Ken Wiseman Reno Real Estate Blog

Owning a Home in St Thomas, USVI - Landscaping Part I

Ken Wiseman (Reno Rancho Realty) — Sat, 19 May 2012 07:43:43 -0700

Along with owning a home, comes the landscaping. I had a pretty green thumb at our old home in N. Nevada, problem there was only 9 inches of precipitation a year and winter. I am excited to see how my thumb does here with 45 inches of precipitation a year and warm year round!

As you already may know we bought the home here in 2009. I came down in 2010 to live in the upstairs and do repairs and clean up. While I was here I went to a nursery on the North Side. I bought 3 lime trees and two banana trees. Since the tenants weren't keeping up with the general trimming and weed whacking, I hired a landscaper to get the yard back in to shape and come for a monthly service. So I had the landscaper plant the banana trees below the septic tank and the lime trees on the side of the driveway hill.

Here we are 2012 and I have yet to have one piece of fruit from either. One of the banana trees died, the other one had two stalks going and one blew down a week after we got here full time. One of the lime trees got whacked by the landscaper (yes the same landscaper who planted it?).

The Lime tree is big, but no limes?

DUMB Banana Tree that does not produce any bananas. Maybe it is a plantain tree which take longer?

Well enough of not having fruit, I went to a different nursery and got a new banana tree (looks different than my dud tree?).

Now I had planted an avocado tree when I was here in January, but when we got back down here it was just a stick, no one watering in dry season here I guess? Well, I give up on avocados and going to go more for a tropical fruit, so I bought a Mango tree.

I planted a hibiscus tree in January, and was almost dead when got back on island, it is recovering though.

Above in its glory and below where it is now.

Our old hibiscus in the front isn't doing so hot. The plant was infested with mites when we were in January. It is watered with Gray water from our kitchen sink. I think combined with no water and the mites we came back and found it all trimmed down. I guess the landscaper did this. I brought some garden insect dust with me, and sprinkled it on there, it seems to being doing much better!

Of course we have our favorite palm tree!

Which of course produces coconuts! I brought a nice machete down with me to enjoy this fruit! No limes to put in da coconut though.

Since I now have my weed whacker, pruning sheers and bought a leaf blower I am going to move down a scale with the landscaper to just quarterly tree service.

Crime here with regards to break ins can be a problem too, so I added

some yard art to discourage that behavior. Notice we have prickly pear cactus growing here? See the plant next to the ADT sign? That is a wandering wild orchid or something, can be irritating to dogs and people's skin, so we removed it in the backyard and I threw some Bermuda Grass down.

There are other birds other than the Thrasher, I have seen two different kinds of hummingbirds and we have some random lizards here, I will start to gather the pictures for a future post. We have large Iguanas.

Hermit Crabs

And moving rocks!

This Red Footed Tortoise came to visit us yesterday!

And my father's favorite critter, the tarantula!

Let's not forget all the frogs too!

I will update another time, hopefully when I have some fruit!

Owning a Home in St Thomas, USVI - Repairs Part I

Ken Wiseman (Reno Rancho Realty) — Thu, 17 May 2012 06:09:54 -0700

Everyone from stateside tells me I have moved to paradise. Yes, we have moved to paradise, but no place one lives is perfect. Owning a home here has its challenges with regards to maintenance. The humid environment with salt water sea breezes can takes its toll on a home here, and after some years, leads to repairs.

We bought our home in 2009. Of course our view (it is called a down island view) and some flat land for the dogs was important (there is a reason the locals call the island the rock, it is a mountain that literally comes out of the sea). The main reason for our purchase was the home was built of masonry construction (solid concrete). The home was built in 1969 and probably back then built of West Indian style. We figured if the home was still standing without seeing any past damage of hurricanes, it would be a safe bet. That is true, it is solid, but back in 1969 they must not have had a tape measure, as nothing in this house is lined up with anything. Every slider, arch, doorway, etc. is a different size. And yes some attention to detail was left out and with some deferred maintenance from the old owner, we have spent some time with repairs and remodeling.

After our upstairs tenants moved out in 2010, I spent what was going to be 3 weeks living here, became 3 months. We had a major issue with the old breezeway, which is now a dining room. That whole story is another blog post for the future.

We have been living here now for 3 weeks, and I am somewhat grateful for not working as I await my broker license as there have been some minor repairs needed done. I am very grateful that we have a Home Depot here about 5 minutes away!

We have an office in the rear of the house that had a wood door with glass windows. Well when we opened it when we arrived the lower section of the door fell off. The side windows were never trimmed out. I had to downsize my old 3 car garage to a small shed on the side of the house as we do not have a garage (not many homes have a garage here as there is not much in the way of flat land). I opened the door on my lower shed and of course it fell off its hinge, wood rotted.

We had a contractor come out and replace the office door (no more wood for me, ALUMINUM!) and the door on the shed.

As it is so humid here and the wood you do get from Home Depot is also wet, I am going to wait a month for the wood to completely dry before painting.

Now on the laundry room. This is essentially a shed on the outside of the home. Now in a previous blog I disccused the power cord and plug for the clothes dryer. Well, that was not the end. Shannon was running the washer and I was on the lower deck and saw water coming out of the door! The drain hose for the washing machine went into the old laundry tub and was tied with a thin plastic cord. The cord had broken. So I got some wire and re-attached it and fixed the problem.

Now we have a bird problem in the laundry room. Every Spring a bird gets under the eaves and starts to build a nest.

The bird that is doing this is a Pealy Eyed Thrasher.

I am not going to have this messy nest, so on to Wal-Mart.com and order some pigeon spikes. I installed them and that seemed to work, except this morning there was a breach in the spikes and now I have to go back into the mosquito laundry room (why do the mosquitoes love black things, they seem to love the black trash cans in there and the black door to the apartment?) and make some adjustments.

