Far West Realty in Prescott discusses what really is an emergency for property managers or homeowners..
“Ring . . . Ring . . . Ring . . .”
“Hello, this is Dave.”
“Dave, sorry to bother, you at this late hour, but with all this rain, we’ve now got water coming into the basement, and it’s already a couple of inches deep.”
That call came in at a little after 11:00 p.m. A previously undiscovered landscape drainage problem had caused it.
“Ring . . . Ring . . . Ring . . .”
“Hello, this is Dave.”
“Dave, sorry to bother, you. I was almost finished moving out; just a few things left in the downstairs family room. I had just gotten back from hauling a load to the other house, and when I went in to load the things out of the family room, I found it covered in brown water. I went into the downstairs bathroom and found water flowing out of the toilet.”
That call came in just after dark as I was on my way home from work. The main city sewer line feeding sewage out of the cul-de-sac on which this home was located had clogged with roots, causing a back-up into two of those homes.
The owners of those homes both lived outside Arizona; one in Maryland, and the other in Italy. Neither was happy to hear about the damage to their property, but they surely were glad that they didn’t have to field those calls, and deal with the aftermath themselves. They were glad they had a professional property manager whom they trusted, to take care of these bona fide emergencies. Had they not had the foresight and wisdom to hire one early, the damage, head-ache, heart-ache and liability could have been much worse.
Then suppose you got a call like this:
“Ring . . . Ring . . . Ring . . .”
“Hello?”
“Sorry to bother, you, but I just flushed the toilet, and it overflowed. I’ve tried and tried to use a plunger, but it just won’t flush. I don’t know what to do. We can’t even use the bathroom!”
“Have you flushed anything unusual town that toilet today?
“Well, [sheepishly] I think my two-year-old may have flushed her diaper down it.
“I see. Well, don’t you think you should call a plumber?
Of course, this was a tenant-caused problem, and the tenant had to pay for the plumber. But, if you had gotten that call in the middle of a family birthday celebration dinner, would that have constituted an emergency, or just a simple headache? Would you relish dealing with either one at that point?
Landlords and property managers get both kinds of calls, and knowing how to deal quickly and effectively with both, protecting you, your time, and your property, is our specialty. Call Dave at Far West Realty in Prescott at 928-772-9400