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Posts Tagged ‘find’

We were taken for a ride by a property manager we had in Toronto. His services were cheap (5% of the rent and no charge for new tenants except advertising costs). That’s real cheap, if you don’t count the fact that he was stealing rent money from us!

Before hiring him to manage our tri-plex in Toronto, I researched him a bit and learned that he was a Mom & Pop-type shop and was registered with the Better Business Bureau, but I didn’t check references or dig much deeper than that. His scam? He collected $950/month from our tenants but only told us we were getting $890!

The only reason we caught onto his scam was because we moved into the house and the tenants started paying us the rent instead of him. Imagine our surprise when the cheque was for $950, and we were expecting $890!

Looking back, we could have easily protected ourselves. Now, we want to help you prevent it. Here’s some tips:

* When ads are placed for your unit(s), get copies of the ads. Also, ask where the ads are being placed and check for the ads yourself (looking back, I had noticed an ad for our unit for $50 more than we had agreed to rent it for. I wrote him to change it, and he said he would, but now I think it was a red flag that I should have recognized).

* Ask for copies of the signed leases.

* Ask for proof of expenses incurred (always get receipts, but for larger repairs or purchases get pictures or visit the property yourself).

This may not save you completely, but had we been able to get copies of the leases or asked to see the ads, our property manager would have had a harder time stealing from us.

Searching for home furniture usually requires you to travel to showroom after showroom, thinking of new ways to say no to the pressuring salesman, wasting valuable time wandering through ranges of products that are not on your shopping list or are not in your price range. There are different pricing policies for every store – some straight out tell you the price by labeling each item, others force you to haggle with a salesmen, some will display non-negotiable prices, remember your not buying a car just a piece of furniture. You may find yourself no closer to finding that furniture item you have been looking for at the end of a exhausting long day. Surely there is an easier way to buy home furniture! The online world has changed the way we shop. You can now buy many home furniture products on the internet, in the comfort of your own home, thanks to a number of leading online retailers. An advantage to purchasing online, is the ability to quickly find your item category – no need to wander in to a large showroom and spend the next 20minutes finding what your after. Easily swap to a new retailer by clicking a button. Of course there are certain things to look out for when purchasing furniture. For example, it you take delivery of a product and it is not what was resembled online, what can you do? It is important to ensure your dealer has a proper return policy, for this reason. It is also important to check shipping policies so you are protected if the item arrives broken or damaged, just in case it happens you can have the issue resolved quickly. After sales support is important in case you have an issue with your order, before placing your order check what contact methods the company provides, email, phone? If all goes well you will not need these contacts, but it is better to be prepared. Home furniture shopping does not need to lead to a day of high pressure salesman through huge furniture showrooms. You can make targeted searches to find the exact product you want, or you can browse the leading furniture websites, all this without even leaving your home. There will be no high intensity salesmen and no wasted time. There is no more comfortable way to furnish your home. Remember to check shipping prices, as furniture is a large and heavy item prices can sometimes be quite expensive. You will find though that many online retailers are able to sell their products for less than most brick and mortar stores. This is because they have fewer overheads and can afford to pass these savings on to the consumer. With the cheaper online prices, even when you calculate the shipping costs you’ll often still be ahead of most traditional retailers and you’ll still receive all the great benefits of purchasing online. So to wrap it up, shopping online for your home furnishings certainly offers many benefits over traditional furniture shopping. Why not give it a try next time you are looking to purchase that new modern piece.