So you thought I had the washing machine drain all fixed? Right! Shannon comes up to me the other day and tells me there is a puddle in the laundry room. WTF? So I go and investigate, the water is coming out of the drain of the old sink. I rub my hand underneath where the pipe hooks into the drain and gobs of metal fall on the floor and the pipe is now detached from the sink. The faucet on the sink was rotted so that was shut off at the shut off valve and now this? Who really uses a laundry room sink anyway especially with the mosquitoes in there. Out comes the old sink and now the drain pipe is directly piped into the drain line.

I am off to the Thrasher breach and will continue with Chapter II - Pool/Cistern another day!

First Day On Our New Boat!

Ken Wiseman (Reno Rancho Realty) — Wed, 16 May 2012 06:31:27 -0700

One of the reasons for moving here was to spend time boating. We had a boat and RV on our land at Eagle Lake, CA for some years and some of my best down time was being on the water. Well being on the water is really only a 4 month window. Here in the Virgin Islands it is a year round window.

In the past times of coming to our home, we would go out on friends boats or rent a boat from Awesome Boat Rentals. With Awesome, you can captain the boat and they have 26 ft Twin Vee's with twin motors. We have always felt comfortable with this boat and liked the perfomance and utility of room for snorkeling and island hopping. We also liked the fuel economy.

One day I mentioned to Gary, the owner, after a day renting if he would ever consider selling one. And of course he was willing and we were willing. After my experience in selling everything stateside to move here, I learned a valuable lesson, don't ever buy your toys new, buy used! And to boot, Gary also owns Gary's Marine, which is the Suzuki dealer on the island, which means a captive ear for all my questions and repairs.

We had a name in mind for the boat, "The Funnie Mae".

So we bought the 26 Ft one that is a 2003 with twin 2010 Suzki 115 HP motors. I brought down a new stereo and Gary installed that. He still has some other work to do on the boat before we will have it to ourselves, but we took the boat out this past Sunday over to Water Island and Honeymoon Beach (this is a local's favorite on the weekends with Heidi Burgers cooks on a portable grills with a golf cart, $8 for a 1/2 lb burger! and Joe's Rum Shack with live music.). We invited our friend Lee (Lee was my father's fishing buddy when he lived in Melbourne, FL from 2000 - 2004 and by chance has also moved to St Thomas!).

This is where the cruise ships dock!

Oceana Restaurant in French Town.

Cargo Port in Crown Bay

Honeymoon Beach!

First Two Weeks of Living on St Thomas Fulltime!

Ken Wiseman (Reno Rancho Realty) — Fri, 11 May 2012 07:11:08 -0700

The day has come, officially we have been here for two weeks! The weather has been a mixed bag with many cloudy and muggy days with no breeze, which has been ok for unpacking.

Our first few days were busy with various errands. The 4Runner which was already down here, started with no problems. Cistern for water is overflowing. Everything in the house is working. Dogs are adjusting to their new backyard. Made our trip to the mailbox at TuTu, Plaza Extra and Cost U Less for groceries.

We even snuck out on Saturday for Carnival and the adult parade! There were many interesting sites and had my first pate which tasted like a doughnut stuffed with hamburger meat!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHZwgpS3hZQ Click to view movie!

Sunday we snuck off to Sapphire Beach!

We made it to our favorite bar, Island Time Pizza

We went and looked at the boat we were buying and started that process. Tuesday was spent going to the property tax office and pay our quarterly taxes. Taxes here are the same federal tax rules, but we fill out a VI form, that is because all tax money collected here goes to the territorial government.

We stopped by Viking Moving on Wed to see where our container and Tacoma were doing and to drop off the title and much to our surprise, this was in their yard!

Wow that was fast and Tacoma will be there the next day! We choose to have the movers bring their two vans as this container would not fit at the house, there is a reason they call this place the "The Rock", most of the homes are literally built on rock and our home is at the top of a rock. We better get a move on cleaning out the house for our stuff from Reno.

Next off to submit my application for a Real Estate Broker License, change the IPhones to a local # at the AT&T store and then to meet a friend at Tickles. Well he had to test a boat, so we went with him. I love being on the water, but this boat launch may not be the most scenic? This area is known as sub base, which was at one time a submarine base starting with World War I to combat German U-boats, hence the reason for the US buying the islands from Denmark for $25 million in gold. Well now this is the site of our island's power plant, otherwise known as the most expensive electric utility known as WAPA. This plant is a dated diesel powered generator.

We also made many trips to the Humane Society flea market and even had their van come to give them a desk and two beds.

Now the moment we have not been waiting for, the container contents arriving. They filled up our home in no time!

The main thing I was waiting for was my Honda 3000 IU generator as power outages are numerous. After the movers left this come up the driveway.

Friday and Saturday were spent unpacking the kitchen. But of course it is now May 5th. Time for the Chihuahua Races at Yacht Haven Grande. We saw many people we knew there and had a great time. On the way home we got a pizza at Pizza Amore, the BEST NY style pizza I found since leaving New Jersey.

The weather has been muggy and rainy and the next week was spent unpacking and making minor home repairs. We made many trips to the dumpsters. We do not have home trash service here on the island. What we do have is strategically placed dumpsters on the island. I see it also as a place known as "take one, leave one". Whatever you have that is not worthy of donating to the Humane Society, you leave it at the dumpster, and usually when you come back in an hour it is gone. Some of our leave its: old generator, patio table and chairs, old brooms. Notice the wild chickens that make the dumpsters their home?

