Is Your Agent or Broker Licensed? – New Fingerprinting Law for Missouri

As a professional organization, it is important for us to be in compliance in how we do business.  One of our compliance requirements is to be licensed to do real estate transactions in Kansas and Missouri.  Realtors renewing their licenses in Missouri received a surprise in 2011: Pass an FBI fingerprint background check, or forfeit your right to practice real estate in Missouri.  The law took effect January 1st, 2011, but won’t be fully enforced until 2012.  (Source: BizJournal)  Janet Carder, executive director of the Missouri Real Estate Commission, said “the commission previously conducted simple background checks on new and renewing licensees, but crimes in other states went undetected.  Realtor licensees have access to people’s homes. They have access to people’s financial records.  This (fingerprinting law) is to make sure the bad guys aren’t out there practicing real estate.“  We appreciate the efforts of the Real Estate Commission to raise the level of professionalism in our industry.

Kandy, as the broker for Home Rental Services, recently had her fingerprints taken to meet these requirements.  The process was entirely digital… they scanned her fingers on a device resembling a typical flatbed scanner and the results were displayed on a monitor.  It was nice that there was no messy ink involved!  She was also required to provide any other legal names that she had used (maiden name, etc.)   We hope that you are working with Home Rental Services when leasing a home as an owner or renter, but if not, be sure to ask your representative for proof of license with the state where the home resides.

More Q&A on figerprinting requirements from the Real Estate Commission web site (PDF from 2/6/2012):

Renter Nation – Interesting Article from USAToday.com

We continue to experience a strong rental market here in Kansas City.  January was busy for Home Rental Services and we can confirm from real life experience the statistics from the USA Today article “Renter Nation – A New Reality in the U.S.“   For many people that we work with, it is their first time being an owner (renting a home they own) or renter.  We enjoy helping people on either side of the equation meet their goals and needs when it comes to renting a home.  They appreciate  our experience because it makes the process go smoothly.

We also see a larger number of relocations to Kansas City.  Our relationship with local companies allows us to find their incoming staff a great place to live.  It also puts us in a great position to bring excellent renters to our owners.  If you have been thinking about renting your home, be sure to give us a call at (913) 469-6633 or visit our web site for more information.  We would love to talk to you about your options!

Here is an excerpt from the article on USAToday.com:

Despite record low mortgage rates and rising affordability in most U.S. housing markets, rent is the new reality for former home owners and new households alike.  For some it is post-traumatic stress from the housing crash, for others it is the inability to get financing to buy a home. Either way, the rental market continues on its tear.

In the last quarter of 2011, the apartment sector saw its largest quarterly increase in occupied stock of the year, according to Reis Inc.  The vacancy rate dropped to 5.2%, the lowest since 2001 and lower than the last cyclical drop in 2006.  This bucks the historical seasonal weakness typical of the colder months of the year. The fourth quarter also tends to be a weaker leasing period, according to Reis, given that most households make moving decisions in the second and third quarters. (Read the full article on USAToday.com)

Kandy Meehan Receives 2012 Influential Woman Award

We believe that every business should be involved in their local community as a way to give back.  At Home Rental Services, we are involved in multiple not for profit organizations.  We post stories in our blog at least quarterly to make you aware of some of these organizations with the hope that you might want to get involved as well.

We don’t need a “pat on the back” for our efforts… we feel it is our corporate responsibility. However, we thought it would be fun to share this great news!

Kandy Meehan, the owner of Home Rental Services, was just selected as a 2012 Influential Woman by KC Business magazine!  She is one of 32 female leaders to be honored.  This is the sixth year that this program has been in place to recognize outstanding female Kansas City leaders in the creative, entreprenurial, nonprofit and corporate communities.

An independent panel of area business and civic leaders selected this exclusive group based on dedication, personal growth, hard work and community involvement.  The Influential Women will be profiled in the March 2012 issue of KC Business.  They will also be recognized at an exclusive networking and cocktail reception in March at the National World War I Museum.

2012 Looks to be a Promising Year for the Royals

Over the years, we have found several Royals baseball players homes to rent for the baseball season.

In January, Royals players that don’t live full time in KC begin looking for houses to rent for the season.  The Major League Baseball (MLB) season typically spans April to October (assuming the Royals make it to the playoffs!)  Spring training games begin in early March so the players report in late February.  This means they need to start looking for a home to rent in January.  As a result, we have been getting a lot of calls from out of town Royals players!

