LANDLORDS * Do NOT remove the batteries from your unit SMOKE DETECTORS!! - 10/30/09 02:52 PM
The death of a tenant in Ampy Smith's rental units AGAIN stresses that area landlords are REQUIRED by LAW to maintain the smoke alarms in their rental units.  Smith is quoted in The Hook as having REMOVED all of the batters in the smoke alarms of his 9 townhouses.
From The Hook * OctoberAcclaimed local drummer Johnny Gilmore has died in a fire, and his father was hospitalized after the blaze erupted Thursday night in the musician's room at the Green Leaf Townhouses in midtown on Fifth Street, SW.
"I was talking to him an hour or an hour and a half … (10 comments)

Why it is IMPORTANT to be SURE of the forms you use!!! - 10/23/09 12:36 PM

A rental resident who just moved into a property I manage has questioned me twice on procedures that are outlined in her lease and Resident Handbook.  When she did not get the favorable response from me that she wished, she started looking on the internet for information on Virginia landlord tenant laws.
I have not used "realtor" approved forms * in over 30 years.....not in California and not in Virginia.  Up until a few years ago, VAR provided a lease form that allowed for the "agent/landlord" to opt into the Virginia Residential Landlord Tenant Act (VRLTA) lease OR the Virginia Landlord Tenant … (5 comments)

New Martha Jefferson Hospital on TIME and on BUDGET - 10/22/09 08:31 AM
A recent article in The Daily Progress reports on the progress of the new Martha Jefferson Hospital being built on Pantops mountain - about 3 blocks from my office.
I remember the "old" Martha Jefferson Hospital from my youth....one of my best friends lived down the street on Locust Avenue and I drove by it often.

I spent several days and nights in the old hospital in April and May of this year and was pleased to see that many of the current staff will be going to the new and LARGER facility when it opens in 2012.
Although there … (2 comments)

When to ADVERTISE the property has a SECURITY SYSTEM!!! - 10/11/09 01:52 PM
For many years, new construction contained a TRASH COMPACTOR.....now they NEVER have them and I have actually removed them and installed cabinets where space was critical in kitchens....they were too messy, bags were expensive AND recycling efforts make the additional expense for use unnecessary.
Now, the NEXT item that may be obsolete fairly quickly are SECURITY/ALARM systems.  Many area builders are touting that their units have security systems.  The systems usually require a phone line and many residents no longer have a land phone line.  I noted this trend 5 years ago and changed my application forms to ask for e-mail AND … (8 comments)

I MARKET 24/7 * I ADVERTISE Daily.....what does this mean? - 10/10/09 09:14 AM
In the not to distant past * rental advertising meant print newspaper ads, usually in-line classified ads AND a sign in the front yard....then it evolved into listings put on online websites, and signs and fewer print newspaper ads.....NOW marketing is 24/7 and advertising is daily.....
I MARKET through my website 24/7.... http://VaHomes4Rent.com ...is available for prospects to preview 24/7 with interior photos and floor plans.  I can tell that prospects are viewing my website through various statistics available through the hosting site HERO AND I can check the on-line click counter.
For single family homes (SRFs) I have a sign … (13 comments)

UNPROFESSIONAL * YEAH!!! That's ME!!!! - 10/08/09 12:01 PM
For the third time in a week, I have been called unprofessional....the first instance was with the applicant who failed to follow my instructions for securing a lease on a home she viewed; then, a resident whose son broke into the rented unit and had the police called on them (police called me) and I e-mailed the father what had occured and that he needed to have the screen repaired e-mailed me I was "unprofessional"; and then, a would-be property owner client wanted me to start work on renting their unsold home BEFORE I had received their management paperwork....basically stepping on … (10 comments)

In Lease Negotiations, advising all of the parties may not be ethical...... - 10/06/09 12:24 PM
This is a tough one and I have talked to other property managers as to how they handle similar situations and they handle these instances differently.
Prospect applicant #1 submits an application and arranges a viewing 3 days later.  She is driving 3 hours to view the property. I offer to bring a lease for her if she gives me her move-in date and she can give me a check for the move-in monies if she wants the home.....we meet, she has no move-in date, no check and there is no lease signed....later, after deciding on a move-in date, she continues … (5 comments)

 
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Wallace S. Gibson CPM *

LandlordWhisperer

Charlottesville, VA

More about me…

Gibson Management Group, Ltd.

Office Phone: (434) 825-1933

Email Me

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