Competitive Analysis vs Premier Home Audit

When consideration of selling your home is on the table, understanding what it is worth is a primary consideration.  You may be thinking of buying a bigger home or possibly you are being offered a position with a firm that takes you out of state. It could be that your children have gone off to college and you're wanting to downsize and possibly retire in a condo on the beach.  Whatever the reason and whoever you are, the bottom line is when selling a home, needing to know what you can hope to sell it for is a necessary part of the process.

There are options to find some information pertaining to homes sold like yours in a given area.  There is even  free ways you can seek this info out.  One example is Zillow.com.  You can type in your address and Zillow will give you a "Zestimate" or estimate of what they think the home is worth.  Try it out if you haven't yet.  It's a systematic tool.  The issue lies with that it simply uses homes in the neighborhood vs like-same properties without considering other things like, updates, remodels, tile vs carpet, new vs 20 year old roof etc.  There are some huge variables here. If there is either a price increase or decrease in the market, the time that it takes to change in this tool may be far from accurate.

Another choice is that you can contact a Realtor.  They are the professionals and are "in the business" of selling homes.  How can they help you decide what your home is worth?  A Realtor can give you a pretty accurate CMA or Competitive Market Analysis.  Realtor's have access to a local board that share's all their listing in a Multiple Listing System or MLS.  Using this system they are able to search out properties like yours and are able to utilize the system to make this analysis close to what you can expect to sell your home for.  They can change the variables that may make one home different than the other and use the "going rates" to make adjustments in the price of your home.  This is a much better alternative to using an automated system.

There is still another alternative that we want to address.  It is the most through way of determining what your home will sell for.  It is by far, the best tool to use.  It is so, because it covers most variables that can affect a home's price- The Home Itself!  Named after it's usefulness, the "Premier Home Audit" is chock full of utilities.  It get's down deep and dirty!  It's full of information that really gives you the ultimate facts about the home, neighborhood and gives ideas and suggestions of items that could or should be addressed to get the best possible price for the home.  Then after determining what needs to be addressed if anything, you can then use the info to build the best marketing plan for selling the home that is unmatched to any of the other options listed above. This Audit is proprietary and is done by a licensed Realtor.  It will help you net the best price for your home and you will want to utilize the Realtor doing the audit to list your home due to their knowledge, ethics and determination to earn your business.

Here's the best part of the process.  It's done absolutely Free of Charge by any agent at AAA Realty LLC. We understand that we need to be different and we want to earn your business.  We do that by doing our job better than anyone else out there does.  You will hear us use the term "earn your business" a lot as we work hard for you so see that we do sincerely and loyally work to "earn" your business.

To get more information on our Premier Home Audit or to sing up for yours today go to http://www.aaarealtyllc.com and click on Listing Your Property For Sale and sign up for the audit or call us toll free at 1-888-243-1720. You can also click here.

Till next time,
Tammy Rodriguez
Your Broker
AAA Realty LLC

Service For Life!

My new Newsletter is being sent to all my family, friends, clients and hope to be clients on a monthly basis.  It is funny, full of great tips, insightful, and so much more.  To show you a typical article that you will see in my newsletter, I have reprinted one of the articles below. 

The Dangers of Drinking Soda


Liquid candy...that’s what it’s been called as far back as 1942. Here we are, over a half a century later, and scientists continue to study the effects of soda drinks on the body. Now there’s mounting medical evidence that drinking even one sweetened soda drink a day can be harmful to your health...not to mention your children’s health.

The National Soft Drink Association reports that the average soda consumption is 600 servings (12-oz ) per person per year. That number has tripled for boys and doubled for girls since 1978.

In a study conducted at the Harvard School of Public Health, researchers found that women who drank one sugar soda drink a day had an 85% greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. The researchers also found that soft drinks contributed to weight gain and obesity in the women in the study.

The danger doesn’t stop there. Add to that, additives like caffeine stimulants, phosphoric acid (which can cause calcium loss), artificial flavors, fructose (hard on your liver), and you have a recipe for disaster.

© 2011 Forte Communications, Inc. All Right Reserved

To recieve this great monthly newsletter via mail or email- simply respond to the below email with your information and how you want to receive it.
tammyjrodriguez@aaarealtyllc.com

http://www.aaarealtyllc.com/

Translation of Documents and Notary Service

We are now offering full document translation and notary services at both our AAA Realty LLC locations.  The need has presented itself with many spanish folks coming in the office looking for this specialty service.  Many of our staff are Notaries and at least three of our staff has experience as document translators.  So whether it be to translate a foreign birth or marriage certificate, or any other notary or translation needs, you can depend on us to help you.

In such times of difficulty with making the money we used to, we have to find innovative ways to offset the loss of income in this economic enviroment.  With many people coming in and asking and us having the ability to do the services without adding any staff, it was no nonsense. 

For more info go to http://www.aaarealtyllc.com or call us at 239-368-8520

How's the market in LEHIGH ACRES?

Interesting question and one that seems to come up daily at least once.  I always quickly answer with a resounding - great!  I think it is the place to invest in real estate. Prices are outstanding, insurance rates and taxes are reasonable, we will rent the home for you and guarantee it.  Positive cash flow!  What more can you ask?  It is a win win!  Then look at that this is SW FL. Who doesn't want to live in FL?  If not now, later. We are a growing community that has plenty of room for the growth. What does it all spell- SUCCESS!

The only thing left is to hook up with a Good, honest, aggressive real estate company looking out for your best interests along with property management that does the rest to make a super successful relationship complete.

