An agent in my office was just complaining to another agent in the office about how she'd had two flat-tires in our parking lot in the last few weeks.

She'd picked up to "screws" in her tires, and she's sure that they're from our parking lot.  Now we haven't been having any recent construction, so I find it confusing as to where/why we would have had screws in our parking lot.

Then she said the weirdest thing... she told the other agent that she was sure there were more screws out there, and people should "watch out".

The conversation was loud enough, I walked over... "So, are you telling me there are more screws on the ground in our parking lot?" I asked.

"Yes!" she said...

"And they're still out there", I asked incredulously

"I'm sure, yes"... she replied.

"There are loose screws out on the ground in our parking lot now!?...

"Yes!... why?"

"Well, did you just leave them there??"

"Yes, why... what should I do?"

"Well", I said angrily, as I gathered up my coat and flashlight to go touring the parking lot... "How about picking them up?"

Some people like to complain, and others solve problems.  I'm completely blown away that someone would know that there are loose screws in the parking lot, just waiting to embed themselves in someone else's tires, and they do nothing to prevent that from happening... either pick them up, or tell someone so they can pick them up.

"Why" she asked me "is it my responsibility?"

Sorry... she just doesn't get it.  It's not my responsibility either... but I can't, in good consciousness, walk away knowing that those screws are out there, and someone will get a flat-tire.

Sheesh!!!

ALAN MAY, Realtor®
Specializing in Evanston Real Estate and North Shore Real Estate
Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, 2929 Central Street, Evanston, IL 60201
847.425.3779      Cell: 847.924.3313      Email: Almay@aol.com
Evanston Real Estate & North Shore Real Estate

    

Do not copy the content of this blog, without first contacting the author for permission.  Reblogging is allowed. All other use is strictly prohibited without express permission from me. This blog is tag-resistant... Do not tag me, I don't participate in tagging, no MeMe's don't even think about it

I have my FLASHLIGHT app on my EVO Android phone and tablet.  I always offer a lunch time showing slot OR weekend AM time slot rather than showing after 5P when IT IS DARK!

Showing Property After Dark is very common this time of year. While this in itself is nothing new, what is new, are the number of vacant properties on the market. More often than not, these vacant properties will not have electricity, and we will have to enter the property in the dark.

I have made it a point of always having a flashlight with me this time of year. In the last week or so, I have had to Show Property After Dark several times. I am working with someone looking for a single family home, and we have been meeting every day after work.

It can be quite erie to drive up to a dark house, and pull into the driveway when it is pitch black. We are in the suburbs and there are not many streetlights. I park in the driveway, open the car door, and am always relieved when the car lights go on! We get out of the car, walk up to the front door with the flashlight in tow. While I am fumbling with the lockbox trying to see the numbers, I always ask the buyer to hold my flashlight. Finally I retreive the key and slowly open the front door...what may we find??? Using the flashlight we look for lightswitches....sometimes we are in luck and the power will be on, but not always. 

While we may be in a fairly nice house, you simply cannot see it at night, and certainly not by flashlight alone. Even the nicest house will take on an erie feeling. The backyards are not visible at all, even by flashlight.

The other night we went through the whole routine, drove up to the dark house, got the flashlight out, opened the lockbox.....only to find NO KEY!! Well...so this wouldn't be a total waste of time, we used the flashlight to walk around the house...we opened the gate, walked past the hedges and into the backyard. We looked in the windows to see what we could. 

All in all....Showing Property After Dark is certainly not ideal, but when the buyers we are working with have no other available time, we do what we can do. After all...we are Realtors! And we will....Show Property After Dark.

Stefanie Cohen, PA, ABR, SFR

"I Love to Sell Real Estate in Florida and it Shows!"

Stefanie can be reached at 954-547-9203 or Scohen77@aol.com

www.StefanieLCohen.com

                                                     

1. Know what you need. Start your search by making a list of what you’d like the management company to do. You can put anything on the list, as long as the HOA board keeps the responsibility to oversee the management company’s actions. Knowing what your HOA needs will help you focus your search. 

2. Choose a person or committee to do the preliminary search. Expect to devote about 20 hours to choosing a company, says Elizabeth White, an attorney at LeClairRyan in Williamsburg, Va., who represents community associations.

3. Ask if your state requires some level of manager licensing. If so, seek out companies and candidates with the proper credentials. “We’re finding a lot of management companies in states that require licensing (that) haven’t gotten the license,” White says. States that require licenses or registration include Alaska, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, and Virginia. Starting in 2011, Illinois will require licenses.

4. Consider a company certified by the Community Associations Institute. This Alexandria, Va.-based organization has a range of certifications for companies and individual managers.

