As property managers, we have the privilege of undergoing the required city inspections that need to be conducted prior to tenant occupancy. This, of course is for the purpose of providing safe code-enforced housing for our great tenants!!
On one such inspection, at a South Suburban location, in Illinois, my husband, who does the majority of these appointments, FLUNKED the test! It was the most meticulous he had ever undergone!
Not only did the house not pass, the write-ups he received were outrageous! To appease the intense scrutiny of the code enforcer, we'd have to practically do a total REHAB!! Mr. Rice was not very happy for he knew this was ridiculous - we were approved for the previous renter without the need to do these details asked of us!
Seeing Tony's obvious displeasure, the inspector leaned over, whispered to him and said, "look, you guys have plenty of houses.... it's nothing for you to pass.... all you need to do is slide me $300 bucks!
When Tony first shared this with me.... a thick silence began to permeate the room we were in. I checked his face for signs of an upturned lip - evidence that a grin was preparing to break out .... NOPE! Not a grimace, smirk, or any other facial contortion! This was no joke! It was NOT one of those occasions of jesting he's known to amuse me with.... not this time... he was serious!
Now, Tony had not related this to me until after he had successfully passed the inspection the second time with a different examiner. That particular day, he called me, jubilant that it was over and thanked me for the prayers sent up on his behalf! The owner also accompanied him after having been forced to comply to the demands imposed upon him to be in compliance.
It was later that evening, after dinner that this story emerged as my husband began to recite several obstacles he had to face.... he was giving me yet another lesson about this hard, cold, cruel, REAL world.
"Where the RIGHT Price is the RICE Price!"
Rice Property Management & Realty, a property management & real estate company which holds licenses in Indiana & Illinoisis is located in South Holland, Illinois. We are available to service buyers, sellers, reanters, investors, and thoseseeking property mangement services.
(Images courtesy of Bing)
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There was a generation (possibly you?) who had respect toward paying bills, using credit wisely, and
enjoying the rewards of budgeting. In that day, folks did without, for living above their income means was unheard of.... most survived on dreams, hope, prayers, and hard work. There was no such thing as "luck!" Most did not have rich relatives leaving an inheritance to look forward to. This was the time period i was raised up in....
Poor? No, hunnie, we were NOT poor.... we were PO!! (pronounced, "POE" like the poet). I came from the same area God placed his first created man, Adam in.... "the gardens!" Officially known as "Altgeld Gardens", the gardens (of Illinois) was one of the so-called "Projects" - erected (like concentration camps) to herd a multitude of poor Negroes into, residing in Chicago. These low-income rowed structures would be considered "affordable housing" by today's terms.
Was i ashamed? Not until i was old enough to understand the difference, for we were all in this together, and knew nothing else except for a few infrequent reminders heard from the uttered yearnings for a better life expressed by my Mother!
As an adult, responsibility was practiced from the lessons taught by my parents, about waiting, laying aside, and doing without! What a good feeling it was to know that what you had, was earned from the labor of your own hands! In those days, we OWNED what we had. It was an incentive to go to work!
Fast forward... TODAY?? As we look at credit reports coming from potentials tenants, we see repeated patterns in about 85% of the rental applicants.... BAD CREDIT!
Are unwise stewards of credit becoming a trend? This unconcerned attitude is seen from those with a "whateva" attitude, displaying no regard for being responsible to debts made for cell phone bills, clothing, traffic tickets, dishonored checks, auto loans, furniture bills, & others.
Is this the "Stuff NOW - Pay NEVER" era? Just a few years back, merchandisers would woo the public with clever sales gimmicks that would read such as....
Well, it looks as though we have gone over the limit, and the evidence is shown on the credit reports with no plans for repayment, and continued accumulation of.... STUFF!!
Some readers may see this as an opportunity to quickly place BLAME on an administration, but what this is goes beyond a few elected in government, and it will take more than a few NEW ones to remedy it!