We want to be that for you!  We at AAA Realty LLC are here to show you how you can be successful.  Whether it be buying, selling or property management, we have experts waiting to help.

So to answer the  question of "how is the Lehigh market"?  Iwill again say, there is no better time to buy.

For more information on our services, the homes we have listed or our property management services, go to http://www.aaarealtyllc.com

Cheers for now

TAMMY

Brand New Marketing Kiosk- unbelievable

We have been excited about the addition of this to our Storefront in our Lehigh Acres office. 
It is a 24/7 marketing MONSTER.  Using a tecnology that is unbelievable, anyone can walk up to our window in a very busy shopping center and watch on a 32" screen any property that we have listed either for rent or for sale.  WOW!  We are super excited about this new technology that we have purchased for AAA Realty. 

Whether someone wants to watch a visual tour right there and then if they want to have the info on the property or someone contact them, they can choose to have it sent to either their phone or email and can ask for someone to contact them immediately to get more info on the property.

This is an idea of what our windo looks like at night.  There are spots for sponsors, listings and the system in the middle.  This makes for a 24/7 operating kiosk.

Interested in listing your home with us?  We also list all our rental properties on this kiosk.  No one else out there that we know of is doing this.  How's that for "More Technology- Less Corporate Nonsense" We don't just say it.  And here is the proof.

Give us a call today to see how this can help sell your home, or if you are a vendor that would be interested in partnering with us, we provide a visual ad as well as a lit up 8 1/2 X 11" ad that pops.

Check us out of the web at http://www.aaarealtyllc.com/ or give us a call at 239-368-8520 for more information on this new marketing machine.

For Now,

Tammy Rodriguez
Broker/Owner
AAA Realty LLC

Air Conditioning Service before the Summer Heat

We want to talk about AC service.  In South West Florida, there is no more of a need then before the summer sweltering heat hits to service your AC.  I like to compare it to changing the oil in your car.  If you don't keep the important upkeep items on your car up to date, you stand the chance of breaking down, costly repairs and unnecessary expenses.  It's the same thing for your AC at home.  During the cooler months, when the AC cooling system is not used, the gas sits in the systems dormant.  This can cause condensation to form in the system and well as microscopic holes that are in the AC system piping gets larger and creates small amount of loss of the gas refrigerant.  This in turn needs to be replaced or it can cause some damage and/or freezing of the system and may cause a repair as an emergency when the tenant calls to report no air conditioning in the middle of the night.  After all, we never get that call during the day when it would be most convenient or less costly.  It's after the tenant gets home, and a few hours go by and then they wonder why it's so hot in the house and finally call us at 10 or 11pm for an "emergency". 

So what should be done to "service" this equipment.  In most cases the central AC units is a split system which simply means that there is two pieces of equipment, one outside (the condensor) and one inside (the air handler).  The outside condensor is where the gas is charged in the system and is where the compresor is located.  There is a coil that has fins on them that help dissipate the heat.  These fins need to be cleaned.  This system is located outside so the landscaper mowing the lawn and all the dust and dirt that is stirred up naturally outside gets in these fins.  They need to be cleaned for the system to operate properly.  This is where a lot of leaks occur also so checking for leaks here is prudent during the ac service.  Then inside the home, the second part of the system (air handler) is mounted.  It can be either up in the attic crawl space, in the garage mounted high or sometimes is in a closet in the home somewhere.  Here is where blower motor, another coil, contactor is located.  These really get dirty here and if not maintained will break down the system and most likely a costly repair.

A service to the AC includes checking for leaks, top off the freon, clean the inside and outside coils, cleaning and checking out contacts, etc and then changing out the filters. This would be what consists of a basic service.  There may be times that the freon needs to be reclaimed and a leak fixed and then there may be a little more involved.

This necessary service is needed twice a year optimally but never less than once per year.  Now is that time and we encourage all our owners to get this service now.  We offer it at a special price of $129.00

What Is Involved In Tenant Placement?

To expand upon my last post about "What Do I Get For The Property Management Fee" I will now cover what you are paying for and why it is worth every penny we charge.

After we have an agreement in place for Property Management:

1. We send out an inspector to complete a Pre-tenant inspection. This compresensive report includes all items that are needed to have the home "tenant ready". 
2. We will coordinate any work that is needed based on that report.
3. A visual tour is created for the property.
4. A individual Marketing Plan is developed for your property.
5. The property is placed in our showing book, website and all of the items in the marketing plan will be put in place.
6. Two real estate agents are in place daily at our office to be available to talk to any inquires that come by phone or walk in.  Our agents are the only ones that will show a property.  We never did or ever will send a potential tenant out to a home with a key or a lock box code to a home.  
7. Prior to showing your property, a pre-tenant screening is done with the potential tenant to verbally make sure they pass our minimum standards for a tenant. 
8. Once they pass that screening, our agent will make an appointment to show the property.
9. Protential tenant is given a showing form to fill out telling us about the showing, whether they liked the home, what they liked or disliked about the home and what we could do if anything to get them to put a deposit on that home immediately.  
10. The showing form is used to complete a weekly recap email that is sent to owner weekly with possible ideas to further market or make a change to price or place an incentive for the property.
11. Once a good potential tenant is found, they pay an application fee, and place a deposit on the home.
12. Potential tenant must have a local current ID.  No out of state licences or ID's are accepted.  If someone is moving to the area, they must change their ID prior to moving in the home.
13. A very thourough tenant screening takes place including credit and criminal checks, previous landlord check, job verification.  
14. If a pet is allowed, proof of county registration, up to date shots and a meet and greet is scheduled with the dog to take pictures of the animal to keep on file and to assure the dog is not nasty.
15. Once and if the tenant passes our Resident Selection Criteria, we contact you for final approval of the tenant which must be in writing to move forward.
16. At this time a move-in date is scheduled at least 48 hours after tenant places and we verify that all utillities are placed in the tenants name.
17. Prior to move in all adults over 18 must watch a movie at our office that explains how to care for the home and what is expected of the tenant while living in one of our managed homes.
18. A lease is prepared by our attorney and lease and other paperwork is signed by tenants after we have signature from owner or I have POA to sign on behalf of owner.
19. A compresensive move in inspection is preformed with tenant at the home with pictures and then the keys are handed over to the tenants.

