Cismont, VA

I have a long-time property management client who is refinancing her local rental home before she starts a trip of several months.

The appraisal was done last week and I e-mailed the lease and lease renewal letters to the mortgage broker last week.....TODAY I get a call that the exterior needs to be pressure washed, a screen door fixed and a piece of dry rotted wood replaced......NO PROBLEM in 8 inches of snow.

HELLO! it is 28 degrees and there is snow all over the ground. Screen door is the resident's responsibility as they backed into it....the piece of wood, no problem; however, pressure washing mildew (they call it mold) in SUBfreezing weather does not work and will create a worse problem than what is there.

I advise the lender what I can do and suggest they withhold $300 from my client's REfi funds, I'll have the work done, pay the bill, send a copy of the paid bill to them along with the photos of the areas of the house that have been corrected.

It took me 2 phone calls with 2 different people at the lender before the "reality" of my solution got through to them. I waited for 2 hours for the 2 lender reps to e-mail me their repair list and I when I received it, I sent it via my smartyphone to my contractor while checking my Google local weather temps for the next few days...fortunately, Thursday will be 68 degrees....YEAH!

One of the "profit center" fees I thought I would never charge I am now charging - for RENTAL/Landlord verifications.

I have a policy of ONLY providing this information IN WRITING with a copy to the new landlord AND a copy to my residents * NO She Said/He Said if their new landlord blames ME and the information I am providing for their not getting their new rental home.

I also charge a $25 "forms fee" for this. I started charging this fee when I was getting Rental Verifications from multiple lenders when departing residents were buying a new house and they were "shopping" for a lender.

I request that these forms be brought to my office ALONG with a $25 check and I will complete them and MAIL them back to my residents and to their new landlord.....sorry, no FAXES. If the resident wants to hand-deliver the copy to their new landlord, I'll mail them both completed forms.

I just received a landlord verification for a couple who has been with me for 3 years and are moving closer to town. Their lease is not up for 5+ months and for me to provide a landlord reference NOW is PREmature so I have not responded to their proposed new landlord and I have REconfirmed with them that their lease does not terminate until mid-June.

While many would think that providing this information should be pro-forma for the current landlord, when they purchased a home, my reasoning is that they paid for their appraisal and their credit report. I have to do work to complete the rent verification/landlord reference form * probably 15 to 20 minutes * so why should I not get paid? Also, I require the money with the form so that there is no discussion about the fee coming from their security deposit. They have paid a credit or application fee to the NEW landlord, so they should pay me for assisting them in that process.

The Charlottesville area of Central Virginia is used to being ranked HIGH in most Forbes "Places" surveys - Best Places to Live, Best Places to Retire, Best Place for Finding an EXCELLENT Property Manager and NOW we are ranked #11 in Best Small Places for Business and Careers According to their March 25, 2009 online issue. We are the ONLY city in the state of Virginia and while I disagree that we do not have any billionaires per se * we have Fox Sports Newscaster Howie Long and his son Chris of the St.Louis Rams, Arthor John Grisham, Sissy Spacek and her husband Jack Fisk, and many members of the Dave Matthews Band which got its start on our Downtown Mall. The Rolling Stones played in UVa's Scotts Stadium and U-2 will play here this year.

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/5/bizplaces09_Charlottesville-VA_2496.html

Many of the newer businesses are associated with the expansion of the University of Virginia Medical Center and the building of the new Emily Couric Cancer Center (named after Katie's sister who was a State Senator and died of cancer), the expansion of the private Martha Jefferson Hospital and the doubling in size of the NGIC * National Ground Intelligence Command * I'd tell you what they do but then I'd have to kill you.....yes, there are loads of opportunities for new, small businesses...it's where I started my business almost 12 years ago!!!