When I meet with sellers these days the discussion of renting their home has become a popular topic. Maybe they are in a situation where they cannot sell and clear enough money to justify selling the home, but they are in a situation where they can keep their current home and still move on to their next home.

In order to do this there are some financial requirements your next lender will require of you in order to qualify for your next mortgage, please consult with a competent mortgage professional to make sure you qualify and help you make sound decisions about your mortgage situation.

In the event you decide to become a landlord because it makes financial sense for you some of the things you will want to consider are ;

1. Get a good accountant. They will be a Godsend at the end of the year for the items that will now become tax deductible to you. Things like capital improvements, depreciation, writing repairs off etc. When you have these types of things to consider as a landlord, you don’t always have to get even steven rent to mortgage payment. For me personally, I lose a little on one property but it comes out in the wash at the end of the year and I have a great tenant, which is worth it’s weight in gold to me.

2. You will need to emotionally detach yourself from the property. You notice I called it a “property”? It is not your home so much anymore, think of it as an investment. I will tell you that you will need a strong stomach to be a landlord. One reason is that most people will not love your property as much as you do and you may have to deal with a tenant that doesn’t pay the rent on time and you may have to juggle the payments sometimes.

3. Make sure that each person interested fills out an application that lets you verify their employment and their credit. You will want to make sure that your potential client has a steady job and that they make the income that they say they do. There are a couple of ways that I verify this as an agent. The first thing I will do is ask for a copy of identification and two copies of pay check stubs. That way you can see that they get paid about the same amount every couple of weeks. If the potential tenant wants you to verify their employment with a phone call to a supervisor, make sure you call the main company phone number and ask for the human resources department to verify their income and employment. You will want to make sure they don’t have you calling their friend. Get something in writing from the HR department verifying the information.

4. Pull Credit. When you have pulled credit on the potential tenant, you will want to review their credit. If you do not know how to read a report, contact the person who pulled the report and ask them to explain it to you. Optimately you will want to have someone with a score near or above 700. That is the number I look for. This will show that they tenant has a good track record of paying their bills in a timely fashion. It is really the only gage that shows how timely they pay their bills. It is not a guarantee, but it is probably your best gage of how timely you will be paid.

5. The last item I make sure that EVERY landlord in Montgomery County Maryland knows about is the fact that you must have a license to be a landlord. It costs $95 a year and you have got to have it. The county says so, and it is part of a standard Montgomery County lease. If you, as a landlord, have a dispute with your tenant – I am even talking about whether or not the rent has been paid or not – and you do not have a license you may not be able to make a claim on the back rent. You will need to consult an attorney, but I personally know someone that lost thousands of dollars by simply not having their county license to be a landlord. If you need an application Click here for one now.

These are basic tips to get you started as a landlord. Remember the people living in your house are people and have feelings. I find that by treating my tenants with respect, fixing things immediately if they are broken they in turn take better care of my property and treat me with the same respect in turn.

If this information seems like too much for you to deal with, you can always hire a professional property management company to manage the property for you. They will most likely charge you a monthly fee, but will be the person that screens the applicants, fields the calls in the middle of the night when the A/C breaks for you so you don’t have to deal with these items.

If you would like information on property management companies feel free to contact me and I can put you in touch with a professional management company.

 I was asked by the Montgomery County Maryland Women’s Council of REALTORS® to give a presentation about what I have learned about social networking in the last couple of years.  I was honored to be asked and so I went last Wednesday to see the members of

I put my presentation together, keeping it simple for myself and for the members to not be overwhelmed by the massive amount of information that goes along with social networking.   I thought Blogs, Social Networks and Micro-blogging would be the a good place to start.  Far from being and über geek,  I have taken many classes over the last year, and still do now, to learn about this ever evolving way of doing business.

I put my presentation together, simple and what I hoped would be clear for the members to understand.  My  RE/MAX broker was great and loaned me the projector for my presentation.  I got there, set everything up, had my cup of coffee, waited for the meeting to be called to order and wouldn’t you know the bulb burns out in the projector!!  Never a good thing for a presentation, let alone my nerves.  Trying to fix it, to no avail, we decide to just us my laptop, turn down the lights and press on.

My main focus of the presentation was what Social Networking was, why we should care about it, and how can someone get started.

My suggestions for the group, that have worked for me personally were:

•  ActiveRain because it is a real estate community
• RealEstatetomato because of the extensive training 
• Facebook because we all need friends and exposure
• Twitter is easy and part of my social network

I told the members that social networking was the future of real estate marketing not only for Listing and selling homes, but also for branding ourselves in our community. 