We don't cut corners.  Each property we place goes through this process.  After years of experience, we have found that this system is what works best and our marketing programs are second to none.  We will be happy to answer any additional questions you might have.  Check us out on the web at http://www.aaarealtyllc.com/ or call us at 239-368-8520 in Lehigh, 239-985-9649 in Fort Myers or toll free at 1-888-243-1720

What Exactly Do You Get For Your Monthy Property Management Fees

This is a question that we get asked a lot. I always chuckle inside but because we get asked so much, I will try to do my best to cover what we do as a property management company. I will do my best to scratch the surface. Here we go:
1.  We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for calls for emergencies. We  pay someone just to be available for emergencies, even if they don't go out or have an emergency they have to be compensated.
2.  We utilize a web based property management program. This costs several hundred dollars a month just for utilizing this program.
3.  We pay someone to manage the accounts financials as well as service requests and all monies that flow in and out of the accounts. This person also spends a great bit of time organizing for repairs, getting prices, getting approvals from owners, explaining explaining explaining when the endless questions are asked from the owners, the tenants, our maintenance staff and management.
4. Someone tirelessly works the phones to forward to the appropriate staff member to take care of.  We just expanded our phone system to 6 lines. We don't want to miss a call so we need to have that up and running efficiently.
5. Another Real Estate Licensed staff member is working diligently processing potential tenants making sure nothing gets missed from being uncovered to accomplish a full screening process. We are licensed directly from TransUnion to pull credit and background checks. This is in itself can be a separate business.  This same licensed staff member is keeping up with the expiration dates on your contracts and leases and has a very strict process to follow to meet specific deadlines so that all parties are protected. They also work with our agency attorney to complete new leases, non compliance with lease issues etc.
6.  We utilize and pay a staff member to keep a 3 month inspection calender organizing, making appointments and scheduling these very important aspect for inspecting the interior of the properties.  This is another web based program that prints out field notes, an inspector is assigned to go to the property utilize the field notes filling in the blanks of this 8 to 13 page report along with pictures. Then inspector uploads the pictures and the field notes are filled in on the official report that is now sent to the owner as well as kept on file. Now if items need to be cared for the maintenance manager staff member needs to coordinate the work with owner, repair staff or sub-contractor to take care of issues. If the tenant is in non-compliance of the lease, a notice needs to be sent out personally.  We don't send out notices without also a witness so two staff members go out to serve these notices.
7.  When a new tenant moves in and at the time of move out, a very comprehensive move in and move out report are generated and completed with pictures to back up and is part of the report. This is to assure there is little to dispute if damages occur.
8.  A staff member takes payments over the counter and over 3/4 of the tenants we serve, pay this way. If payments are not made by the 5th of the month, we issue three day notices that must be delivered by two staff members personally so there is nothing to give the tenant a way of extending a possible eviction saying they never got the notice. We have a witness to the fact it was in fact delivered. If they don't pay and owner wishes to complete with an eviction, we will work with our attorney to move in that direction, putting together all of the information together the information the attorney requests.
9. If a tenant abandons a property or voluntarily gives the keys and moves out, we must go out several times to assure the security of the property, check to see if they left, talk to neighbors to see if they can enlighten us with information and do the best we can to protect your property.
Additionally we have all the overhead expenses of an office, employees to carry out these things above, insurances, vehicles to accomplish the above. We have not covered tenant placement in this blog so we will address that in a future blog.
For more information on AAA Realty LLC and our property management services go to http://www.aaarealtyllc.com

Make sure you buy in the right area

If you are going to buy and rent until you decide to move here, you want to involve your property manager. Location is a very important factor for many reasons.  If you are buying as a srick investment property, even more so its important to involve your property manager in the process.

Lehigh Acres is the place I have called home for the past 12 years so I write with some expertise on the area. I have offices in both Fort Myers as well as in Lehigh acres. My children have attended schools in both Lehigh and Fort Myers. My heart is in SW Florida. I believe it to be pardise living. Only 30 to 40 minutes from some of the most beautiful beaches and not to mention the 900 golf courses that reside here. Lastly a very cool addition to the outskirt of Lehigh in Fort Myers is a brand new spring training stadium is underway for the Boston Red Sox. 

Choosing SW FL as your new home or place to invest is in my opinion, a great one. Finding the right person/company to help you with your decisions is just plain a smart move. Its what we do. We rent homes and condos and we do it well. We know the areas that rent better, faster and for the best return. We can assist you with thay whole process. Wouldn't it be worth it to you to have that knowledge before you purchase?  You have it. Just give us a call or email us or check us out on the web. You won't be disappointed

Cheers for now,
Tammy Rodriguez
Aaa Realty LLC
239-368-8520
Http://www.aaarealtyllc.com
Trodriguez@aaarealtyllc.com

We Need Rental Properties!

