It’s My Way … No Highway Option

As everyone knows I do a lot of real estate coordinating. I have been looking into foreclosures and I was thinking about investing some of our money into foreclosed homes that coming on our local market. I found this website that shows pictures of all of the homes in our area that are either going into foreclosure or are foreclosed on already.

I like being able to find what I am looking for online. I don’t like to hassle with calling ten thousand people to try and get the answers that I am looking for. I just want to click a few times and find what I want. Thats what makes this site so easy to use. In a couple of clicks I was surfing homes, in our area, that were available for me to consider for investments. What a great way to do business. Easy, fast and effective. I love that all the photos are right there for me to see. I am a big looker, I like to see what I am reading about.

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Why is it that property owners always have to be cocky? They are always thinking that everything is someone elses fault…especially when they have a property management company. It’s like they assume that when they hire us we automatically take fault to every little thing that happens or goes wrong and they never take any responsiblity. I mean if they dont send us over the paperwork we need to correct a problem or at least make us aware of the issue, how do they expect us resolve anything. We are not mind readers or psychics!!!! Its ridiculous what owners expect of Property Management Companies. They should try reading their property management agreement over and over again until they understand what we are responsible for exactly when it comes to their property.
For instance, I had a woman owner call me today….and I tell you she is a woman not because I am sexist in any way but because I want you to understand the attitude she was throwing at me for something that was her fault. She had received a Courtesy Notice HOA violation for weeds in the front landscaping that was dated June 11 and faxed it over to me on June 18, I didnt get to it until June 20…(she isnt the only client I work for…to her surprise imagine that…lol). She was pissed off because she just received a hearing notice regarding the same violation which means it wasnt taken care of OBVIOUSLY. Just for your information when it comes to landscaping violations it states within the tenants rental agreement that they are responsible for maintaining all landscaping for the property. When I receive an HOA violation for landscaping I send a letter to the tenant with a copy of the actual HOA violation so they are aware that this issue needs to be resolved otherwise there will be a fine imposed. Well the first notice she sent on June 18 was the Courtesy Notice, which I did exactly what I am expected of once received. Now she calls screaming at me about getting a Hearing Notice almost a month later??? Everyone knows in the HOA world that first they send out Courtesy Notices, then a Violation Notice, and sometimes even a 2nd Violation Notice, then a Hearing Notice, and if you still haven’t taken care of the problem a Fine Notice. She must have received a Violation Notice in between there somewhere but failed to send it to me and now she is screwed and has a deadline because she sat on it until it was the last minute. But its my fault??? Yeah right…even when I send out a letter to inform the tenant to take care of the issue, I certainly do not have the time to follow up and call all the tenants I send letters to. I get roughly about 50 violation letters a month for different things…some take longer than others and I dont have enough time for what I have to do now. So to add a follow up phone call for a Courtesy Letter is just plain waste of time because it is the owners responsibility to let me know if they received another violation letter from the HOA. That is how I know the problem wasnt solved and then I take the next step and hire a landscaper to do it and charge the tenant for the cost. SO IF IM NOT INFORMED BY THE PROPERTY OWNER THEN I CANT HELP THEM….and if they get a fine because they failed to let me know they received more violations then that is on them and completely their fault.

It sucks being the middle man sometimes….or middle woman in my case. GRRRRRR!!!

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I dont understand some homeowners we manage properties for.  If you own a home and are willing to rent it out to a tenant, then you should have the common sense that repairs are going to be needed once in awhile and its not always the tenants fault.  Especially if the house is 10 years old…HELLO!