We enjoy showing the players homes… because we are fans.  We even have a staff outing to a Royals game every year.

All Star Game to be in Kansas City in 2012!
We are excited that the major league baseball All Star game will be held in Kansas City for the first since the early 1970s.  Every team in the MLB is represented in the All Star game.  This will be a week long event and will bring in significant revenue to the Kansas City economy.

Here are some important dates to have on your calendar, even if you aren’t a die hard Royals fan!
April 5, 2012
Opening Day
July 8, 2012
All-Star Sunday – Futures Game, Legends & Celebrity Softball, Kansas City (Kauffman Stadium)
July 9, 2012
Home Run Derby, Kansas City (Kauffman Stadium)
July 10, 2012
83rd All-Star Game, Kansas City (Kauffman Stadium)

Let us know if you are a Royals fan in the comments below!

We are hiring another agent! Know anybody?

The leasing market is growing by leaps and bounds.  Our phone is ringing off the hook!  To make sure that we have the capacity to take care of everyone looking for a home to lease, we need to hire another client services agent!

For a full description of this job opportunity, check out our LinkedIn job posting here.

The person that we end up hiring will be joining our two other client services agents, David and Chris, at our building at College and Metcalf in Overland Park.

If you are reading this blog article, you are either LinkedIn with one of our team or a customer.  It is our experience that some of the best hires are friends of friends, so we thought we would take the opportunity to ask if you know someone that might be interested in working with us!  It is a fast paced, team based job.  We are the largest, oldest and most award winning residential property management company in Kansas City.  In other words, a great place to work!  We say this because you need to feel comfortable referring someone you know to us.

Owner Spotlight – Artists Helping the Homeless

Kar Woo has been a client of Home Rental Services for more than a decade.  We are thankful to have his business and proud of his efforts in our community.  Kar is the President of the Not For Profit organization called Artists Helping the Homeless.  Visit their web site to learn more.

Artists Helping The Homeless is a non-profit 501c3 public charity organization that seeks to reduce the need and cost of homeless care in several ways.  The BE THE CHANGE Van provides transportation and assistance in accessing resources to get off the street.  Two meal programs, one in Kansas City, another in Olathe, each serve one night a week.  Their goal is to serve the homeless in their environment, a setting more comfortable to them.  They raise money through art to help individuals who need a new beginning.  Be sure to watch for different art events throughout the year to help raise awareness for this important cause.

We thought we would pass on the wonderful message that we received from Kar a few days ago.  It is a great lesson in celebrating the previous year while planning for the new year.  A lesson that can be applied to your personal and professional life!

For the young couple jumping freight trains that were beaten up in Kansas City, who we gave a safe place to stay, linked up with family and working with other services assisted with medical care and transportation, THANK YOU
For the businessman who developed dementia, lost his business, home and family, who we, working with the VA, assisted in getting the treatment needed, THANK YOU
For the senior in high school that aged out of foster care, who working with the school and other services we sheltered, tutored and took to school, that got his diploma and is now attending college, THANK YOU

Artists Helping the Homeless Accomplishments

• Fed 43,130 meails on Thursdays and Sundays
• Provided 7,363 rides to 1,574 people
• Assisted 83 youth in staying or getting off the street
• Assisted 33 chronic homeless get off the street
• Saved the Kansas City Community over $1,750,000 in ambulance, hospital, police and judicial fees

Artists Helping the Homeless Goals for 2012

• Open an emergency intervention center
• The center will also serve as the new headquarters

We would love to hear from you if this story has touched you in some way!  Please tell us YOUR story in the comment area below!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas! (VIDEO)

December 25th is almost here!  We started a tradition in 2010 of caroling for our best referring partners.  This week marks our 2nd Annual Carol-fest!  We went to Group O’Dell and the Koehler-Bortnick Team offices to sing carols on Monday, December 19th.  As always, it was so much fun for everyone and really helped get us in the spirit of the season.  Click on the video below to see a bit of our team singing We Wish You a Merry Christmas at the Group O’Dell offices!

Amy Evans-Colledge Celebrates Ten Years at Home Rental Services!

