As a real estate agent I know how important it is to have a professional, high quality, and reliable web host. After all, somewhere around 85-90% of people start their home search online. Secondly, I get all my email through my server - it's important that I get it on time.
Besides my real estate company, I also own a web hosting company called Ferocity Host. We offer high quality service for our clients, with a 30 day money back guarantee and 24/7 support. All of our packages are all includsive, we don't skimp with anything. If you're in the market for a new hosting company we would love to have you. We also offer web design and SEO packages.
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I've put together a list the top five places I eat in Saint John. Although these aren't my favorites, they are practical, quick and easy.
[Dining] Vito's Restaurant & Lounge (Uptown & Rothesay Ave)- Vito's offers some great Italian food at great prices in a relaxing and comfortable atmosphere.
[Grab A Pizza or Pasta] Angelo's Restaurant (Quispamsis and Hampton)- Offers amazing Italian food. Although the dining room is small, it's well worth it. Very reasonable prices as well.
[Relax, Eat, and have a drink] Sebastien - Offers a variety of dishes and known for their massive selection of Martini's and drinks. Luxury and intimate setting. Super place for socializing and light business
[Grab something quick] The Wild Carrot Cafe (City Market) - Great tasting and healthy food, grab something quick on you're lunch break and enjoy the market atmosphere.
[Quick and easy] Fast Jack's (Level 3 Brunswick Square) - Fast jacks is a great place to get breakfast and lunch (breakfast served all day). The food is good, the service is good, and the prices are good. I personally recommend the chicken ceaser wrap.
Hidden Gems & Other Favorites
These are some great places to fill up and relax. They didn't make the top five but they are highly recommended.
Sisters (Fine Italian Foods) - Saint John City Market, Uptown
The Coffee Mill (Something for everyone) - Lancaster Mall, West Saint John
Cozy Corner (Just like a home cooked meal) - Hampton
Mama Georges (Better than home cooked, and you don't even have to do the dishes) - Norton
Church Street Steak House - Uptown Saint John
Boilerworks - On the boardwalk (Market Square)
Ale House - On the boardwalk (Market Square)
Swiss Chalet
Feel free to coment with you're favorite restaurants.
As a real estate salesperson and the owner of a property management company, I see many people who buy rental properties and don't think they need a property manager (in most cases they own a small building or a single family home they rent out). Little do they know it's not only about collecting your rent cheque every month.
Here are some things to consider when asking yourself "Do I need a property manager"?
Residential Tenancies Act
First and for most is the laws governing rental units. Here in New Brunswick Canada it's called the Residential Tenancies act. It outlines the rights a tenant has, as well as the rights of the landlord. If you aren't familiar with them, you need to get familiar or find a manager that is - otherwise you could end up in some trouble with the law.
On call 24/7 365 day's a year?
As a landlord you need to be on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Not only do you need to be on call, but you need to be ready to get to your property in a hurry in the event of an emergency. Many landlord's tell me they are available 24/7 but they look a little puzzled when I ask them: "You're out on a Saturday night with friends and family, and you've had a couple glasses of wine. You're tenant calls and the toilet is flooding. What do you do?".
At the end of the day, you need someone on call and available to take care of these problems should they arise.
My building is brand new, we wont have any problems.
It doesn't matter how new your building is. Bad things happen to new buildings too! Toilets get backed up, leaks happen, there isn't anything we can do about it except be ready when it happens.
My tenants are great executive clients, there wont be any problems.
That's great, I'm glad to hear you've got great tenants. You can have a beautiful property, but it doesn't mean anything without the good tenants. The problem is that accidents happen with good tenants too (e.g. the bottle of bleach they just picked up at the store has a faulty cover, and gets spilled all over the floor - it's not because they are bad people). For this reason you must always collect a security deposit.
You have executive tenants, and they are looking for executive service. If they have a problem, they want prompt and professional service whether its 2 in the afternoon or 2 in the morning.
Who's to blame, and who's going to pay for that?
If you make a mistake, you're going to pay for it. If your property manager makes a mistake, they will be paying for it (or their insurance will).
The bottom line is, property managers have experience and knowledge in what they do (after all, that's how they make a living. If they weren't good at it, they wouldn't be doing it for very long). They have systems, and accountability. Before you say no to a property manager, sit down and talk to one (or two) and find out what they can do for you.
If you're purchasing rental property in the Greater Saint John Area give Harrity Real Estate Services a call, and we will set up a free initial consultation (for more information visit our website). If you already own rental property, give us a call and we will give you a free initial consultation to discuess how we can improve your investment, and give you the time for what matters most to you.
The last couple of weeks I've been doing some research into LED lighting. We see it used in vehicles and flashlights all the time, but why not household lighting? LED's last for ages, are resistant to vibration and movement (they don't break!) and they save loads of energy compared to the regular energy saving bulbs.
Yes the new energy saving bulbs (compact fluorescent) that fit the traditional edison size fixtures are saving on our power bills, but not near as much as a led light bulb will (some LED light bulbs will output the same light as a 60W bulb while only using 4.5W) - not to mention the compact fluorescent bulb uses gases that are harmful to the environment.
You can purchase LED light fixtures for your home or business (they aren't easy to find though). I have recently seen some of the new track lighting LED's on shelves at Home Depot; however you're looking for a solution for your home or business other than track lighting you'll have to look to the Internet.