5. Be sure the company performs criminal background checks on its employees, especially its managers. Do your own background checks, too. Check references and do an onsite visit. “Speak to board members of associations managed by that company,” suggests David Regenbaum, CEO of Association Management Inc. in Houston. “Visit the company’s office and get a sense of its business philosophy. Some are merely bookkeeping and secretarial services. Others are fully committed and involved in the community. Make sure you select the company that’s appropriate to your needs.”

6. Investigate the firm’s bonding and insurance. Your state law and governing documents may spell out minimum standards for both, Taylor says. But a management company should also have liability insurance and workers’ compensation insurance covering its employees. Ask for a copy of the company’s insurance certificate, recommends Robert White, managing director of KW Property Management & Consulting in Miami. His firm carries a $2 million liability policy, plus a $10 million umbrella policy.

7. Read the fine print. It’s the rare management company that works without a signed contract. “It goes without saying,” Elizabeth White says, “that you should never sign the management company’s form contract.” Have your association lawyer suggest changes.

8. Try to negotiate for a one-year contract rather than the three-year contracts many companies seek. Why commit to a three-year contract if you can negotiate a one-year contract with the option to renew at one-year intervals for two years at the same price?

9. Scrutinize termination provisions. “As a manager, I don’t mind receiving 30 days’ notice of termination,” Regenbaum says. “But you shouldn’t allow the management company to give you 30 days’ notice because it’s difficult to scramble to find another manager in that time.” You need 60 to 90 days to repeat the search process if things don’t work out with your current management company.

10. Ask for a complete fee schedule, so you can compare competing contracts. Big costs may be buried in extra fees. For example, a company may provide for a manager to attend one meeting every six months and charge $100 per hour after that. It may also charge separately for postage and to manage a vote on and payment collection for special assessments. The lesson, according to Elizabeth White: Bids that come in significantly lower than others should be red flags.

Have A Question?  Please Feel Free to Call or Text Me At 708-439-0165.  Find A Home or A Select Destination!  Subscribing to My Blog Is Appreciated!

  

Find a home at http://dtaylor.illinoisproperty.com

For Flights, Cars, Cruises, Hotels, Vacation Homes, Vacation Townhomes, Vacation Condominuims, Vacation Villas, Vacation Deals, Vacation Ideas, Hot Travel Deals, Top Destinations, Live Travel Pro, Chat-Now, Honeymoon Registry, Group Requests, FUNJET Vacations, Videos, and Select Destinations visit http://protravelnetwork.com/gracesvacations  708-596-4019

Lawyers are often the focal point of disputes between neighbors, family members, business associates and virtually any combination of personalities. While it is not always the case that people use my services for non-confrontational matters [estate plans, home purchases or setting up businesses], people many times consult with me, because they are unhappy with a situation and want resolution.

I cannot tell you how many times people have consulted with me, and the first thing they wish to do is start a lawsuit against another person or entity. I can tell you, from many years of experience, that lawsuits are almost always much more expensive for the litigants than at first imagined, and almost never produce the result which was sought when they are begun. The old adage that the only people who really “win” in litigation are the lawyers is sometimes true. On the other hand, many lawyers reach a point where they cannot, in good conscience, continue to bill their clients for the extended delays and machinations that characterize litigation, and billings arrangements are many times modified by lawyers, so that even the lawyers do not do well in the litigation arena.

This introduction leads me to a discussion of the efficacy of “lawyer’s letters” so-called, as a means of resolving disputes. My experience in disputes is that there are three “magic moments” in the course of a dispute, which may give rise to resolution. The first is the receipt of the very same “lawyer’s letter”. The second two are the receipt of a summons and complaint from a Sheriff or Constable, and the third is the date of the trial on the merits [usually extremely remote from the first two events].

When I write a lawyer’s letter for a client, I am trying to demonstrate to the person, or entity, to whom I am writing that the matter in question is “serious”.  I interview my client with the same precision as I would to file a lawsuit. I try to make sure I have all of the facts correct, and the sequence of events correct. That level of preparation, it itself, may have the desired effect. The other person knows that there is really not much left for me to do to start litigation. In effect, I have “raised the stakes” of the dispute to a level that makes the other side more likely to respond.

The other important part of my lawyer’s letter is I give the addressee some options which will be short of litigation. Normally, I do not threaten suit. I want the other side to understand that this matter can be resolved. I am not trying to paint the other side into a corner. In effect, I am doing just the opposite. I try to frame a solution whereby each side “bleeds a little” and they can move on.

Many times, I can achieve resolution by suggesting a mediation of the dispute. Many times, the other side only wants a fight. In any event, I suggest that it is always worth an initial effort to resolve matters short of a lawsuit, and that is what I always advise my clients.