One home project I wanted to share was the dryer outlet. We had an old dryer here that was used and abused by the tenants over the years. We brought our newer dryer from Reno. Oh but wait, whomever wired our laundry room shed must have been on island time? The outlet was for a kitchen range, and they even set up the old dryer with a cord for a range? So I decide I am going to need to also wire our dryer for a range? I buy the plug and cut the wire on ours. Well problem is once you open the grey wire there is no inner insulation, just copper. Well that will not fit in the plug unless it is just copper with electrical tape. After sleeping on this theory, those wires are going to get hot? Now I need to get a new dryer cord and get the appropriate outlet. Viola, it wasn't hard as I thought. What cracked me up even more was how they installed the range 30/50A outlet upside down to boot!

Enough of home repairs and unpacking, time for some beach time for the dogs while we have an afternoon with sun! We took the dogs down to Vessup Beach, behind Latitude 18 for a late afternoon swim!

Yes, we sometimes curse ourselves while dripping in sweat, my foot sore, unpacking, repairing, hot and muggy, but at the end of the day, we have to remind ourselves where we are living, and for many living here is just a week for a vacation of a lifetime. We know life will be normal again after these 3 months of moving, but we have a feeling it is all going to be worth it!

Moving to St Thomas, Leaving Stateside Edition

Ken Wiseman (Reno Rancho Realty) — Tue, 08 May 2012 07:12:07 -0700

After spending a nice 4 day break from our drive across country at my father's in Cedar Point, NC where we got the dogs their health certificate and of course our yellow lab got a hot spot from swimming. Good thing we have a vet right down the street there! We spent our days with the "hoodies", the neighbors with some great dinners and conversation.

Tuesday morning we packed up the Tacoma, and off to Miami, Florida, where we are going to catch our flight to St Thomas.

We spent the night in Jacksonville, Florida with our last Popeyes Chicken in the room!

The next day was spent getting the Tacoma off to port and to St Thomas.

We rented a mini van from Hertz and found a Wal Mart to switch everything over. I felt like a soccer mom.

Now off to the Port. All I had from Viking was directions to the Sea Star office. So I plugged that into the GPS and off we go right? Well no, we arrive at the gate with Shannon following me in the mini van and the security tells me we went to the wrong place. They took my driver license and stopped all lanes of traffic to turn us around and told us we need to find someone on the road and have them escort is in that has security clearance? I was confused and went to another parking lot where they told us we had to go into the admin building and get an escort. So we go back to the building and oh yes they will assign us an escort. Problem is, it is 11:55 and they go on lunch. So off to Wendys and come back. We get back and they are "short staffed" today. 1:30 we get our escort. We get to the fenced Sea Star building and go in, well our escort was pissed and wanted Shannon to go in too (we never told them the dogs were in the van, lord knows what terrorist acts they may commit). The gal at the Sea Star desk says she has no clue that we were coming and we are not in their system even though I am looking at her screen and see our order. After multiple calls to Viking and they calling Sea Star corporate we are good to go. Our escort has now left and Shannon went back to the van. I am with the lady to go over the condition report. After that I am going back to the office and who do I see, our escort. He yells at me, "where is your wife?!?!". I looked back at him and said, "I don't know maybe it is your day to watch her?". We are no free to go, into the mini van and drive down the flattest state to Miami!

We passed through Melbourne, Fl, where my father used to live. Took the Miami Turnpike (even though I don't know if that was any faster?) to maze of freeways of Miami. We stopped for our last Taco Bell to go for the room in some sketchy neighborhood. Checked in to our Red Roof Inn and got the dogs settled and began the process of asembling the crates for the morning flight.

Now the big day, April 26th. Shannon is a nervous wreck. We load up and off to the airport. We stopped at gate 2 and they told us we had to go to 5. Off to 5, and the porter tells us that they always do that because no one wants to deal with dogs. I load the luggage and get the dogs in their crates and take off to drop the van off. I get back and there are the dogs with Shannon going through the mounds of paperwork with AA customer service agent.

After getting approval with all their paperwork at the dog check in counter (Shannon spent months on what is required and the CSR even made a compliment that everything was in order, what would I do without Shannon?). Now they go to TSA back room to make sure we didn't hide a bomb on them. After they got patted down, back in their crates and off they went, Shannon was on the verge of tears. We now have to get going as we have 1 hour and ten minutes to get to our gate (one hour was spent on paperwork). We get to one TSA checkpoint and I am told by the non-English speaking security woman that my carry on is too big (well duh I had stuffed my belt and other items in the front pocket. So I get that all out and then she says we need to go to security gate 1. Off we go to 1 where there is also a huge line. We are now down to one hour. So here we are standing in line for over 30 minutes now, not moving, as there are two express lines where those who have a close flight are getting to cut the line? I tell Shannon we are going to miss our flight and the dogs are going to be in St Thomas without us. Shannon goes to the security woman to plea our case to cut the line, she didn't speak English, next thing I see is Shannon coming down the express line and yells to me, "Kennnnn, we have permission to cut the line!". Everyone around us knew our predicament and gave us the encouragement.

Now TSA, can I tell is the biggest joke? I really don't think anything they do stops terrorism, they are just another useless government entity. So after you disrobe and get your bags through the x-ray machine, there is the old pass through detector or you can get pushed over to the complete body scanner. I can see that there is now a 10 min line for the full body and no line for the old shcool. I can't believe it, I am getting chosen for the old school!!! Not so fast, I am asked if I had anything in my pockets, well yes, I have my bording pass. Nope off to the full body scanner! WTF? So I cut that line next Shannon.

We get through all that, get dressed again and I look up and see Shannon running down the gate area, with or without me! She is not going to miss that plane. I walked fast, and thank goodness they had just started boarding. WE MADE IT!!!