Proverbs 13:11 Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathered by labour shall increase.
© 2009 Diane Rice - Rice Property Management & Realty, LLC. Images courtesy of Bing
It's sad to be aware that the same industry that doles out REALTOR® licenses is the very one from which frowns upon it's own members!!! We hear what you say about us Property Managers.... "OH, you deal on the low end!!!" Why has such degradation become synonymous with practitioners managing property???
We come from the same beginnings to get our professional orientation, and must abide by and do the exact required continuing education, pay the same amount of dues, and still get rejected by YOU as though we are the scum of the earth!!!
Are not we servicing the SAME client?? Do not MOST buyers have their beginnings as a renter? Do we have to continue to suffer disgrace from our own colleagues as if the origin of and the contamination of the HINI Plague began with US!!! It is a SHAME!!!
In addition to fulfilling the mandatory education, MANY of us go on to earn costly designations through respected professional associations as CPM. GRI. NARPM. MPM. PPM. E-PRO. RPM. etc. How many vowels and consonants behind our name must we acquire to be allowed to sit at the table with YOU???
People..... we are assisting the IDENTICAL customer!!! A person who lives somewhere, whether they rent for a season and purchase later, or if deciding to never own.... is still a patron!!!
Has it come down to factoring based upon a measly penny??? Are we announcing to the public that ONLY top producing Sellers and Listers are worthy to be esteemed??? If so, we have sold ourselves cheaply!!! We are painting pictures to the generation after us, that they should pattern after those who successfully make the biggest bucks from placing the SAME CLIENT in a 30 year lease that WE PREVIOUSLY SERVICED!!!
And, it will be US..... the lowly Property Managers who are the ones who will faithfully take them back in when they get evicted after they fail to live up to the terms of the contract which went with the "DREAM HOUSE" YOU placed them in!!!
When the illusion if over.... WE will still be there for them... will YOU???
© 2009 Diane Rice - Rice Property Management & Realty, LLC. Image courtesy of Bing
If your search to purchase a home for the first time had you in a flabbergasted state
to hastily make a choice from what's available on the market... guess what? GOOD NEWS!! The deadline date for qualifying for the tax credit awarded to home buyers has been prolonged!
Agents and buyers can both cease from holding their breath... a bit, for Congress has extended AND expanded the tax credit for qualifying buyers. The official last day for filing (income) taxes with the IRS is April 15Th, 2010. The official last day to have a written binding purchase contract for a home is April 30Th, 2010. As long as the house closes by July 1, 2010, the credit can be taken.
If you are a CURRENT homeowner, and will buy a new home between November 7, 2009 and April 30,
2010, a tax credit benefit of $3250 or $6500.00 (depending upon your filing status) has been made available for you also! This is EXCEPTIONAL news for homeowners who have used their principal residence for 5 of the prior 8 years consecutively.
BEST NEWS OF ALL?? THE TAX CREDIT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE PAID BACK!!
Confused? Do not fret. The National Association of Realtors, has a more thorough explanation at their website. A helpful chart denoting the distinction between the old tax credit rules and the new extended tax credit has been issued by Governors Affairs Division and can be accessed here.
We encourage you to contact your local REALTOR® to acquire personalized information tailored to your needs. To start your search for available homes in the South Suburban or Chicago-land Area, click the Rice Property Management logo below.
"Where the RIGHT Price is the RICE Price!"
Rice Property Management & Realty, located in South Holland, Illinois, has agents that work with first time home buyers seeking homes in Illinois and Indiana. Give us a call at 708-862-7423
(Images courtesy of Bing)
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Commercial & Residential Property Management & Real Estate servicing Suburban Illinois & Northwest Indiana locations. Our clientele includes investors, owners, renters, buyers, and sellers.
