All Forum Posts by: Chris DeTreville

I had a tenant call to complain about his heat not working. So I began asking him questions to try to figure out the problem. Does the unit come on at all? "yes" Does the unit blow warm air? "well, not like it used to" Ok, well what do you have your thermostat set on? "Well I called the power company so they could help me with my bill, and they told me I needed to keep it on 69" So I ask, what did you have it set on all Winter? "78"

So long story short, he has it set on 78 all winter, gets an outrageous bill, calls the power company's hotline that helps low income families pay their bills- they tell him to turn the thermostat down to 69, which he does, and although the unit is working fine, he calls me to tell me it isn't working because it's not blowing hot air. I explain to him the obvious, and go about my day.

Also, when it comes to pets- I love how people say "I know you hear this all the time, but my dog is the most well behaved dog ever and is crate trained and never causes any damage."

You're right, I hear that every day, from every single tenant with a dog, and 90% of the time your dog is the spawn of satan.

I also love how pit owners have learned not to say they own a pit bull. It's always a mix, or a terrier, or some other tricky variation.

I've got one for the record books. My mother manages a few of her own properties, and she told me this one the other day.

Younger single mother calls in. My mom tells her she needs to check credit and verify income, etc. The girl tells her she is currently unemployed and had been living with her mother, and doesn't have any way to verify her income. (whatever that "income" was)

My mom: "sorry, but we can't accept your application, you don't meet any of our requirements"

girl: "Oh, ok"

5 minutes goes by

My mom answers the phone and its the girl again

girl: "I just thought of something! I can show you my checking account statement! You'll see, I pay my overdraft fee every month!"

my mom hangs up in stunned silence.

@brandon turner yea, and I was told by a friend of mine who owns a bunch of laundromats that their lawyers aggressively fight if you try to break the contract. You might have legal grounds to break it but they're gonna fight it and its going to make it not worth it.

Is it CoinMach? If so, read the fine print of the contract. I know in one of our contracts with them, the contract automatically renews for 5 years unless you cancel it a year in advance of the rollover. I don't have it in front of me now but I am pretty sure that's how it's structured.

True. That may be the best route. Thanks for hearing me out Wayne. I think I over think things sometimes and have to talk it out.

I get the " What if I don't have any credit?" question every single day. I don't even answer any more.

Today I had two good ones. An unmarried couple was interested in a house and the man got all upset and told me it was total BS (except he didn't use the abbreviation) that we had to run his credit as well. "why should it matter if we're both on it" "I have an uncle in the real estate business and when I lost my job he told me to stop making payments on my house so I'm doing a short sale but I'm sure that's ruined my credit. That's BS man I've always paid my bills"

Then I was talking to another person and I asked if they had pets, he said he had a small dog. This particular house allowed dogs with a $200 non-refundable pet fee. I told him. He exploded. "I am not paying that fee that is ridiculous my dog goes to the bathroom outside. " I said ok, sir, well it looks like we may not be a good fit for you. But he keeps asking questions. "Is the hot water heater serviced once a year? The oven is old will they be replacing it? Can we rent it without a security deposit? What are the lot lines? How often do you service the hvac?" Somewhere in this conversation I tell him our income requirements are 4x the monthly rental in gross income. He explodes again. "HAHAHAHA so you are telling me no one in South Carolina can rent from you guys" I say very quickly, "sir we rent hundreds of units a year" So then he demands to talk directly with the property owner. I pretend to write down his number, came home, and had a beer.

Yes it is a form signed by just the seller. But like I mentioned, I have no relationship at all with this buyer. I guess if I go this route I need to get them to fill out agency paperwork...not sure how they'll react to that. I guess another solution to this issue would be to list the property at 3% commission and offer 0 to a buyers agent (knowing that an offer is coming from this buyer)...then just represent my seller and let the buyers submit their own offer. That seems like the right way to go, though it seems like I should be able to put the deal together without listing it on MLS while representing the seller instead of buyer.

I would like to see if someone can help me with this question I have. I realize agency relationships may be different in different areas but the same basic rules should apply here in this case.
I have a seller who was trying to negotiate commission with me on a listing. 6% is the going rate. Well, in the meantime, I find a potential buyer who is looking for the exact house/price range/condition/etc. So I'm thinking I could just bring this buyer to the seller, and ask the seller to pay me 3% using a compensation agreement. In other words, I would not list the house. The compensation agreement that I would use from my local Realtor association basically says that the seller is treated like a FSBO and that I would represent the buyer. Here is exactly what that one paragraph says;

"It is understood and agreed to by all parties that (salesperson name)_______ and (real estate agency name)___________are acting as an agent solely representing the buyer in this transaction (buyers agent) This form does not create an agency relationship in accordance with SC code of laws 40-57-139"

So I am a little confused by the language. I have never met these buyers, and may not ever meet them. I have only talked to a contractor who the buyers know-who will be doing the rehab. They are out of towners doing this for their kids who will be attending college next fall. Basically my question is, do I have to represent them? It sounds like I become the buyers agent, but then it says there is no agency relationship created....what fiduciary duties would I owe to the buyers if any?

I had a mother of a college student call complaining because we told her the house was cable ready (meaning there were cable lines already installed-and trust me, we explained to the daughter what utilities were included in the price and what wasn't) and she was very distraught when she connected the line to her tv and got static. She assumed that since the line was already there, that the cable service was free.