Shannon had assembled a picture of the dogs with a note to the captain of who they are and if he could tell us if they made it on the plane. She also attached a box of Peppridge Farms Milano cookies (we were at the grocery store in NC with my dad and I wanted to get a small box of cookies and gold fish, I was poo pooed with the gold fish and was told that they wouldn't like goldfish? Really? Who doesn't like gold fish?). Shannon came back from the flight deck and told me the captain had already seen the dogs (he mentioned he was going to take a picture for his daughter as he has two labs himself) and they were loaded. Time to buckle up and let's get this tube in the air! As we were pulling back, the flight attendant announced that Bristol and Bo Peep were on board joining us on our flight!

Five more planes in front of us and we can take off, I am hoping it doesn't get to much hotter. Yes, we are in the air, the last leg of our journey! As the beverage truck came by we both ordered a bloody mary. The FA never charge us? Then the head FA came back and asked if we wanted another drink, well yes, he brings back enough for 4 more drinks? Did we look stressed and exhausted? Just before landing they mentioned they made coffee and all had the cookies with coffee and how what manners Shannon had!

We land in St Thomas and I left Shannon with the task of watching the dogs come off the cargo belt (in STT the airport doesn't have jet ways, old fashioned stairs, so she could wait.). I ran off (had my complimentary shot of Cruzan Rum) and off to the snack bar to buy my $3.95 bottle of water for when the dogs come out as it was about 83 degrees and sunny. Shannon shows up, says they are off, but where are the dogs going to come out? I told her to go over to the curtain where the conveyor belt goes out and stick your head out and see where they are? She went over there and there they were in their own little trailer with the curtain closed (gotta love the culture here with repsect to dogs?). She told them to get them out!!! And here is next what we saw!

The look on Bo Peeps face! I will never forget it! Gave them some water. Get them on to the porter cart and now let's find a taxi (we tried renting a mini van but they were all sold out due to Carnival). Once again, no one wanted to help us. We finally had our taxi van! Well not so fast, once again culture comes into play. Bo Peep is loaded into the back of the van behind the seats and then the taxi driver and porter begin to pile bags on and around her!!! Shannon pulled some off to give her some air. Then poor Bristol, she was tilted (her head now smshed to the side of the crate) and shoved to first bench seat.

Finally after a 30 min cab ride we arrive! We were all exhausted and ready to relax!!!

Driving Across Country to Move to St Thomas USVI

Ken Wiseman (Reno Rancho Realty) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:41:32 -0700

Well everything was packed up, cleaned up, items donated and what we are bringing was packed into the container that arrived! We have a 40 foot sea container that will be shipped to the Virgin Islands with our personal effects and furniture we wanted to bring! It will take about 6 weeks to arrive and ask me about the cost, which was very hard to swallow! Sold the camper at the last minute and the Honda.

After sleeping on mattresses on the floor for five days and eating off of paper plates on a makeshift table, we finally are going to hit the road on our cross country journey in our Toyota Tacoma which will be shipped from Jacksonville, FL, then rent a car to Miami, FL where we will fly with the dogs to St Thomas. On our last night, all of friends stopped by for our last happy hour in the garage!

Leaving on the road trip!

Our first night in Wells, NV at Motel6 (which never asks questions about our dogs, but we found a new chain called the Red Roof Inn).

Next day was our 3 day stop at my Sister's house in Teton Valley, ID (Victor, ID, Shannon and I lived here up the highway in Driggs, ID from 2000 - 2004). She and her Husband have a new baby boy and it was the first time for me to see my new nephew!

Next stop was to see some old friends who used to live in Driggs at their home in Laramie, WY. We haven't seen them in 8 years! They now have 3 kids.

Of course it had to snow while we were there, and yes this will probably be the last time our dogs see snow!

The next three days were in truck driving across country all the way to my father's house in Cedar Point, NC! We spent the night at Motel6 in Independence, MO, Nashville, TN and Charolette, NC.

Of course I had to stop at White Castle in MO, I haven't had one of their burgers in 18 years!

St Louis Arch

Nashville, TN at the honky tonks watching a great band, River City Gang. We both really liked Nashville, for dinner we were so sick of eating crap food we found a Whole Foods for their salad bar!

We went through Gatlinberg, TN through the Great Smokey Mtns, and I can see why it gets the name it does!

Finally we made it to NC and we were treated to temps in the mid 70's and a trip to the beach on the boat!

Next we will be driving to Jacksonville, FL to drop the Tacoma off at the dock for Sea Star Lines where it will be shipped. Rent a mini-van and down to Miami for the big flight. Should be fun considering that there are no rental cars available in St Thomas as it is Carnival. At least the temperature in Miami will be below 85 as over that the dogs can't fly!

Continuing to Pack Up for Move to St Thomas

Ken Wiseman (Reno Rancho Realty) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 12:38:02 -0700

I don't know how people can retire, I am getting very antsy?

I am down now to 14 listings of which all are now pending, so there is not much time needed for those properties. Both of my agents have moved on to other companies. We finished our last garage sale over a week ago, and funny how no one shows up at the end, even though most of the items were 50% off. We have still been selling our left over items on Craigslist (including our California King Bed, much to Shannon's dismay!). Made a trip to NV Humane Society to donate some pet items. The MS Society truck refused to come pick up our garage sale left overs as we were not on their map book, apparently an extra 5 miles was not worth it to them. We had the United Cerebal Palsay truck come instead!

So now I have room in the garage now to start packing up all our items we are bringing! Speaking of which, the container to move from Reno to St Thomas is going to cost about $18,000. Yikes! But after doing a cost analysis of selling our current stuff (we have learned from the garage sale that your stuff is not worth anything!) that the cost of replacing all our furniture, not to mention, the family heirlooms, was going to be more than the cost of the container. So I ordered our container to come on April 6th.