I have had to explain to many homeowners that their tenant had nothing to do with  the a/c unit going out.  Granted sometimes it may be the tenants fault due to the neglect of changing out the filter every month, but most of the time an a/c unit dies is because its too old or wear and tear. Shit it’s Vegas…practically the surface of the sun…it’s hot!!! But then the owners wants to complain and say, “Well what did my tenant do to make that happen?”….Absolutely nothing…except live in the damn house for a year and used the utilities that they have a right to use.  Oh yeah and its even worse with the owners that do not live in Las Vegas or ever have lived here because they do not understand what hot temperatures are and think that the tenant can handle a few days without a/c during the summer.  Those are the ones that take their sweet ass time to get an estimate approved on a new a/c unit and then it takes even longer to order the unit and install it.  It’s ridiculous!  In the meantime the tenant is calling me and freaking out because their homes feel like the inside of an oven.  By law, if you are an owner and the a/c unit goes out in a property that you are renting out, you have to address the issue within 48 hours otherwise the tenant has the option to go get a hotel room and deduct the cost off of their rent for the days that they did not have a/c in their home.  There are a few repairs that apply to this law such as heating, a/c, no water in the home, floods and fires. These problems are deemed as uninhabitable living situations and have to be taken care of right away. This is per any lease that is from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.  So any Property Management Company would be under these terms and also any Private Owners that get their leases from the GLVAR.  Im sure if a tenant was ever to take an owner to Court regarding an uninhabitable living environment…the tenant would win if the owners sat on the problem for longer than a few days.  There are so many legal avenues to take when it comes to your living environment because that is a personal space and everyone needs a roof over their heads no matter what…especially if you are paying for it every month out of pocket.  Living paycheck to paycheck.

I will give props to some Homeowners that are willing to do anything just to please their tenants.  But it’s sad in some cases also because some tenants take advantage of their owners generosity.  Some tenants think that the owners should be responsible for every little teeny tiny repair that needs to be fixed, such as a toilet paper holder falling off the wall…thats just laziness.  Anyone can repair that but I’ve had tenants that have called me and requested a contractor to do it.  Mind you…a contractor service call is roughly $72.00 just to come out to the property…that doesnt include the price for any parts needed.

So you can see my point…they are really needy tenants that make it their 24 hour job to request repairs to their rental home and expect their owners to spend all this unnecessary money to do something they can take care of themselves in less than 5 minutes with a simple screw and screwdriver. Then there are insensitive owners that think that the tenant is at fault for everything and dont realize that some things definitely need to be taken care of right away and that there isn’t time to mess around and get 3-4 estimates just so they can get the cheapest price.

There are always problems and debates when it comes to Real Estate investment and Residential Rentals.  But it’s my job and I love it.  It’s really kind of sick…I’m addicted to Real Estate Coordinating.

LOL! I could write about it all day.

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I work for a Real Estate Company in Las Vegas. We do Property Management for owners that have tenants in their homes. My job in this business is HOA Coordinator…the hell of real estate. I understand why many communities have Homeowner Associations…they are suppose to keep the community maintained and looking nice. It really is a good idea but it can go to the extreme with some HOA’s in this city.

If you have two little tiny weeds in your front yard that are 2 inches tall…you get a violation.

If you have your vehicle parked in the driveway instead of the garage…you get a violation.

If you have your trash container in plain view from the street….you get a violation.

If your satellite dish wire is not the same color as your house…you get a violation.

If you want to change your landscaping in front or backyard, you have to get the changes approved by the Architectural Review Committee and Board of Directors before you do anything…or else you will get a violation.

It’s ridiculous that when you purchase a home and call yourself an owner…you dont really have control of your own home. You have to abide by the HOA’s Rules and Regulations on a daily basis and it’s only getting worse each and every year. On top of everything else…if you dont abide by their Rules they will fine you sometimes up to $100.00 a week or more until you are in compliance with the community. If you don’t pay your fines they have the ability to put a lien on your property and take it away from you. How is this justice? How does an Association get the power to be able to pry into your personal property and financial state so much. Most…not all….but most of the violations are small insignificant things that should be your right since you own your home. You use your hard earned money to invest in a property and then one little thing can screw you over and get it all taken away. No Association should have a right to do this to people. What happened to privacy and respect? What you have on your property and what you do with your property should be your choice and your own right since you are the ones paying for it.

If anyone has any ideas about how we can organize a petition or ideas how we can stop this madness from being so out of control, please let me know!

I would be more than happy to march in and rip the pedestal right out from under all Homeowners Associations.

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