We began our business after we received divine instructions: "start the business, and whatever you touch will turn to gold"! At the time, we were living in a basement apartment surviving mainly on potatoes for a whole year. With no money saved, and not knowing where to start, "it came to me" that what i can do is what i have already been doing all my life, "naturally" Well, i knew how to clean, so i made calls offering to clean homes. Our first customer was a relative. I grabbed a can of Comet Cleanser, a few rags, and mounted the $5.00 bike my husband purchased me from a resale store.
It took a whole day cleaning her 3 level home. When my husband saw my efforts, he then picked up a paint brush and announced, "well, i can paint"!
We called the landlord and informed him that he needed his building painted and cleaned, then offered our services. The next week he called and took us up on it. Unknown to us, he had 38 units, which we began to clean and paint. Later, when we were "divinely instructed" to move to a different location, we continued our business with him.
It was after we moved that our former landlord asked us to manage his properties. We became his part-time employees, seeing to the needs of tenants.... cleaning, painting, and most of all listening, hearing, observing. Later on, we were divinely instructed to get licensed, and we did. We believe one of the reasons we have been called into this business is to service a sector of people who may have resigned to become life-time renters due to low credit scores, hindering past histories, and lack of knowledge needed to assist in advancement. There is an immense degree of joy witnessing the gratitude shown on faces of clients who did not believe they could become homeowners! As we continue to be directed by "divine instructions" we anticipate greater contributions to service lives of many.
Rice Property Management & Realty, LLC. - "Big on "U".... all the way to the letter"i"
Owners: The favor awarded to us gives us a resource advantage of being able to offer pre-qualified tenants to property owners seeking management in the States of Illinois and Indiana. Our large tenant-base can be utilized to accomodate your units needing occupants. We walk the owner-to-be through every step, encouraging them along the way. Our convenient South Suburban Rental Office located in South Holland, IL, is being equipped with state of the art property management support systems designed to give you quality professional monthly reports. Rice Property Management resolves to become your Full-Service Property Management Company. We encourage all interested owners to contact us for appointments. Investors: Rice Property Management seeks partnerships with investors desiring to contribute back to the community while enjoying profits made from wise business choices. Our endeavor is to expose others to investment visions that will impact lives for the betterment creating an acceleration in business as a result of liasons with us. New and seasoned investors are encourged to ask Rice Property Management regarding these programs. Renters: This is one of the main areas of focus for us. Our experience as Property Managers has given us the understanding, patience, and sensitivity needed to assist our clients into becoming homeowners. We appeal to tenants and those with challenged credit primarily concentrating where the needs are. We "use rent-to-own" strategies and have credit counseling plans. We have chosen communities that have high concentrations of renters in the South Suburban Illinois & Indiana vicinities to target. We have an "Urban Mission" message to prove..... "welcome to your OWN home!" We endeavor to: Convert renters into homeowners, homeowners unto investors, and investors into neighborhood developers. We will accomplish this through using on-going training through our memberships with Local Chambers, Neighborhood Coalitions, In-house training, and other sources. We are dedicated to getting results for anyone desiring a home regardless to past credit problems or low incomes. We are eagerly waiting to serve you! We belong to the following: Community Involvement:
"I needed to have run into this company earlier on, I called looking to rent an apartment, never knowing I would qualify for a home. Mrs. Rice took the time to walk me through every step and now I am a proud homeowner! I have and will continue to refer everyone I know to Rice Property Management. She is very professional."
"I have been working with Diane at Rice Property Management for 4 years and it has been by pleasure. They were not the first management company I hired to manage my property, but they are the best! They have systematically handled my problems that arose with professionalism and with a "personal touch". They are ethical, accountable, and highly efficient. Diane treats my property issues as if they were hers. I would definately recommend Rice Property Management to handle anyone's property needs.
Thank you, Aaron - Las Vegas, NV
Rice Property Management & Realty, LLC. - "Big on "U".... all the way to the letter"i"
To GOD be ALL the Glory for the things HE alone has done!
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