After just placing over 20 homes in the last 30 days, we are desperate for more homes to rent.  This sounds like a good problem to have but actually from our standpoint, it is not.  We have done a steller job of marketing our properties and have between 50-75 leads calling and emailing us daily for rental properties and we are having to turn them away.  That is not a good position to be in for us.  We are seeking properties that are ready for move in so that we can fill the need. 

Our system of marketing is second to none.  You can check us out on the web at http://www.aaarealtyllc.com/ for more information.

Cheers for now,
Tammy Rodriguez
Broker/owner  AAA Realty LLC

Property Management- Is it for everyone?

If you are a Realtor, you can be a property manager, legally. So does being a Realtor qualify you as knowing the business. What does property management and Real Estate have to do with one another? 

Doesn't it seem almost rediculous to think that being a licensed real estate agent is the criteria for being a licensed property manager?  That's what happens! So you have real estate agents that are slow, hungry and use the time to try and offset some income loss by trying to manage a few homes. Sounds reasonable right? You are mistaken to think that you download some marking software, put a tile out saying you are now in the property management business and then expect to do a good job or even a half way decent job. Its just not as easy as you would think.

Ask before you hire your next property manager some of the following questions:

How long have you been managing properties?

How many properties are you currently managing?

How many full time employees do you have working in property management?

How do yow market your properties for rent?

Do you personally show the properties or do you send someone to the property with a key or lock box code?

What is your tenant screening process?

How do you deal non paying or late paying tenants?

Tell me about your inspections? Move in, out and in between?

What about repairs?

This is only a small sampling of questions that should be asked. If you don't get some good solid answers, keep going.

This is a highly specialized business. It doesn't leave a lot of room for mistakes. There are so many aspects that needs to be right that a lot of expertise in a lot of areas is critical to the success of an investor.

We pride ourselves as professionals at property management. But please don't take my word for it. Learn more about AAA Realty LLC and our property management business by going to WWW.aaarealtyllc.com

Until next time,

Tammy Rodriguez
Broker/owner
AAA Realty LLC

ABWA Heels For Higher Education Was A Success

This past Saturday, February 19th, Lehigh Acres Chapter of ABWA held it's First Annual "Heels For Higher Education" walk at the Veteran's Park.  We had 3 teams of 4 that walked a total of 6 miles to raise money for scholarships.  It was a first time event and we are sure that due to it's success, next year this event will grow to a much higher scope as we showed the community that this event could be pulled off successfully. 

This is how the event worked.  Three teams of four were started at a particular point.  Each team member was given a 1,2,3 or 4.  Each person with a number one, started around the track. They walked in heals carrying a briefcase.  They then came around to the starting point and handed off the briefcase to number 2 on their team.  This continued until all 4 went around and made it to the finish point.  Trophies were awarded to the two fastest teams as well as who raised the most money. The first place winner was our team, dubbed the AAA Dawgs for AAA Realty LLC.  The trophy proudly sits on our front counter. 

It's events like this that make a community join together and accomplish things.  Upcoming events in Lehigh Acres include the spring festival.  This is a yearly event that takes place at the Veteran's Park and is the biggest event that Lehigh Acres puts on every year.  This year it is March 18-26, 2011.  To get more information on this upcoming event, go to www.lehighspringfestival.com

As always, we welcome you to check out us on the web at http://www.aaarealtyllc.com .  I am running for the Honorary Mayor of Lehigh Acres for 2011.  To help me go to http://www.tammyformayor.bbnow.org to be part of my campaign.

Cheers for now,
Tammy Rodriguez
Broker/Owner AAA Realty LLC

Does It Make Sense To Do a Short Sale On My Home and What Is a Short Sale Anyway?

A Short Sale is simply "selling your home for less than is owed".  If you have a home and you owe more than the home could sell for right now, you could be eligible for a short sale.  It sounds real simple but it is not simple at all.  If a short sale is not handled correctly, you can be in a heap of trouble.  If the Realtor handling the sale does not have experience with short sales, you can be find yourself with a foreclosure and not even know what hit you.  We have seen where on one hand a lender has "approved"  a short sale while the attorney handling the case for the foreclosure, has sent the file to the courthouse to sell it at auction and the house is gone.  Foreclosure on your record now and good luck trying to buy again for the next 7 or more years.  It is a financial disaster.

A short sale can be a more positive option to foreclosure and it has successfully been accomplished over and over.  It just needs to be handled responsibly to have a chance of success.  How?  Having knowledge of the process and then cooperating with all the steps involved will give you a good chance of success.

You should never pay someone to handle a short sale for you.  The Realtor and the negotiation company if one is used, will be paid by your lender at the closing of the property.  Some negotiation companies will charge a buyer a fee at closing but you should never have to pay them from your pocket.  Sure there are companies out there trying to charge you but that should be a red flag to you of a possible rip off.  You have enough issues to be dealing with just the realization that you are losing your home in the first place is due to a financial hardship.  Giving away more of your hardearned money is not going to help you.

Understand that you will have to provide lot's of information to your Realtor.  This will be used to help you "qualify" for the short sale from your lender.  You really do have to qualify.  The process is much like when you purchased the home and had to qualify for the loan.  You will need to provide at least the following:

• 2 years tax returns
• 2 months bank statements
• Last two paystubs
• A hardship letter
• Last mortgage statement
• Authorization to contact lender on your behalf
• Financial Statement

We need to show the lender that you had a "hardship", that something changed from when you first purchased the property to now.  Just saying the the home is worth less than you paid for it in itself is not enough to make a case for a short sale.  We need to prove to them that something happened since you purchased it ie: death, divorce, loss of job, change of income, sickness, that led to your current position of not being able to keep up with the payments. 