What we have found to be interesting is how many people hear you are moving away all of a sudden want to hang out with you, some you never hung out with for the last 3 years? We have been busy with our garage happy hours entertaining (and empying out our liquor cabinet) old friends.

Still trying to sell the Travel Trailer, no one has even looked at it? Lesson learned, don't ever buy a new camper, bought it new in 2006 for $22K. I have the price down to $11k and still no bites. The Honda CRV was held off the market for 2 weeks as my neighbor was going to buy it. He was going to sell his truck, but assured us if he didn't sell his truck he would buy it anyway. Well, he informed us yesterday that him buying was contingent on selling his truck. Translation: He isn't buying the CRV. Lesson learned here, don't trust your friends, get a non-refundable deposit no matter who they are.

We also thought it would be a good idea to get health checkups before we leave to make sure we are up to snuff (dogs are going today to their checkup). I went and results are back, borderline high cholesterol and vitamin D deficiency. I think it is safe to say I will be getting more exercise in the VI with my snorkel swims at Sapphire Beach and walks at Megan's Bay. Vitamin D deficiency requires more exposure to sunlight, hmmm, that will be tough in the VI? Shannon goes in for her exam next week.

We have bought our one way ticket from Miami to St Thomas for April 26th. We can't believe how quick we are going to be there full time! We plan on leaving on April 10 or 11th from Reno, driving the Toyota Tacoma with the dogs to Miami. Here is the tentative itinrary:

Jackson Hole, WY to visit my new nephew Ryan and my sister Caryn.
Off to Laramie, WY to visit old frineds when we lived in Teton Valley, ID.
Independence, MO - a night at a Motel 6.
Spending a day in Nashville, TN as we are country music fans.
Cedar Point, NC on the outer banks to visit my father.
Jacksonville, FL - drop the Tacoma off at the dock to be shipped to STT.
Rent a car and got on a plane in MIA.

First offical guest has booked their visit to St Thomas for May 26th. Larry, my well guy and his girlfriend are coming to stay in the apartment. I have a feeling we will be seeing many more friends and family in St Thomas then we ever did in Reno, most if any came once, and that was enough for them for a lifetime I guess?

Other than that, there really isn't much more to pack. I have been so used to working 6-7 days a week, that having this much down time, and I hate to admit it, but I am bored and ready to start our new brokerage in St Thomas. Which leads me back to, how do people retire? I need to be busy, and it is looking like I am never going to be able to retire!

Garage Sale Time for Our Move to St Thomas!

Ken Wiseman (Reno Rancho Realty) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 12:15:35 -0800

Well the results are in for a 3 car garage filled garage sale from the weekend! Well we hit our financial goal of recovering $1000 of beloved junk! Unfortunately, our big items, Honda CRV, tractor and RV didn't sell. We will keep trying with another sale this weekend!

Moving to St Thomas!

Ken Wiseman (Reno Rancho Realty) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 12:38:15 -0800

I arrived back to Reno, NV on Feb. 7th, 2012, to the cold weather. My wife Shannon and I had a wonderful time and with the news of limited foreclosure activity in Nevada, this would make a perfect "getaway" time? After losing 3 of our labradors this Summer and with the slowdown in new REO inventory, this decision was easy!

These pictures from our latest visit also made it easy?

St Thomas Property Fenced!

Ken Wiseman (Reno Rancho Realty) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:24:23 -0800

Cyclone fencing, fenced the back of our property for the recycled labrador retreivers! This should make it easier on the dogs for moving to St Thomas, VI

The one on the left is Bristol, the right is Bo Peep (Pig)

Here is what is going to be their new digs!

Foreclosures Coming to a Halt in Nevada!

Ken Wiseman (Reno Rancho Realty) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:13:45 -0800

I am guessing in three to four months I will be out of business in Nevada since that is our main source of listings?

Foreclosure starts drop across the West Coast

by KERRI PANCHUK

Friday, January 13th, 2012, 7:59 am

Foreclosure starts across the West Coast plummeted in December as California, Nevada and Washington reported double-digit declines in new mortgages entering the process, according to ForeclosureRadar.

California, in particular, saw foreclosure starts decline by 30.6% to 16,465 filings in December, while foreclosure sales grew 3.2% to 11,097 transactions. The time it takes to foreclose in the Golden State also fell by 16.9% to 250 days.

The Discovery Bay, Calif.-based firm said California experienced an unexpected 45.8% spike in foreclosure cancellations from November.

ForeclosureRadar said the sudden rise stems from the closing of trustee sale locations in Norwalk, Calif.

"This closure caused more than 5,000 sales to be cancelled in December," the company said. Those sales are expected to resume at other trustee locations in California.

The states of Nevada and Washington saw foreclosure starts decline 14% and 17.3%, respectively, while Arizona reported a drop of 24.2%.

Oregon went against the grain, reporting a 5% increase in foreclosure starts.

ForeclosureRadar said changes in the regulatory landscape are still playing a role in the final foreclosure numbers. For example, Nevada's new foreclosure law led to a decline in both foreclosure starts and sales, with foreclosure sales alone falling 27%.

"Nevada's new foreclosure rules appear on track to bring a near complete halt to foreclosures in that state," said Sean O'Toole, founder and chief executive officer of ForeclosureRadar.

"In the near term this will certainly help homeowners who were facing foreclosure, eviction, and potentially deficiency judgements. Longer term, we believe there will be unintended consequences for the state as business declines for the many real estate related companies that would normally service, resell and finance those foreclosures."

Life in St Thomas, US Virgin Islands

Ken Wiseman (Reno Rancho Realty) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:45:52 -0800

Well Toyota 4Runner come, and no, there were no issues with the vehicle. All was the same as I had left it in Reno, NV, except greasy and this random glove on the passenger floor? Viking delivered it to me at the Airport where I have for the last time have given up my Hertz rental car. Wendy was sad and asked I stopped by and say hi whenever I was at the airport. Total cost for having my own car: $5200. Having my own car real value: PRICELESS. I know what I have, know its maintenance and its mine!

