Simone Bercu, Montgomery Co, MD Real Estate, CRS, GRI, e-PRO, Assoc. Broker

Last week, I participated in a multiple offers "presentation". There were 15 offers all together and the winning buyer paid substantially more than the asking price. This might be a unique situation, but as I did my research, yesterday; I was pleased to find out that the absorption rate in a few communities has gone down to what we consider a Normal to Seller's Market (inventory under 6 months).

For example in Rockville on February 10th I noticed a 3.2 months inventory of single family homes (SF), and a 2.2 months inventory of attached homes / condos and townhomes (A).

In Gaithersburg the supply of single family (SF) homes was 3.0 months and 2.9 months supply of attached homes (A).

Bethesda has a supply of 4.7 months (SF) and 4.6 months (A), while in Potomac the inventory is now 4.5 months(SF) and 4.2 months (A).

This is good news compare to the rest of the country, since unemployment is low in our area and both buyers and sellers eventually get tired of postponing their housing dreams.

For anyone thinking of buying, who has a reliable income stream, has saved for a down payment, is credit worthy and plans to stay in the area for a few years; Seems to me that this is a good time for him/her to zero in on a house of his/her choice.

Are you going to hire an agent to get the tenant, but manage it yourself?

A full service agent will:

Inspect the property and make improvement suggestions

Take pictures, prepare flyers, and information to leave at the property

Advertise on the Internet and all other available sources

Respond to inquiries and show the property

•· After the agent notifies you that she has an interested applicant, she will have the applicant's credit verified, check his employment status, housing history, and any references

•· The agent will share the information in general with you and let you decide, if you want to rent to the applicant.

•· The tenant will give two checks, one as a security deposit that you will place in an escrow account for the tenant. You will be responsible to pay interest on it when the tenant moves out. The percentage is available on the Landlord Tenant site.

•· One month rent will be used to pay the Agent's Broker.

•· The agent will coordinate the tenant's move in

•· Once the tenant moves in, he will have 10 days to inspect the home and note any damages, not noted before

If you are managing the property, the agent's job is done at this point.

A landlord can expect a variety of situations not mentioned here, however he will have to deal with the unpredictable issues. Enjoy the adventure!

Recently, I responded to rental "SOS" contacts from "accidental landlord" clients who have not followed my advice.

This prompted me to think and share with future investors, based on my experience, in a three part blog the rental process and what it takes to be a professional landlord, or investor. I might have overlooked additional suggestions. Please feel free to add any helpful ideas in the comments.

To run a professional rental business, if you do not hire a management company, I suggest creating a list of all the servicepersons and their telephone numbers who can service the property.

Create a list of rules for the home that the tenant can refer to when he has an issue.

Walk through the home with the tenant and make sure the tenant knows how every thing works. Point out the main water shot off, the exterior water faucet the main electrical furnace switch, etc.

If you manage your property, make sure that you inspect it twice a year. You will do well to check it out after the first 2-3 months to see how the tenants are caring for the home.

If you plan an extended trip, check if the tenant has any problems. Make sure he has an emergency contact for the time that you are unavailable.

If you have the misfortune of renting to a deadbeat tenant, make sure you file for eviction as soon as possible. To be continued...

As I sat down to lunch with my family during our vacation in Miami Beach, Florida, I noticed that a customer who has sent me emails in the past, found a home she likes and asked to preview. I immediately excused myself to another room and called her to make arrangements for showing.

After emailing the listing to her, she made a strange request...would I verify that I am acting as a listing agent? Why would I do that if it is not my listing? I asked her to explain and found out on a call to her that she does have an agent who is on vacation and would like ME to show her a house...just like that.

My point is that buyers need to understand that real estate agents do not work for free. If an agent shows a home to a buyer who is working with another agent, the new agent the buyer just picked from the Internet to show him a home, might be involved in litigation or just not be paid for his work.

I asked the customer if she would work for free, and her answer was that she did not know how the system works.

Is it possible that some of us still do not explain to our clients how agents work and how we are compensated?

• I will use this experience to make sure that every buyer I communicate with will understand how agents are compensated.
• I will make sure that these buyers know that contacting another agent to show them properties, while already committed to a specific agent, is unfair and unethical.

How about you?

• Try to dig your plants as early as possible so that the plants can develop strong healthy roots for our customers (who may be our own club member friends!)
• Thoroughly soak the plants to be dug the day before you plan to lift them.
• Prepare (purchase) some light potting soil to use instead of taking more soil from the bed where the plants are growing. Put potting soil in the bottom of each pot. After you dig, fill the hole with some potting soil, too, to enrich your garden.
• As you dig, disturb the plant roots as little as possible. Lift the plant with a small bit of earth. Trim the roots slightly, if necessary, to fit the plant into the pot (or use the next size pot).
• To prevent girdling, do not coil the stray roots around the root ball.
• Work in more soil with your fingers. Gently rap the pot on the workbench to settle the soil.
• Using an indelible marking pen put the plant's common/botanical name, growing conditions, color, use, etc. on a plant stake. The club will provide the stakes at the March and April meetings. A Popsicle stick would work, too.
• Remember to water the new plants! And protect them from the sometimes harsh April sun and wind as they acclimate.

If you do not want to keep the plants over the winter, call Simone Bercu at 240 506 2340, or email to Simone@BercuHomes.com and our members will pick up the plants promptly.