We at AAA Realty LLC use an attorney owned Title Company, Winged Foot Title, to negotiate our short sales.  Not that we are not capable of handling them but instead it is due to their expertise and daily routine of handling them that we choose to have Winged Foot Title.  They are a local firm and it's what they do all day long.  They are great at it and they get it done!  We want to focus on getting your property sold, marketing it and showing it to as many people as it takes to sell it and so we do our job and they do theirs.  It's a great relationship built on trust.

So what about after the short sale?  Will you have repurcusions.  This is a difficult question to answer.  The best way to answer it is, there could be.  However if your alternative is a foreclosure, your repurcusions if any should be dramatically less than with a foreclosure.  Each case is different and a consultation with a good attorney would be advised. 

For more information on your situation, contact us for a free consultation.  You can call us toll free at 1-888-243-1720 or check us out on the web at http://www.aaarealtyllc.com/

Cheers for now,
Tammy Rodriguez
Broker/Owner AAA Realty LLC

Do Cages Work To Keep Your Air Conditioner or Water System Safe?

Picture is worth a thousand words.  It is not to say that you will or will not be helped by having a cage as a deterrent but this one doesn't to have appeared to help much. The problem is, the cage enables a perpetrator to get to the parts from the ac system.  There are systems that are better than this one and we have seen some of them work successfully.  The bars need to be very close together to be effective. 
The weakness then is just the door or locking mechanism that must be in place to be able to work on the unit. 

Our advice is to remove the unit as soon as you know the home is vacant and have them stored off site.  Some owners will have them removed and put in the garage.  Thisbeing less effective,  is being found out by perpetrators as they enter the home looking for the air handler or other things in the home.  Having the items stored in another location is usually a better decision.

The key is also to make the home look occupied if you choose to leave your appliances and or outside equipment in place.  Talk to your neighbors.  They can be your biggest deterrent.  It would be a shame if you spent the money to put a cage in place like the one shown, only to lose the equipment anyway.

For more information on how to protect your equipment, check out our website at http://www.aaarealtyllc.com/

Cheers for now,
Tammy Rodriguez
Broker/Owner

My house is on well water and has a septic system

Having your home on well water and septic is not necessarily a bad thing but you must have the knowledge of what it means as far as care and upkeep and be willing to do the upkeep or pay the professional to do it right.

With a well drilled inyour yard, it means that your main water source is coming from the ground in your yard. No lengthy pipes from a aquifier or other public water source to be concerned with. In most cases they have high content of clorine as a disenfectant that you ingest or take in your pours as you shower. That can have its own special problems and is not what this blog is about. We are addressing well water. 

The water comes from your own well but the water quality can vary from place to place and can be different from the next door neighbors. The depth of the well, the rocks that surround it and the amount of minerals can vary greatly from one lot to the next. How it is determined as to what is needed for a treatment for your particular water can only be accomplished through testing the water. Then depending on the results, a recomendation can be made as to the best course of action for treatment.

SW FL water is hard. So a softener is first priority. If you don't soften the water your laundry will be affected.  You will utilize more soap, it won't clean well and willyellow whites. As you shower, you will feel chalky and won't feel clean. Your hair will be knotted and shampoo won't feel like it is cleaning. A simple water softening system that conditions whole home is how this is accomplished. The water comes from your well, runs into a tank that is filled with a resin material. The sesin material attracts the hard molecules from the water and allows it to trap the hardness within the resin beads but releases the soft water out of the tank.  The resin can only hold so much of the hardness before it needs to lose that hardness and be recharges to handle more. This is where the process gets more compicated.  The systems are set to backwash themselves.  This needs to be set by a timer to do so when it needs to be done and at such a time when no one is using the water and before all the resins are out of charge. This is all determined on water usage which is dertermined bases on number of people in the home. This regeneration process is when the salt crystals are ulilized in the system. The backwash utilizes the salt which is what's removes the hard ions in the resin and releases it and it is washed out of the system and drained in the yard outside the softener tank. Simple right?  Not really. There is stll another thing we have not mentioned. Hard water is only one of the issues here with our water.

Have you ever smelled the water here in SW Florida?  It stinks. It smells like rotten eggs. This is due to sulfer content in the water. Also heavy iron content can be  another thing that needs to be addressed. In some cases there is a an aerator that can be installed that uses no chemicals to remove the sulfer and some iron content. Sometimes the sulfer content is too high for this system and a fulfer remover system is what is needed. At times an iron remover is needed deo to the levels of iron. Again, the
only way to know is proper testing.

As far as the service of the equipment, the prventive mantainence of all the equipment, timers and recharge settings as well as salt delivery should be handled by a licensed company. There is too much that can go wrong and that can be eliminated by proper caring of these systems.

AAA Realty LLC principles own and operate AAA's Always Clear Water Inc.  They are committed to providing water equipment sales service and repairs for AAA Realty LLC as well as the SW Florida community.