As I was driving down the hill to the airport to drop off the rental car, I saw a cruise ship docked at Havensight, it was the ship that Shannon and I first visited St Thomas in January 2009 the Norwegian Gem, the whole reason for how we ended up buying here! Karma?

Well, as I was driving from the airport to go home, Shannon called me about the conference call with our largest client in Reno, NV. They had said with NV bill AB 241, that it would 2-3 years before we would start seeing any new foreclosure inventory! I was like just as I had predicted, we have 30 of our 40 listed REO properties pending. The client was not going to seek judicial foreclosure, only non-judicial. It took me about 1 minute to decide to pull off to the DMV to get my driver's license as mine was expiring in NV in April and I think we both know what the writing is on the wall for NV.

So when you go to get your license, you walk in and there are all these windows with plexiglass, no real direction? So after asking, I finally made it to a window that asked for all my stuff. I showed it to her, she say, "go to cashier". Went to cashier and paid my $45 with my Mastercard and you go wait. So I waited for about 10 mins and then you step into this office. It was so crowded with a desktop pc, digital camera with a mini tripod, finger print machine, eye tester etc. The gal there was so nice, she first asked me, "Mr. Wiseman, how long have you REALLY lived here?" I was laughing, I said, "I honestly just had a whim that I would be living here full time after what happened today. We began talking and told her that I just lost 3 dogs in 4 months, these were our kids and needed a change after our client basically told us we'd be out of business. She was like, "I love my dogs too!" So we both spent about 20 minutes sharing dog stories and pictures from our IPhones!

Here is what you need for the license:

Passport
Social Security Card
Current US Driver License
Driving record for the state you live in (most have it available on-line, just print it out).

Ahhh, guess this is going to be home now! Won't mind with views like this from our home!

Good bye to 2011, Welcome 2012 in St Thomas!

Ken Wiseman (Reno Rancho Realty) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:03:42 -0800

Well here we are 2 weeks into the new year of 2012!

For 2011 I sold 265 homes for $31,000,000 in gross dollar amt for an average sale price of $116,000. #6 NNRMLS

Compared to 2010:

Sold 256 homes for $34,000,000 and an average of $132,000. #1 NNRMLS

As you can see, more work for less money!

But that is not even start of it. Since the NV legislature passed a new law asking for an avadavidt of who actual owns the loans our notices of default have gone down from an average of 700 per month to an average of 15 per month since the law went to effect on 10-1-11.

So why do I care about this statistic? Well our business model has been based since 2008 on Bank Owned properties or REO's.

Due to no new REO inventory as the law has taken its effects, we are sitting now on only 40 listings with an average price of $115,000 (prices still falling?). That would make an average commission of only $2875 per sale. Right now we are receiving about one new assignment a week with holidays would be about 3 per month of 45 per year if all would pan out and prices remained stable. Prices will probably rise due to the lack of inventory but this will be a false bottom as the inventory that has not been foreclosed will still be waiting in the wings and once the banks figure it out, here comes the flood gates!

So I want to first wish the Nevada legislature for the bright idea in passing this law!

In celebration of this new law and the lack of inventory, I decided to work from the house we bought in 2009 (will give a post about buying this home another time) in St Thomas, US Virgin Islands. I am on a soul searching mission as well to see what the market is about here more in depth. I need to see if I can still make a decent living without killing myself selling 250 homes a year. Of course if I sold only 10 a year with the average price here, I don't think it could be a bad thing?

I am burned out of selling REO's and of having to work with incompetant large corporations (aggg, that was the reason I got into RE, was to not work as a cog in a workplace of stupidity)! We have no family or really any good friends in Reno, NV. We have no kids, just two recycled Labs. Hmmmm....I guess the only way to find out is to investigate, right?

So what did I do this past weekend? Well went to Jost Van Dyke at the Soggy Dollar Bar with some friends and saw the NY Jets QB, Mark Sanchez! Also visited Norman Island and the Willy T's floating bar! What a way to relax!

My wife Shannon and I decided to ship our 2004 4Runner down here as well as we already have 3 cars in Reno and was just sitting in the garage and tired of renting a car here. So we shipped it via Viking Moving Services, it left on December 14th. Well it arrived today! It went to Jacksonville, FL, then on a boat to San Juan PR, then another boat to St Thomas! Well I was informed today by Viking that the Bill of Lading had on there a chipped windshield, scratches all over and missing tail lights? Missing tail lights? What did they take the entire tail light assembly? No one knows as they still haven't unloaded it from the boat, "soon come" I am told. Hopefully it will be at Viking's warehouse tomorrow so I can see for myself!!! I was told that it would have to be repaired to pass the mandatory inspection. Yes, 4Runner, soon come!

I did get the insurance done for the 4Runnner, about $1000 a year or $400 more a year which I don't understand as you cannot drive more the 30 MPH on a 13 mile long island? I know, it must be that we drive on the left here? Go figure!

As I noted in an earlier post, I would start blogging again! Well here I am! Stayed tuned!

DOG LEFT AT FORECLOSED HOME....NEEDS HOME! RENO, NV

Ken Wiseman (Reno Rancho Realty) — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 18:06:17 -0700

Ok, so the dog that I found at my recent REO listing (read story in previous blog) was never claimed at Washoe County Regional Animal Services. They have to make sure the owner has time to claim her.....why though I ask as there is no reason since she didn't have any food or water when I found her.

I asked the director of the Nevada Humane Society (which is a no-kill shelter) to take the dog after she comes out of her redemption period. She agreed and will be brought over.