I think several understood what I was saying and asked me several questions.  I told them I was not a technical person but would find out the answers for the things I did not know.   I think one of the biggest things I had going for me was that I am not a technical computer person,  I am a REALTOR® who can explain this type of information in a way that non technical people can understand.  We speak the same language of marketing homes not html. 

I had a great time with the members and was flattered to be asked.  Funny though, I think if I am involved with these groups, I think I am pretty mainstream, but I found that it is not popular as I thought.  I hope the members found my information helpful and will become active in social networking.

I hope that the members will take some time to explore these networks that I have shared with them.  I think they will be amazed at the support that they will receive from others who are already active in Social networking, there is nothing to be intimidated about, jump in!   I hope the members of WCR will try to join one network  at a time, slowly learning how to be a participant in the paradigm shift of our industry.

The Jewel of Montgomery County, can you guess what it is?

Have you already guessed?  It is the Strathmore Hall Art Center and they are celebrating 25 years of Art.  The Strathmore Art Center is located on the Grovsvenor Metro stop, perfect for anyone to get to!!  You would think that an Art Center like this would be in the city directly but, we here in Montgomery County are so thrilled call it our own.

Originally the land was purchased by Captain James Frederick Oyster and his wife for their Summer Home in 1899.   They bought 99 acres and built the mansion shortly thereafter.  They Oysters sold the home to Charles Corby and his wife, Hattie who remained in the home until her death in 1941.

After Mrs Corby passed away the land was left to St Mary’s Academy in which the Nuns turned the mansion into a convent and a school called St Angela Hall.   The Sisters then sold the mansion to The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association as their headquarters.  They then gave the property to Montgomery County and it was named Strathmore Hall.  Strathmore Hall would be renovated and used for the arts in 1983.

The Mansion has a 100 seat hall for concerts, tea rooms and many other rooms for education and art exhibits.  It has hosted weddings, and celebrations of all kinds.  It is set up on the lawn and is as beautiful and she is important to cultural events.

Fast forward to 2001.  After 25 years of work and under the direction of President & CEO Eliot Pfanstiehl, there was a ground breaking for the Music Hall.  The music hall was designed by Architect William Rawn Architects, Inc, Kirkegaard Associates who designed all of the acoustics, theater designers Theatre Project Consultants.  It is a masterpiece of architecture.  It is built of German limestone, it sets up on the knoll and has exquisite views.  The concert hall is the most beautiful concert hall I have ever seen, it rivals halls I have seen in New York, Hamburg, Berlin, and Washington DC.  It is as wonderful to see a show as to sit in awe of it’s beauty.

The Strathmore Art Center is partnered with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Washington Performing Arts Society, National Philharmonic, Levine School of Music, CityDance Ensemble, and Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra.  These are major players in the music and art world.

The great thing about Strathmore is that there is something for everyone.  In the Concert Hall you can see anyone from Neil Sedka to Tommy Tune to Bernadette Peters to Arlo Gutherie To Soweto Gospel Choir to Chanukah Feast in Concert to A Rockapella Holiday to the Musical Adventures of Flat Stanely for the kids.  I mean there is something for everyone!  I have seen plays, comedy tours, symphony concerts, the Beatle tour.  Strathmore has not left anyone out.

Check out their website Strathmore.org for all the information.  You can sign up for art classes, chorale classes, kids even have their own classes.  The Mansion has art exhibits featuring different artists. 

If you live in Montgomery County or in the Metro area, do yourself a favor and don’t miss out on this Gem, it is truly magic.

You will never want for something to do if you live in Montgomery County Maryland. There are several Cultural venues, world renowned restaurants, and sports facilities to keep everyone in the family happy and entertained.

One of the best facilities we have access to is The Germantown Pool and Soccer complex, located on 695 acres located off of Shaeffer Road in Germantown, Maryland.

The pool complex has three indoor pools. Two large pools, one is Olympic size, with dive platforms and one is a lap pool. There is also a smaller kiddie pool located indoors. During the summer months there is an outdoor pool and a splash pool that is open as well.

In the same complex is the Discovery Zone soccer field. This features indoor soccer/volleyball/basketball and lacrosse indoor fields and an outdoor lighted field with stadium seating for 3200. There are 24 other soccer fields there at the complex that are always full on the weekends with soccer games being played by all different leagues and age groups. The complex also has a golf driving range, an Archery range and a pond to launch your remote control model boats. There are hiking trails, softball fields and two miniture golf courses too! Fun for everyone. It is really a great facility.

I think the county thought of just about everyone, and all you have to do is be a resident of Montgomery County Maryland!!