For more information on the water systems we offer or service we provide, you can go to http://www.alwaysclearwater.net or more on AAA Realty LLC property management services go to http://www.aaarealtyllc.com

Cheers for now and untill next time,
Tammy Rodriguez

Security in Our Homes

There is so much burglary crimes in our area we have been researching ways to greatly reduce or maybe even eliminate the amount of this type of crime for our homes that AAA Realty LLC manages. A couple of us representing our office attended a security seminar and left with some great ideas and plan to implement them very soon. Most of the methods are cheap and can be very affective.
The very first thing that we recommend to all our owners with vacant homes is to get the electric in your name while the home is vacant. It is the very first line of attack for a thief. Many of them drive around neighborhoods and look for lights that are cut off. When the electric company gets a discontinue or cutoff notice, they place a red tag on the electric meter. Thieves know this and look for these tags and know that when they have one, they are probably dealing with a vacant home. Great target for them. Now they will find a way in the home and in most cases can just pull their vehicle into the garage and close it while they go to work stealing appliances, ac units and water systems. When they leave in most cases no one is none the wiser. If you have your lights on, they might just keep on going to the next one- deterrent worked, hopefully.
The next very important thing is to make the property look lived in. How? 
Put some boots "muddy is great" and put them outside your front yard.
Hold all mail. A bunch of old junk mail in a mailbox is sure sign of a vacant home. Stop all mail delivery.
Call local newspaper and stop the delivery, even if the free paper. Old Papers are a no no in your yard.
Window blinds on all windows and have them closed. Again another deterrent- not easy to determine if someone is home or not.
Lites on timers- again looks like someone is home. I have also seen where a note is left that says use your key and come in. The dog needs to be fed and we will be right back. Make that more believable with a dog water dish out front and a Beware of Dog sign posted.
Talk to the neighbors. Tell them you would appreciate them keeping an eye on the home for you. Give them some names and numbers of who to call if something looks unusual.  This in itself can be your best deterrent.
There is a couple more invasive things and even more simple easy inexpensive things that can be done to save on a loss to property.
Go to our website at http://www.aaarealtyllc.com for more info on our property management services.
Chow For Now,
Tammy Rodriguez
Broker/ owner
AAA Realty LLC  

Renters Insurance-What is it and do you really need it

Renter's insurance is spoken about regularly at AAA Realty LLC. In fact if you are a tenant of AAA Realty LLC, you would have heard all about it in our pre move in movie, that all adults must watch before taking possession of one of our managed homes.  Here in this blog, we will expand on renters insurance and give you many reasons that you should no be without it.

1.  If there is a fire or a broken pipe in the home and any or all of your personal items are ruined, you will have no recourse without an insurance policy to protect your things.
2.  If someone falls while on the property or in your home, even though you don't own the home, you can be found liable and be sued.  If you don't have insurance, you have no protection from that at all.
3.  If your home is broken in to and things are stolen, you have no recourse.  It can be quite costly to replace lost items.
4.  The cost is very reasonable.  You should never be without it, period!

Now hopefully you are convinced to buy the insurance.  How and where are most likely your next question.  There are sites online that will give you lots of free quotes.  Don't skimp on the coverages.  The cost is so minimum.

Next you want to take pictures of all your belongings.  Video works great too.  You want to be able to document all your things so if a loss occurs there is no question as to whether you had them or not.  Keep your receipts too.  Keep copies of all these things on a "cloud" somewhere.  A cloud is storage on the internet.  If your computer is a loss, you will always still have access to everything on your "cloud".

Bottom line is that your stuff should be protected and you should also be protected from any liability issues that could arise. This is it.  I hope that I have clearly presented you with a good argument as to why you should have this valuable insurance and you don't put it off.

Check out our website at http://www.aaarealtyllc.com/ for more great articles and other real estate information.

Cheers For Now,

Tammy Rodriguez
Broker/Owner AAA Realty LLC

7 Tips On Watching Out For Home Auctions

I am really sadened over all the clients that contact us for Property Management. Sometimes only after they are too far done in the process of buying a home.  Many times using an online auction site.  Too late to back out or maybe they have already closed on it. All the advice or most of the help we can be shifts to making the best of a bad  situation because....
1.  The house may be in tier 3 area so even if we could find a tenant, they better not want to order a pizza or want cable tv or internet because those services are just not available out in outskirts of this 110 sq mile place called Lehigh Acres. 
2.  All the appliances, ac and water system have been stolen and there are no neighbors around to ask if they saw something
3.  Nothing is was it seemed.

Well I would like to give out some tips of things to watch for when you are looking at an auction home site. 7 tips that I would like to share are included in this blog:

1.  Pictures can be very forgiving-  You may not see that the place is in need of paint real bad.  Holes in walls don't show up well as a picture is not a 3D image.  Certain angles look better than others when it comes to pictues.
2.  Just because you see a nice looking place in a video or a picture doesn't mean that the place looks like that when you finally see it or have a manager see it.
The amount of work needed to make a home "tenant ready" may be more than you realize and needs to be taken into consideration before you buy.  Get a pre-tenant inspection.    
3.  If this is your lifes savings, think before you spend it on a home that just may not meet your expectations for cash flow. Count your costs, all of them, before you take the plunge.
4.  Get a Realtor involved-  If an auction site will not allow you to have a buyers real esate agent- who will on your side? Who has your back? My advice walk away and find a home another way. Its too big of an investment to not have help for your interests.
5.  If you are going to have it professionally managed, get them involved as early as possible. They know what is needed and will have an interest in making sure you get a good marketable rental that will be easy to place.
6.  Don't be pressured by a deadline. There is plety out there and there is no deal slipping away. This is a decision that needs to be taken very seriously and methodically.
7.  If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.  You need eyes and ears on the ground here that represents you. Don't buy blind.

I personally don't like auction sites and not because I can't make money from them. In fact we do make money as investors still need us to get the homes tenant ready and then placing a tenant, repairs etc are ongoing on any property.  I just know that they are many times not representing the properties properly. They don't have the regulaion or standards or ethics that must be adhered to by a licensed realtor.

I personally think that finding a property by a realtor helping you puts some boundries in place and lots of protection for a buyer you don't see. Oh and by the way, the buyers premium, that's usually way more than what you would pay a Realtor for a tranaction and in a lot of cases is highway robbery.