Now I ask, who has room for this girl in their home?

DOG NEEDS HOME! RENO 911 Foreclosure III

Ken Wiseman (Reno Rancho Realty) — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 10:45:04 -0700

This dog might need a home, please contact me if you can adopt her!

Ok, so last Friday I get a new REO listing. I asked my wife if should would come with me, and in exchange I will buy her lunch. So after a nice lunch, we are off to investigate the occupancy status of my new REO.

It amazes me on how to find your REO on any given street, just look for the dead grass with junk, that is usally a dead give away! And, sure enough, when we pull up, it has dead grass and junk. We go to the front door, looks vacant and viola there is a power termination notice on the front door and a fedex package from a bank, dated in August. Front door is locked. Hmmm, let's try the garage, and yes it is open. So I go in.......into the kitchen, stuff on the counter, nothing in the fridge, a dog bed in family room, and then I look out the back door........and here is this......

This dog is in the back yard!!!!! Now I am thinking that someone lives here and getting a little scared.....there is dog food bag by the back door? So I go up stairs and it is left in a mess but no signs of life other than this dog.

I open the slider in the back (we do labrador rescue) to see if this one is friendly, and sure enough, she is super friendly! No water though for her......no shelter......and no food!!!! So we filled her four bowls and fed her.

This is a mystery.....she isnt skinny???? Is someone coming by to feed her?

We decide to ask the neighbors......the next door ones....they have been gone for two months, once in a while a truck comes up. Did you know there is a dog in the backyard? Um yea when they first left it barked a lot....then got quieter......go across street, ask that neighbor....he knows nothing other than they left two months ago.....one more neighbor.....yea dont know.....we told them all to come get the dog otherwise I will have to get animal control out. (This is a neighborhood I want to move to!!!!).

In the morning I call the bank and see if it is ok to get animal control over to get the dog. They got back to me and said yes. I drove up hoping that these people came and got their dog.....I went to the side yard...looked....whistled.....nothing.....Fhew......then her head pops out of the hole! Crap!!!!!

I call animal control and they sent over a unit. We went and got her and placed her in the truck. Our shelter here works with the humane society, and the humane society takes all the strays (they are a no kill shelter) but if the humane society is full, and there is no room at the county shelter, they kill em. So I am not too happy, but I have 5 rescue dogs myself.....but I know it is better than being in this backyard with no food and water and with rain/snow blowing in. The AC officer put a notice on the garage to call the shelter and I put a note for the mysterious random dog caregiver on where to get the dog.

If no one claims this dog by October 22, then she can out for adoption. She is a sweetheart, rolls over on her back to be pet, nudges your hand to be pet, and just wants some loving. She is probably about 4-5 yrs old. If you have a spot in your home for this girl please let me know!!!!!

New Articles On Reno!

Ken Wiseman (Reno Rancho Realty) — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 10:28:31 -0700

Here are some new articles on Reno, one from the Economist and the other from Esquire:

http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9867764

http://www.esquire.com/features/esquire-100/reno1007

Possible New Clients

Ken Wiseman (Reno Rancho Realty) — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 19:27:02 -0700

This is from an email from my friend BJ Perez of Monarch Mortgage:

ok, you know its getting slow when the DirtyBird & Guapo are in the clients chairs pretending to be clients, and keep me company so I dont go nuts! thought you'd get a kick out of this. Dirtyman says he's fully trained now and can do loans... he's even going to contact Wells Fargo for his FHA approval :)

When Buying Horse and Country Property in Reno, NV Use an Agent That Knows

Ken Wiseman (Reno Rancho Realty) — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 19:39:48 -0700

WELLS!

had a well test done on a piece of vacant land last week that has no electricity to the property. The well company asked me certain questions such as is there a pump and box. Well, I knew the answers to his questions, and I even requested a piece of equipment to do the test. Can you imagine if this was an agent that didn't know anything about wells? The well company would have then had to made two trips and they bill at $110/hr including drive time. Their office is 35 mins away so that would have cost an extra $110!

This is Larry the Water Guy coming to let me know what is up with the well!

Anyway, the well was really good, and Larry gave me all the details of the well, and being that I have knowledge of wells, I was able to explain it all to my customer!

Well, the well quality test came back with an item that has failed. Does that mean the end of the deal? NO, I can explain it to the buyer so that the deal stays together!

If you are ever shopping for a horse property in Reno, NV or anywhere else where there is a well or septic, make sure that the agent has extensive experience in dealing with these properties or you could end up with a poor systems or all could be blown out of proportion over something minor....not to mention the money you will save!

Update on the Adopt-A-Sign Casulty

Ken Wiseman (Reno Rancho Realty) — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:11:41 -0700

The sign smasher has written a note:

Hi, Ken,

To answer your question; No, I wasn't going to call and tell you that I had smashed your sign. I was planning on straightening it, and replacing it in it's proper place, along with the post, that I also targeted.

If I had noticed the sign was missing, I would have automatically assumed that some demented collector of mangled real estate signs had absconded with it.

I have since made mental preparations to not run over that spot again, thus missing the real estate sign, and the post that I have replaced, but it seems that you weren't taking any chances that I might have a relapse, by moving the sign location to the other side of the driveway. Ha, that won't help. Though I will attempt to avoid it in the future, I can't promise anything.

Sorry about that.

Sincerely,

The sign smasher

WARNING - If we can not raise enough money for the Adopt-A-Sign Program the Sign Smasher will be notified and will kill your expired sign!

PS-Sign Smasher - Please don't let the demented collector of mangled real estate signs see this pile at my house!

