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Moo!

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You know that moment when you are leaving a baseball game, or are doing some Black Friday shopping and you can’t help but allow a sarcastic “moo” to escape your lips? You are a little embarrassed that you said that out loud, but you are caught up in the crowd! One standing in a mass of others! Slowly moving!  You feel like a head in a herd of cattle.

Unfortunately, that is how many are feeling in our current rental housing market. Rents are sky high and inventory is almost non existent. The few suitable properties out there receive a multitude of applications by the time the property manager presses enter to submit their online listing.

So, how do you distinguish yourself from the crowd? What makes you any different or better than the applicant standing next to you?

Of course, you have to do some legwork of your own before you get started with your search for the perfect home. Things like making sure your credit is in order, paying your rent on time and building a good rental history.

GOOD NEWS! In this rental housing market, you no longer have to trudge along with the herd on your own!

We now offer a a new service, and it’s pretty unheard (pun intended) of in our rental market.

We are taking the hands of prospective tenants and providing them a leg up on the competition. We will assist you in building the best application up front so that it is complete, professional and ready to hand to the prospective Landlord or Property Manager.

We have a vast knowledge of the areas in Santa Cruz County, the homes that are for rent and those that may be coming up for rent. We have a trusted and valued relationship with many other property management companies, and even with some private landlords. We will go to bat for you, and help create that special something that makes you stand out from the crowd

For more information go to: besttenants.wordpress.com.

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When graffiti is not art.

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vw graffitiOne Sunday morning I had to drive to the office to meet a client. The front of my car was not facing me (I was not parked in my driveway), so as I got into my car and drove away everything seemed as usual. I arrived at my office and got out of my car, met with my clients and finished the paperwork. Then we were headed to meet at their new home to do a property “walk through”. They left the office first and I was to follow. As I left the office, now the front of my car was facing me and behold I was shocked! My car had been tagged! I still had to drive to the other side of town and meet my clients and I was so embarrassed. My yellow VW Beetle ruined! How was I going to get this off? Well the good news is that it all came off pretty quickly with the product – Goo Gone! Not a spot left and no harm to the paint on my car.

After this incident, I became more aware of issue of graffiti. What do you do if you spot graffiti?

Both  Santa Cruz and Watsonville have Graffiti Abatement Programs.

In Watsonville, property owners are required to remove graffiti within 48 hours. The city will no longer provide free unlimited removal for private property owners. The city will continue to remove graffiti from public property. If your property is part of a Home Owners’ Association, it is your responsibility to contact the HOA and have the graffiti removed within 48 hours. The ultimate responsibility for the removal rests on the property owner if the HOA fails to remove the graffiti.

If this happens to you, make sure you file a police report, I did.

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Is it the pickles or the tomatoes that make a tuna sandwich soggy?

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Why a blog referring to a soggy tuna sandwich? Isn’t it “the worst” when you expect to eat a tasty tuna sandwich made with sourdough bread; you take that first bite and you find out it tastes soggy! Well that was the case with my husband after he bit into the sandwich I made him and found it was soggy. He was very disappointed! Later at an opportune moment he made me aware the experience. To make his point, every disappointment or problem was later called a “soggy tuna sandwich”.

The truth was that I had made the sandwich the day before. On that day, he didn’t take it to work so I just put it in his lunch bag the following day. Lesson learned –  I should have just made a new sandwich and not repurposed the old one.

So the soggy tuna sandwich refers to the day-to-day challenges in business.

Property management has its daily challenges. Every day is a new experience.

The purpose of my blog is to tell a story of my interesting experiences and some of the lessons learned.

I will share the situations I encounter in my property management world and write about the personal interactions and conversations from the viewpoint of an experienced property manager. 

In demonstrating the lessons, I will make reference to the resource that help me identify, analyze, and work through each situation.

I hope my experience and insights will help you when interacting with Owners, Tenants, and other Service Providers in your property management business or real estate investment business.

If you would like to view my website, click here.