My passion for protecting my clients comes from a long list of people that were not treated fairly, honestly or appropriately while buying using an auction site. I am sure there are some good ones out there and I don't wish ill will on those ones but hopfully there will be more regulaions to protect against the not so good ones.

Cheers for now. Please check us out at http://www.aaarealtyllc.com

Tammy Rodriguez

Bad Tenants Beware

Who do we consider a "bad tenant"?  What makes a tenant marked as "bad". If you are a tenant and you don't abide by your contract or "lease" you don't have to be labeled a bad tenant. What is very important is to communicate with your property manager or landlord if no property manager. Let them know why you will be late or why you have this problem or that problem. If you get a non compliance letter, don't blow it off. Call and speak to your property manager and try to work things out.

We as property managers want a good relationship with all our tenants. It makes things much more pleasant and easier
For all parties. We want our tenants to stay for years to come. However we need to be on the same page. If you as a tenant lose a job or come in to some other hardship, it is so much better for all concerned to call and let the management company know and see if a delayed payment plan can be worked out. Its when a tenant ignores all attempts to contact and then either forces an eviction or a tenant abandons the property that makes for the title of a bad tenant.

That can force an eviction filing. Then this is what will make it difficult to rent the next home. This will follow you for like ten years. Its not worth it and its totally avoidable.  Then when you are asked to give your previous address, you may feel forced to lie and that in itself can get you in a leap of trouble.  Saying that you have been living with your family or a friend, alone will not really work in most cases and I will tell you why. This can be uncovered as a lie when the credit check is done. Previos addresses are listed on it. If we find an address rhat is not listed, we will ask for further verification and may deny you with loss of all deposits if untruths are uncovered.  Even property owners are becoming savvy with the tactics of some unscroupulous people that try to take advantage of them.

It will become harder and harder to rent when you start to stack up the odds against you when you try to cover up bad history. This trend of stopping potential tenants with even questionable backgrounds from renting could start to place people in situations they don't want to find themselves in.

Trying to have the upper hand by taking advantage of a homowner is only hurting the homeowner now but you also in the long run.

Remember your security deposit is not your last months rent.  If you can't pay the rent, surrender the property.  Do it properly and legally. There is a legal and right way of handling it.  When you go again to rent you will be able to explain the bad circumstanses and move on.

I hope you willconsider these words prior to making a mistake that can cost you dearly.  Please subscribe to my blog and also check us out on the web at http://www.aaarealtyllc.com

Cheers for now,
Tammy Rodriguez 

Renters advice on qualifying for a home Part 2

In part 1 we spoke about some of the things that can happen when you lose a job or for some reason are not able to make the rent. How you handle this situation will determine your future problems when trying to rent.

Owners of rental properties are getting smarter and wiser with regards to renting their home to just anyone. They understand that the risk is high that if they do not do the proper job to pre-screen a potential tenant. Because of this many homeowners are hiring Property Management Companies to find a good quality tenant. As a property management company owner, we are very thorough in screening for a tenant.

We will uncover most of any untruths. There are certain things that are consistent with a potential tenant that has issues with non-pay, evictions or damage to a property. You will usually see that they will put on the application that they have been living with a friend or family member. This is what we call a red flag. There are ways of verifying addresses. We take several steps to check on previous addresses and if we uncover a inconsistency, we may stop right there and deny the application. Additionally credit reports also report on addresses.

There are other places that may come up if there is an eviction. Potential tenants many times don't realize that not disclosing an address they lived in does not mean that won't get "caught". The name or the social security number or sometimes just date of birth will uncover a lot of things about a person.

So as you can see with some of these above comments, it is pretty tough to hide your past. So now due to credit rating, job history and other reasons not only can't you buy a home but you are going to find it more and more difficult to find a rental home to live in when you do the wrong things or are irresponsible in your past rental history.

I mentioned in the beginning that this blog would be about helping you rebuild after you have created a mess even for a rental property and you want to rebuild your credibility. That is what we will end this blog post with. The following are things that you can start to do to rebuild your reputation and the possibility of getting into a home that you like, is desirable and start to rebuild your life.

1. Get a copy of your credit report- Once you have that, make a list of the most important items that you should fix or can pay off to help rebuilt your credibility for a landlord. These items will include utility bills that are in collection, cell phone bills in collection, cable or satellite bills in collection. Then once you work on paying them or settling them off or however you want to handle it, keep all your receipts and be honest. Admit when you have messed up and show the work you have done to make it better. This will go a long way for some owners.
2. Write a letter explaining why you messed up even if it is to say you were irrisponsible and have had a change of heart. Again being up front will always help. If you whole past is just horrible, only time will probably help you. You may be able to have a family member or friend co-sing or guarantee that they will pay if you don't.

At some point no matter how bad you have messed up your credibility, you can start to rebuild. Making any progess is better than no progress. You need to look at the fact that you will not be able to move ahead in your life untill you start taking some responsibility. Walking away from a rental is a serious matter. The recourse for doing so has been expanded and it will have an effect on the future for you. It can be recorded on your credit, eviction on public records and there are also sites that are being created to be able to pass bad tenant info on a tenant if they do damage, don't pay, leave without proper notice. A person will run out of options eventually and can find themselves in a very difficult situation.

We wish you well and hope that you take the opportunity to follow us here and at our web at http://www.aaarealtyllc.com while we have more information to help you with all of your real estate and rental needs.

Renters advice on qualifying for a home Part 1

In this two part blog, we will discuss rent qualifying and offer some advice and comments on what people can do to avoid a black eye as a renter. It is easy to have a black eye but even easier to avoid it.