RIP In Memory of Signy the Sign killed by a steam roller 08/13/06

Adopt-A-Sign-Program Casulty

Ken Wiseman (Reno Rancho Realty) — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 16:18:43 -0700

Yesterday I announced the Adopt-A-Sign-Program. My wife on her way from home noticed one of my signs mangled in front of one of my listings. I told her to bring it home. I thought it was those teens again. When the sign got home, I took it out for an investigation with the help of my neighbor Randy. We both were practicing our forensic abilities, pretending we were on CSI Reno. Upon further study we noticed the sign had been hit with a paintball as well. Poor thing. Our final conclusion was it was crumpled by a random teen.

I decided to break the news to the Seller's, that their sign had been killed. I call, Ms Seller answers.

"Ms. Seller, I have your sign, it has been killed....I am sorry"

She says, "Oh Mr. Seller ran over it with the big horse trailer, he took the corner too tight. I guess he took out the fence post too! He did this the other day!", she says laughingly.

I think to myself, "when were you going to tell me?"

Instead, I reply "It's ok, accidents happen" and they do, but it still the thought of there is another $30 expense! Oh well, they are really great people, and the sign frame is now out in my bent frame pile, joining the 6 other casulties.

Stay Tuned for more Wild West Stories!

Adopt An Expired Sign Program

Ken Wiseman (Reno Rancho Realty) — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:03:59 -0700

I work in a rural property setting on the outskirts of Reno, NV. I mostly sell horse property, country property and vacant land. Our distance to the metro area is 30-45 minute drive, and most homes are on 10 acre parcels.

We often get "city" agents out here listing property at overpriced values. They generally take on a 6 month listing and generally fill their brochure tube once. The remainder of the time the tube sits empty, the wind knocks the sign over, or if they actually hammered the sign in, the sign will remain there, like a fossil engrained into the area that says, "I am Joe "City" Agent, I once listed a property out here that never sold." On a side note it is funny how these same agents call me to show their buyers my listings or even how not one of them EVER shows up for inspections. Guess 3% of the sales price just isn't enough for the 30 minute drive!

I watch these signs sit for months after the property has expired. I take buyers around and the reaction I always get is, "Why is everything for sale out here?" I then have to explain that the listing agents property has expired and there is no reason for them to get their sign.

There is no reason to get their sign, my guess is because, their broker paid for it, it is too far for them to drive 30 mins to get it and lastly, they are just plain LAZY! My agents have to buy their own signs for this very reason.

Out of my efforts to preserve these areas where we have wild mustangs roam, I am starting a program, where other agents from around the country can "Adopt-An-Expired-Sign Program" That's right folks, for only $50 a year, I will take your business card and attach it to an expired sign and you can sponsor this sign to help raise enough money to send the agent and/or broker enough gas money and motivation to come get their sign! If no one sponsors a sign, I will be foreced to instruct teenage kids to take the sign to use as target practice out in the desert, obviously killing the sign.

The morale of the story here is, if you aren't prepared to fully service a listing because it is too far, then do everyone a favor and refer the listing to someone who will, because it effects all of our reputation as professionals.

Do You Remeber These Days?

Ken Wiseman (Reno Rancho Realty) — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 10:43:06 -0700

THESE ARE BUYERS SWARMING OVER A NEW LISTING!

No not really.

So I was sitting on my porch last night (Sunday night) and watching my hummingbirds at the feeder on my front porch, felt more like a hornet's nest, and it reminded me of how the real estate market used to be. Do you remember when you put a sign out on a house and got it on the MLS and there were 10 offers on the table in 24 hours? Well, I do, and thanks to that swarming is why we are where we are now. Not much action this weekend from any buyers.

Some neat facts about these hummingbirds. I am trying to identify them, either Rufus or Allen's. Apparently they spend the Summer here in Northern Nevada and then hightail it south to Mexico for the Winter (not a bad idea?). They need to eat every ten minutes, their heart beats 1200 times a minute. They also remember every year where certain feeders are. I guess this is why we are getting double the amount of visitors than last year?

Went to the big Reno, Hot August Nights, on Saturday evening. This event is all about cars and culture of the 50's and 60's. The youngest car you can enter is 1972. I think they should up it to 1980 and mix it up more! Anyway, they have show n' shines, cruising, and entertainment.

Buying REO Properties

Ken Wiseman (Reno Rancho Realty) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 11:19:35 -0700

BUYING A REO (Bank Real Estate Owned) PROPERTY CAN MAKE AN AGENT GO GREY! PART 2

So we go ahead and write the new offer for a couple grand less than what Big Bank countered, figured it would be fun to mess with them. This time they responded within 24 hours.....they must have liked that I was getting close to their magical number?.....Of course with the same counter offer as the last one. What I really like is how they do ttheir counter offers......the listing agent sends you a screen print of the Big Bank web portal. We wouldn't want the big bank to have to actually come up with an actual written counter offer would we?

Just a diversion here....but the big bank makes you take a class to be a good REO agent if you want to be a listing agent with them...COST $495......Getting Counter Offers on a web portal.....Priceless!

Now looking at this blurry screen print of the counter (my buyer is now livid) the only thing that I can tell they agreed to was their magical sales price and of course AGAIN moved the COE another week past what we had asked for........must be corporate policy or there are chimps on the other side of the web portal working at the big bank?.....no one addressed the time for inspections (I need more time for well and septic) and who the heck is to pay the county transfer tax although it is in a window on the web portal that says those items need to be addressed.....

I feel bad for this other agent, she said this all they ever give her. Wouldn't it be nice to get a counter offer in writing and not screenprints? So she ends up emailing the big bank to ask them about the two things that we are still hung up on.......and I came up with the bright idea to have the buyers sign a counter offer as if it were really from big bank and submit it with just their magical price on it. The other agent submitted it. The big bank must have been on a bank holiday, because it took 48 hours to respond.

The response - Stay tuned to Part III