XTROV - Extraordinary Real Estate & Property Management

Katherine and Brenda are teaming up with Beau Bradley from Major Mortgage to offer an information packed, FREE seminar on buying a home.

It could be your first or one of many.   Learning about YOUR buying ability is the first step for savvy home buying. .  Beau is excellent at helping people get the best possible home loan.    Brenda and Katherine know the real estate market and how to negotiate for your best interests!

Please Join Us.   Held at Four Corners Community Bank's Conference Rm at 77 West Main Street in Cortez, CO  81321.

Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015 at 10 am.   Refreshments served.

Why RENT when you can BUY!?!

The types of problems a REALTOR solves is unending and often not showcased.  Reason being - a good REALTOR makes it as painless as possible for their clients on both the buying and selling sides.  The ability and willingness to solve all kinds of problems without the clients being unduly impacted is a hidden value and often can mean the difference between a successful and unsuccesful transaction.

One area for huge problems that can slow or kill a real estate transaction is the Appraisal.   The lender orders the appraisal from a list of vendors through a third party firm.   The mundane problems that occur all the time are scheduling problems - is the appraiser coming soon enough to meet the appraisal deadlines and/ or does he or she show up when scheduled?  The question of value, meaning properties coming in at or above the purchase price is usually not the issue that causes REALTORS to move into full problem solving mode.  

The much more serious problems come in the form of something called "conditions." These are things appraisers include in the write up that goes back to the lender.     A few strokes of the key board can mean many hours of extra work to clarify and mitigate these conditions.

Recently, we had an appraiser write about a telephone pole.   The report said, that the "pole could be a potential safety issue and could potentially cause damage to the building."    The buyers were fully approved, with great credit scores, putting 1/3 of the purchase price down, but OH NOT ENOUGH - the POLE could have easily been THE END of the deal without the problem solving skills of the REALTOR.

Immediately Empire Electric was called and a very competent and nice man went out and inspected the situation. The pole is 34 feet tall and the building is 45 feet away.   He went on to say that there is "absolutely no hazzard from the pole."    When presented with this information, the appraiser recanted the remarks.    However, why were they made in the first place?  Unfounded Speculation.   

This is just one example of the many kinds of things that can appear at the last minute that have to be addressed, overcome, and worked through to help a buyer/seller have a successful real estate transaction.

When choosing a Realtor, a good interview question might be, "tell me about a situation where your actions directly impacted a closing going through that without your work, would not have been completed?"

C-27 is the Real Estate Commission's (the real estate commission is part of DORA -CO Department of Regulatory Affairs) Position Statement regarding the requirements for all licensed property managers.  To manage other people's properties - you MUST be a licensed Colorado real estate agent at a minimum.  In XTROV's case, I am a REALTOR - which means I also belong to the local and national Boards of Realty.  As an aside,  if a non-licensed person is managing your property you and he/she could be in for some trouble from the Attorney General's office.   At minimum a Cease and Desist letter would be issued and more seriously a law suit brought on by some disgruntled person could land you both in time consuming and costly legal actions that will more than likely not result in a happy outcome for those people involved in practicing real estate without a license. 

If the Commission ever comes calling to your property manager's office, it is extremely important that the property manager 1) knows what the requirements are for licensed activity and 2) is abiding by them.   This matters to you as the owner of rental property because if your property manager is shut down for a day or forever - what is going to happen to your rental in the meantime???

In addition to being part of the Boards of Realty, we are the only property management company in SW Colorado who belongs to NARPM - the National Association of Residentlal Property Managers.  We belong in order to have access to the best education on property management that is available so that we can pass the benefit of what we learn along to our clients.

Last week, Katherine attended a continuing education course offered in Grand Junction on C-27.   It is the ONLY approved continuing education course on Property Management and it is offered once a year.   It was encouraging to know that XTROV is doing well in terms of compliance, but there is always room for improvement.

Based on what was learned, our lease has already been updated and our agreement with our owners will be updated next.   In any profession, there is no way to know everything, but it is mandatory - at least in our minds, to upgrade our knowledge and our skills both through learning day to day by doing and as often as possible through formal education.

If you are not with XTROV property management, you might ask your property manager about C-27 and how they are insuring their compliance with the lengthly list of requirements contained therein.   

Boutique is Better than Big.  

Marketing 101 - define your unique selling proposition.   In thinking about the business today, the above phrase came to me as another way to highlight what makes us stand out in the marketplace.

XTROV Realty has always had a clear picture of who we are and what we offer - the concept that we strive to offer eXTRaOrdinaryValue to our clients and that this mission is embedded in our name XTROV.  But, there's more......

Why is Boutique Better than Big?    At XTROV we work on a team concept vs a bullpen concept that most other real estate firms are structured under.   I started my career at a well known, well respected, national franchise.   The place was full of competent REALTORS - nice people.  Each one was doing his or her own thing.  All creating the wheel.  They had the national logo under which to fly - but real estate effectiveness is not about company name.   It is about who is across the table, or on the phone or the email helping you get your real estate transaction done to your satisfaction and hopefully, with some enjoyment too.

Our mix of service is not offered.by anyone else in the market place.    We provide Property Management; Rentals; Repair, Maintenance and Remodeling; and Buy and Sell.  

Our services complement one another.  Many of our clients use more than one service and that is why Boutique is Better than Big.   We can fully meet people's real estate needs.  

For example,

• Tenants often become Buyers,
• Landlords ask us sell their current properties and/or help buy new ones, 
• Landlords have us fix up their rentals to maximize the return or fix existing problems  - anything from a full remodel to a smaller spruce up.  
• Sellers have us rent their homes while on the market For Sale 
• Sellers often need a place to rent after their home sells.
• Buyers need a place to rent until their new property closes or they have us property manage their investment(s).

Having been a real estate office for 18 months, we are currently a team of six.  We all work together for the common good.  We are open six days a week to serve you.  

When you call XTROV, the team consists of a Leasing Director, a Real Estate Services Coordinator, two full time maintenance and construction men, and two REALTORS.  We all help each other, so we are not just lone, competent people doing their own things.   We offer competence, plus synergy of effort.     When you call XTROV, we want to show you first hand why we believe, "Boutique is Better than Big!"