It has been reported that 2010 was the worst year for homes sales in 47 years! Even then the majority of the home sales were foreclosure/distressed sales. What is it going to take to return to a modest sales year? Is 2011 going to be better? What can make it better?

You know as a property manager of over 200 homes I have seen the quality of even renters go down the tubes. To find a good tenant you sometimes have to turn down anywhere from 5-8 applicants that just really can't qualify. Much of this can be avoided. It's not just one thing. Many have evictions (several of them) and the list goes on and on. How are these people going to be able to rent forget about purchase? People need to start putting their lives back together. They need to understand that the choices they are making are going to hurt them for many years to come.

It is completely understandable when life has hit you hard with a job loss, reduction in pay etc. that you have some difficult times financially. But always walking away from your responsibilities is not a good choice. If you show some responsibility it can make a huge difference when someone needs to make a decision on whether to rent to you or not. Also one day hopefully you want to be able to put your life back together again and have that American dream of home ownership. It can be done. When you stop feeling sorry for yourself and start on a plan of rebuilding your life, it can and it will happen for you.

Some of the pitfalls to avoid if you are a complete mess in your financial responsibilities?

• Pay your utility bills! One of the biggest red flags on your credit is a utility bill that is in collections. Pay it off. Then never let that happen again. I am telling you right now that this alone can get you a turned down application.
• Pay your cell phone bills. Again for the same reasons as above. This is an everyday bill that you need and should always be current with. We know how important this communication tool is to people so if you are irresponsible on how you pay this bill, it can hurt you big time.
• Evictions- Most evictions can be avoided, period. Don't just push your limits. Most landlords understand that circumstances that lead you to not pay your rent happen. It's how you handle it that makes for eviction most times. If you call and explain your circumstances and then even if you feel you have to leave, do it the right way. Surrender your keys to your landlord/property manager. That will avoid an eviction. Don't try to go a month or two living in the home not paying the rent, that is sure to get you an eviction. So now you may be faced with an eviction, how do you find a place to live? In most cases you will have to find someone that will guarantee the rent to be paid (co-signer), a much higher security deposit. Ask about our programs that we offer at AAA Realty LLC that can help put you in a home even with a prior eviction.
• Previous Landlords- We check them. We will find out if you lie. We have ways of determining by tax records and other public records if you try to hide your previous landlords. Putting that you live with your parents or a friend, relative is a huge red flag to us. We will assume that you are hiding something and we will do our due dilligence to see if we uncover a lie. If we do, you will not only deny your application, we will also keep all your deposits because you lied and wasted our time. It's in the application. It's a serious matter. There is usually things that can be worked out so you don't leave on bad terms with your landlord. Always passing the blame just won't work. As soon as we are told all the horible things about your landlord, our antente goes up. We want to see if this is credible and make sure it is not just an excuse to not pay, etc. In most cases, let me just say, this is the case. It is in your best interest to have a good relationship with your landlord/agent.
• Employment- We verify. We want to see that you have some stability. Jumping from job to job and having time inbetween is not a good thing. We understand that times are tough and people are losing jobs. That is completely understandable. We look back over 2 years. We want to see some stability in there somewhere. After all, we need to be convinced that you will pay your rent.

In part 2 we will discuss how you can start to put your life back together and still become a responsible renter, even with the "black eye" we spoke about.

Cheers for now and don't forget to check us out on the web at http://www.aaarealtyllc.com

Solving the Foreclose Crisis

I read an opinion once that is an idea I shared with this other broker to solve the problems with the economy especially in the housing market.

Very simply stop the foreclosure process and have the banks/lendors rewrite homes at todays market price to the current homeowner. It will save on the foreclosure process and all the monies involved in that as well as continue to have some cash flow for the banks/lenders. This will stop the deteriating neighborhoods, crime increase and depression evolving from the change in life losing a home causes. Medical issues will be greatly reduced also.

I know that this just seems to simple but really if you think about it, this is not rocket science. But we all know that all this special interests, red tape rediculous political nonsense will not allow the simple solutions to the difficulties we are experiencing as Americans.

You can help. Write to your congressmen/women and tell them to get it together and be part of a solution for this housing crisis so that we can all get back to the America we all are proud to be part of.

Check out our website at http://www.aaarealtyllc.com

Two Weeks Into the Mayor Race

Two weeks in and we have raised approx $350. Doesn't sound like much but it's a start. As a small business owner, I plan to rise above and ask all other small business owners to join me and make a big statement. Small business is still the backbone of America and it's the backbone of Lehigh Acres.

To see the website that we have put together to make this cause happen, go to www.tammyformayor.bbnow.org or also check out our small business at www.aaarealtyllc.com

We look forward to your support and we will keep you updated on future blogs.

My Best,
Tammy Rodriguez

Tammy Rodriguez- Owner/Broker AAA Realty- Running for Honorary Mayor of Lehigh Acres

EffectiveJanuary 1st, 2011, Tammy Rdoriguez became a candidate for Honorary Mayor of Lehigh Acres FL. As such, she must raise as much money as she can for the Lehigh Community Services, a local Lehigh organization that helps those in need in Lehigh Acres.

To kick off this race, AAA Realty will host a bake/yard sale this Saturday, January 8th from 8am to 12pm. They are in need of items to sell to make this event a success. If anyone would like to donate items they no longer use or no longer need, please contact or stop by AAA Realty LLC with week. The number to call is 239=368-8520 or stop by thier office at 55 Homestead Rd N Lehigh Acres FL 33936