Property Management - A Wild Story For the Books.

The week was wild...and stressful....and interesting...and jaw dropping!   

Carolina Living Property Management had 2 applicants for a home we are/were managing in Mooresville, NC.  NOTE:    This is an extremely rare and extreme occurrence and is not at all indicative our our services.   

We vetted the two Vietnamese applicants and everything came up positive.  The main red flag was the applicants desire to pay in cash and to also pay 6 months up front + security deposit.   The explanation was that they were scoping out a place to open a restaurant and they had cash from a restaurant they have in California.  "Restaurants deal mostly in cash"

Since that was somewhat questionable, the applicants invited he owners and the myself over for a dinner to cook an authentic meal.  The dinner was awesome.

Once in the home, the tenants invited neighbors over for the same type dinner, walked the neighborhood and essentially conned everyone into believing a new restaurant was imminent

All this was done in March.  In early April the We visited the home to check on things and ensure everything was going well.

Low in behold by the 3rd week in June, we were called and told the K9 drug sniffing dogs were on site.

This is where it got interesting.  The Narcotics division had gotten a tip and had knocked on the door to just ask questions.  Once there, they smelled something strong and asked to enter.  The tenants tried to block the door.  BIG Mistake!  Given this probable cause, they did a quick look around and handcuffed 2 people and waited for the official search warrant.

Subsequently, while waiting, another car circled around the home a couple of times.  The officers coyly left (but not really).  They left someone close by and drove down the street.  As stupid criminals usually do, the stupid car came back again!   Immediately the narcotics officers raced back from close by and with guns drawn and arrested the two new arrivals.

Needless to say, the neighbors were getting the Reality show of their lives!

Once we were able to see the home, we found a home that was amazing and heartbreaking at the same time...

Here is what they did.

They ripped up all the carpet.

They hung copper wire from the one wall to the other to hang ultra violet lights.

They built new circuit boxes to create a huge number of additional outlets to plug lights and the numerous fans they needed.

They drilled big holes in the ceiling of the closets to run new duct work all the way to the attic.

In the upstairs bedrooms they did not pull up the carpet but they did tape plastic down on the carpet and also created all the electrical havoc.

In the bathrooms there was a lot of chemicals we believe were being used as fertilizer.

In all 700 plants were pulled from the home.

Needless to say the tenants are in jail, for a long time... Enough Said.

NOTE:  Insurance is covering the damage.  Renting your home?  Call your insurance agent!

The Psychology of Selling Your Winston Salem Area Home

Selling your Winston Salem home can be a very stressful endeavor. I laugh at those that feel Realtor’s just put a sign in the yard and wait for a buyer. In my many years of Real Estate, I can’t recall a time that this happened. Even the times we have gotten an offer in almost record time, the various aspects of negotiations and closings challenges make a Realtor’s job one of wearing many different hats.

We live in a world where everyone wants to win and we are driven by visual stimulation.  Successful listings of homes stand out online and are the one’s which have professional photos and Virtual Tours.  This is why, we hire professional photographers for all our listings.  

There are other aspects of selling your Winston Salem area home that we also try to emphasize.

The front of the home needs to be stellar.  It is the first thing potential buyers see and can be a showing killer if the first thing they see is run down porches, hedges/buses, yard, shutters,siding (where applicable), and gutters.

The home should be free of clutter and things the may distract potential buyers from seeing what you really have to offer.

Obviously, if you reside in the home, you have to be able to live a normal life.  You may even want to consult with someone that can help with  home staging  especially if you are not having any luck and the home is vacant.

All of these things are important but the most important is Pricing.   Let me be blunt and say two things that are very important:

1.  It does not matter what Zillow says.   Zillow does not enter your home and has no idea what our MLS says with regard to closing prices, upgrades in the home, seller concessions, neighborhood amenities etc.

2,  It does not matter what the Tax value is. Tax value has a sole purpose of creating a way for the city and county to generate revenue.  It has nothing to do with recent sales.

Let us as Realtor’s show you reports of recent sales.  This is what Realtor’s look at when they represent buyers and advise them on what is priced competitively.  If you are too high, Realtor’s will tell their clients that you are not realistic and advise them to skip your home.

Ever heard a friend or colleague say he/she bought something and said “I got a great deal”, “I got it for exactly what I wanted to pay” or something of that nature.  This is all about the feeling of winning the deal.  Both buyers and seller’s want to feel they got the best deal possible.  I have used creative methods to handle this situation numerous times and strive  to help my clients get that satisfaction of “I got a great deal”

I am happy to discuss with you your goals etc., with no future obligations.