Every small business relies on each and every person they employ to work hard and look for more effecient ways of doing things.  Other than Kandy who started Home Rental Services, Amy Evans-Colledge has been with us the longest.  We are proud to celebrate that Amy has been with Home Rental Services for ten years as of November 2011!  What an accomplishment and we appreciate her so much!

We asked Amy to think back on when she started and what has happened in ten years.  We got a ton of great feedback, too much to put in this post, but here are the highlights:

Prior to coming to Home Rental Services, I had been working with Marriott Hotels as an Operations Manager.  After 9/11, Marriott was forced to drastically reduce their staffing and operation managers across the board. They offered me another management position, but the demanding schedule was getting to be too much while having a toddler at home.  It was time for a change and a major change is what I got!

I started with Home Rental Services in November 2001.  Back then, we managed around 150 properties and had a staff of six.  My experience from Marriott Hotels helped me contribute immediately at Home Rental Services!  In the years since, I  have learned so much from Kandy about property management, Landlord Tenant laws, Real Estate, contracts, sales, etc.   I have watched and helped the company grow to managing hundreds of properties in Kansas and Missouri.  There’s not one process  or operating system that hasn’t improved since I started.  We have new phones, new operating systems, new computers, new office space, new equipment and more staff.  The constants I have seen with the company over the last ten years have been a sincere commitment to our clients, meeting tons of great people on the owner and renter sides and a great team environment.

During my time at Home Rental Services, Kandy has watched me through a divorce, several deaths in the family, 2 moves, single parenthood, several sniffles, a remarriage, a major surgery of my 12  year old daughter, and the recent birth of my new baby boy.  We have celebrated and grieved ups and downs together personally and professionally.  I am so grateful for the people (clients and associates) I’ve come to know, for the flexibility and support from Kandy, and for being led to join the company ten years ago!

Making Sure Ten Kids Have a Merry Christmas!

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As the holidays approach, we think it is important to take a minute out of our busy schedules with family and work to give back.  We are all blessed in so many ways that it is important to remember those less fortunate.  We have a special place in our hearts for children in tough situations, so we do our best to make a difference for kids.

Each year, we partner with a not-for-profit that helps children.  This year, we have partnered with KVC to adopt ten children that normally would not receive presents for Christmas.  KVC Kansas is a private child welfare provider to Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS) of Kansas. In addition, we provide a wide array of services for children and families throughout the state including foster care, adoption, outpatient and inpatient behavioral health care.

The fun begins with an all-hands-on-deck meeting at Wal-Mart where our Home Rental Services team runs around filling shopping carts with things from the wish lists of the kids.  After the shopping is done, we go to dinner together.  This year, we all went to Cinzetti’s on Metcalf and enjoyed some great Italian food together.  After the presents are bought, we set aside a morning to wrap them together in our office at College and Metcalf.

The end result is that we are making a difference for some kids that need to be reminded that they are loved.  It is a team building experience for everyone that works at Home Rental Services.  It is also a great reminder to have perspective as the year comes to an end.  It isn’t all about presents and parties.

Tell us your stories of giving back or helping kids this holidays season in the comment section below!

EBE Office Solutions – Excited About Our New Copier!

Have you ever been in the position where your office copier/scanner is not working like it should?  We found ourselves in that position in 2011 and after months of back and forth with the vendor, we decided to end our contract and move forward with EBE Office Solutions.  (We had worked with EBE in the past and had a good experience.)

How often do you truly get more for less?  In this case, we are happy to say that is true.  The new copier is smaller, so it fits in our break room and has given us back some office space for our growing staff.  Our monthly expense is less than what we were paying before.  We don’t have to take meter reads any more… it happens automagically.  The machine does what we were told it would do and the copies look great.

We worked with Graham Brown and he really helped us through the entire process.  He helped us get the old copier contract bought out and shipped back to the leasing company.  He walked us through our contract options for a new machine and made sure that we got the features we needed… and nothing more.  His team delivered a shiny new Sharp MX-4110N a few weeks ago.  It is so nice to have a color copier/scanner that works.  Their team did on site training with our team, and their engineer set it up to work in our network properly.

We like to share the good news about the companies that we work with that go the extra mile.  We have been very impressed with EBE Office Solutions and would happily refer them to other businesses here in Kansas City!  If you have had copier woes, comment and tell us your story!