Category Archives: News Of The Weird

June 24, 2011 · 8:19 am

Really….I’m not making this up!

HUD – HUD has decided that anyone closing on one of their homes must be present at the closing or send someone in their stead with power of attorney. When I asked why I was told to avoid fraud. Anyone can get a signature and/or a notary. So I asked how to get the Power of Attorney. They are sending a form that the buyer just needs to sign in front of a notary and then fax in. WTF? Isn’t that the same thing?

MoKan Title – If you bank at Bank of America (And we all know my feeling on their contribution to our current situation.) and you ask for a cashier’s check they give you a check that says Official Check. MoKan Title of Kansas City has decided this still isn’t a cashier’s check. For the past 10 days they’ve been trying to get the bank to notarize a letter saying they won’t stop funds and/or otherwise not pay on the check to be sure that the funds are good. Closing the property will be delayed because of this letter, mind you. If they would have just deposited the “Official Check” it would have cleared by now!!!!

Real Estate Agents Love Paperwork – We have agents out there that live for Amendments and Addendums. The contract has a place for the legal description of a property. Is that good enough for some agents? No! They require an additional Legal Description Addendum? Why? The contract also states that should a buyer not complete inspections within the 10 days allowed then they waive their right to inspections. Is that sufficient? No! They want an Inspection Notice saying the exact same thing.

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Filed under Kansas City Real Estate, Misc. Real Estate, News Of The Weird

May 15, 2009 · 7:43 am

Rental Property Swarmed By Bees!

honey-bee-hive So yesterday I get a call from a tenant that is something I’ve never heard before. And if you own and/or manage rental property, you know that is quite an accomplishment. Seems the tree out in front of the house is covered in bees! I asked “How many.”

“Millions!”

Ah, did she say millions? This is a great tenant that was calling. Rent almost always arrives BEFORE the first. She’s not really prone to exaggeration. And she thought she meant literally millions. That could be a problem.

I asked what kind of bees and she was thinking honey bees. I called my exterminator guy and he said he could get to them and kill them. Though with the honey bee shortage of the past years I didn’t think that was a good idea. While I was still mulling what to do about this I got another call from the tenant.

“I found a bee keeper that wants them.”

Perfect! I don’t have to be Josef Mengele to the honey bees, the bee keeper gets more inventory, and the honey bee population of the Midwest isn’t crushed by yet one more hive.

Good tenants are hard to find. I think this one is going to get a $25 gas card from QuickTrip as her reward.

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Filed under News Of The Weird, Property Management

August 6, 2008 · 8:10 am

Landlord Loses His Mind

From today’s Kansas City Star:

Newark, Del. | Police have arrested a landlord who allegedly rammed his Hummer into a renter’s house, claiming the tenants were behind on their rent.

Police said the 30-year-old landlord crashed the SUV into a home on Lute Court in Harmony Woods about 3 a.m. on Thursday.

A 50-year-old woman an her 53-year-old husband sleeping inside an were jolted awake by a loud crash and the house shaking.

Officers learned the man was the landlord and went to his home and saw the damaged Hummer with a pine branch stuck in the front bumper.
|The Associated Press

***

First, how does this help the landlord with his expenses? Second, how does it help collect the rent? And third, I’m sure there is much more to the story. Aren’t you? But hey, maybe he needed the money right now for gas. I might suggest that if your tenant hasn’t paid rent that you handle it a little differently. 🙂

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Filed under Misc. Real Estate, News Of The Weird

June 23, 2008 · 10:09 pm

REIT: Entertainment Property Trust in Kansas City

If you are gonna invest in the stock market what better way to keep your fingers in real estate than by looking at a REIT, aka Real Estate Investment Trust. Put simply, REITs are companies that manage investment properties and sell shares of their business like stocks. Their earnings will come from rents and other fees (and appreciation when they sell) and the earnings are either reinvested or paid out in dividend form to the stock owners.

I like keeping an eye on Entertainment Property Trust located here in the Kansas City area. Today’s Kansas City Star has them ranked as the #18 publicly traded company in the Kansas City market area. You can follow them, as I do, on by their ticker symbol EPR on the NYSE.

One of the reasons I like them is they are Kansas City based. And as many of you know, I’m a homer. But their business model is extremely sound to me, as well. This from today’s Kansas City Star:

“The real estate investment trust develops, owns, leases and finances entertainment related businesses, primarily movie megaplexes, of which Kansas City-based AMC makes up more than half. Its total assets exceed $2.1 billion. Last year, the firm loaned $81.6 million to the developer of the proposed Schlitterbahn Vacation Village water park development near Kansas Speedway.”

Let’s be clear about this. Even with the influx of dvd’s and direct-to-your-cable-box movies there is no way people, even in a bad economy, are going to quit going to the movies. Furthermore, with their inroads into the surrounding shops and specialty properties like Schlitterbahn (which will be a slam dunk, by the way) you have to like the outlook.

Am I a securities dealer? No. I just thought I would mix a little stock market in with our usual discussions on residential investment property ownership.

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Filed under Kansas City, News Of The Weird, Real Estate Investing

August 23, 2007 · 7:16 am

News Of The Weird

So I’m out pre-viewing properties yesterday afternoon in the Waldo neighborhood of Kansas City. A property I was most particularly interested in was a 2 bedroom, 1 bath and 1 car detached garage being offered at just under $60,000. That’s way under market and I wanted to know why.

When I get there the owners are home and are gracious and show me around. While it’s not much to some people’s standards they seemed very proud of their home. Nice, quiet folks. I mean them absolutely no disrespect.

After viewing the inside of the home I said I’d like to walk around the outside. The husband volunteers to unlock the garage for me. While waiting for him to unlock the garage I notice the open crawl space door with what looks like tons of trash in it.

Now for those of you unfamiliar with a crawl space, it’s not a basement but rather about a 3 foot high foundation (in this home’s case, anyway) around the outside of the home that supports the floor joists and allows room for the home’s mechanicals. Usually bare dirt or gravel are there under the home.

I wanted to take a closer look to see how much trash would have to be cleaned out. So I stick my head in AND THIS HIPPIE DUDE ASKS ME WHAT I WANT!

It made my heart stop! I’ve walked the streets of SE DC as an investigator/photographer and I’ve been in many situations. But I was prepared for those. I was not prepared for some dude LIVING IN THE CRAWL SPACE OF THE HOUSE.

Now, if that’s not crazy enough I go back over to the gentleman at the garage and he doesn’t say a word. Like it’s normal. Proceeds to show me the garage and it’s improvements. NEVER EVEN MENTIONS THE GUY! But I know that he knows him because dude’s backpack (your typical hippie gone-for-a-month issue backpack) is in the secured garage.

Crazy. I’ve seen live chickens living in houses. Dog feces everywhere and even open drug use while looking at a house. But living in a crawl space? First time, baby. First time.