A... 04/01/2011

The Charlottesville area of Central Virginia is used to being ranked HIGH in most Forbes  "Places" surveys - Best Places to Live, Best Places to Retire, Best Place for Finding an EXCELLENT Property Manager and NOW we are ranked #11 in Best Small Places for Business and Careers According to their March 25, 2009 online issue.  We are the ONLY city in the state of Virginia and while I disagree that we do not have any billionaires per se * we have Fox Sports Newscaster Howie Long and his son Chris of the St.Louis Rams, Arthor John Grisham, Sissy Spacek and her husband Jack Fisk, and many members of the Dave Matthews Band which got its start on our Downtown Mall.  The Rolling Stones played in UVa's Scotts Stadium and U-2 will play here this year. http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/5/bizplaces0... 03/27/2009