While searching the archives over at REM Online, I found an article by Randy Norman titled "Shame on you, David Suzuki". The article accuses environmentalist David Suzuki for promoting the compact fluorescent bulbs that are less energy efficient than the LED's and do harm the environment. He also credits David (and figures like him) to the lack of LED awareness and sales.
Due to the popularity of the compact fluorescent bulbs, LED's are slow to hit the market and expensive to purchase (although it is a good investment in the long term). It is my hope that everyone that reads this blog will help promote the LED bulbs and fixtures to their clients, and use them in their own homes and businesses.
The more awareness, the more people will buy them and the cheaper they will become. Businesses especially should be purchasing these bulbs, as they are in the greatest position to save on lighting cost. Once enough businesses step up to the plate, I believe (and hope) the LED bulb will come mainstream and hopefully the standard for lighting both in businesses and homes.
I am a huge fan of saving money and the environment. I've come up with a few simple steps you can take to save energy around the home.
Decide what you're taking from the fridge before you open it, try not to leave the door open any longer than you have to.
Defrost meat and other items in your fridge, not on the counter. The frozen item will absorb the warmth in the fridge and keep the fridge from working harder to keep things cool.
Let food cool before you place it in the fridge or freezer. The fridge has to work hard to take away the heat, and will use more energy.
Use cold water when possible (when cleaning purhcase a green cleaner that can be used with cold or luke warm water).
Use caulking around windows to stop drafts. You can also use heavy blinds to create a warm layer of air between the window.
Purchase a digital thermostat. Program it to turn down the temperature a few degrees at night and an extra few temperatures in the rooms you don't use at night. You can also program them to start turning up the heat a half hour before you get up.
Wear a sweater when its cool, or have a nice warm cup of hot chocolate (or a Peppermint Soy Latte at Starbucks).
When purchasing appliances, ask your sales associate for energy efficient products.
Replace light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs, and turn off lights that you aren't using.
When upgrading your hot water heater, purchase an instant hot water heater. This will fire on to produce hot water, but doesn't store a tank of hot water 24/7.
Talk to your local hydro company to see what kinds of programs may be available to help you make your home more energy efficient. In New Brunswick visit www.efficiencynb.ca.
The key thing here is top of mind awareness. The more you practice energy efficiency the easier it becomes! I look forward to your ideas and tips on saving energy.
If there is one thing that I've learned in my first year of real estate - it's if you don't manage your time well, you WILL waste loads of time. I don't know about the rest of you, but my time is very valuable and it's important that I use my time appropriately so I get to spend time with my family, and make sure I keep things in order at home.
Above all that, time is money. I think it's realitively safe to say that for anyone who is reading this post, that money is an important thing to have.
[For you agent's out there: Real estate does take a lot of money, so you had better be making some to keep your head above water.
One of this biggest mistakes new and senior agents make is spending time doing things that don't make you money (we all do it, spend too much time sending emails, being on Facebook, active rain, browsing the website, organizing your office, buying office supplies we don't need, etc etc). Although some of these are important, and often necessary (who wants a messy office?) they aren't money making activities.]
This is where time management comes in to play. It's important to set out what activities you are going to do throughout your day that will make you money (not necessarily right away though), along with Active Rain, Facebook, Breakfast, Lunch, Supper, time with the kids, or whatever else you need to get done.
Each morning you should be sitting down with your coffee, or green tea and reviewing what you've got on the go today. (Should put these into your system the night before and tweak them in the morning).
The next thing you need is a system. It doesn't have to be a big expensive scheduling and time management application (infact you should keep it simple). It can be a daily planner you write in, outlook, your Blackberry or anything else that works for you. The key thing is that you have a system to keep track of what you need to get done, and when you are doing it. Make sure you set an actual time to complete your tasks, don't just write in that you have to walk the dog sometime today. It's important that you set the time for each item - even if you have to move it around a bit as your day progresses.
To recap. Here are the most important steps to managing your time property.
Get a system
Plan your day the night before, or in the morning before you get started.
Review your schedule for the day, make sure you aren't forgetting anything and have a plan for the day (logical route to complete all your tasks - for example, don't go buy your milk first thing in the morning and leave it in your car all day, pick that up last.
Schedule family time, as well as time off.
Keep it simple, and do not over think it!
Hope this has been helpful, I look forward to any tips anyone else might have. Work smarter, not harder!
The fast moving market of Saint John, New Brunswick has slowed down a bit for the last few weeks of August. Most people are trying to squeeze in as much as they can these last few weeks of summer, including back to school shopping.
The Saint John market is clearly still in a sellers market, with the low listing inventory we have right now. This has significantly lowered the average time on market, and many homes are selling as soon as they come on the market.
Due to such low inventory, it's important that buyers move quickly once they decide to make a move. It's important that they sign up to recieve listings in their email so they can get a one up on their competition. It's also extremely important that as a buyer, you have an agent that answers their phone when you call and is ready to move along with you.
I anticipate that the market will pick up this fall once kids are back in school and more listings are available.
Last but not least, 100% financing is almost gone! If you are depending on 100% financing, now is the time to make your move. If you miss the boat, please contact your mortgage specialist to find out what your options are.
If you're thinking about making a move, or need to talk to a mortgage specialist don't hesitate to contact me and I'll make sure you're in good hands, no matter where you're located.
Thanks for reading, and have a great time before fall is here.
Luther Harrity - Saint John, Rothesay, Hampton, New Brunswick Real Esate
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