Wow.  Ten posts already!  This version is dedicated to a rash of stupid plumbing and bathroom repairs that I have recently come across.  Many of these are from North Minneapolis Real Estate, but all ends of the Twin Cities seems to be participating.

I am not sure why it is so hard to do good repairs in bathrooms.  Maybe it is because next to the kitchen, it is the most used room in the house.  I don’t know, but as you can see below, more than a few people couldn’t figure it out!  Enjoy.

Now I think I understand why the City of Minneapolis requires a special license to be a plumber in their city!

In the spirit of the upcoming election, I thought it would be fitting to spin a little political terms and political history into this week’s Carnival.  (Don’t worry, I am not going to start a long diatribe on why I am voting one way or another.  I don’t want to be the first (I think), Carnival host censored by the Carnival Admin!~)

The United States Presidential Line of Succession was first passed into law in 1792 naming the Senate Majority Leader and then the Speaker of the House as in line after the Vice President to take office.  In 1885, the President’s Cabinet was added in place of the Majority Leader and Speaker, but, in 1947, the Speaker and the Majority Leader were added back in above the cabinet.  The only other changes were to remove the Postmaster General, in 1971, from being in the succession and add the Secretary of Homeland Security to the bottom of the list in 2006.

Despite there being many, many topics discussed in this election, between Joe the Plumber and arguing about how many houses McCain owns and what Obama paid for his mansion in Chicago, this election has been lately centered around the economy with the housing crisis in the spotlight.  Seemed only fitting that the top political office awards go to those posts about that topic.

The Presidential Award goes to The Digertati Life.  As SVB (Silicon Valley Blogger) states, we often disconnect the foreclosed home (that we are excited to get a good deal on) from the family that once lived there and lost everything.  The video is especially eye opening about Foreclosure Alley’s Personal Stories of Financial Loss: The Aftermath of Foreclosure.

Toby Boyce at Saide’s Take on Delaware takes home the Vice Presidential Award for explaining the recent market collapse associated with Mortgage Backed Securities.  He puts on his Bubba Gump hat to simplify the explanation and gets Forrest’s Take on Mortgage Backed Securities.

Even after all the doom and gloom you hear on television these days about the housing market, it was amazing to have Amy Bohutinsky at the Zillow blog tell us that 32% of the people they surveyed still believed their house when up in value over the last 12 months!  Amy gets the Speaker of the House Award as she explains Strangely, “Not My House” Sentiment Continues, Albeit a Smaller Group.

The Senate Majority Leader Award goes to The Mortgage Reports Blog that explains How Cutting The Fed Funds Rate Helps The U.S. Economy.  While many people believe cutting the Fed Rate helps the economy, Dan cautions that we could be overheating it.

After that big dose of reality and the stress of watching the political coverage you need to get a laugh now and then.  Two posts gave me a smile and are worth honorable mentions.

• Purva Brown at Sacremento Real Estate Girl gave me a fright when she perfectly described a customer that I am working with right now in her post titled: Who? Me? A Monster?
• Over at Mike’s  Corner, Mike  Price talks about How To Be A Clueless Twit and Social Media Failure and how as Real Estate agents, we need to remember that Blogging and Social Media is not an immediate return.

It’s late at night as I finish up this week’s carnival post.  I suppose I am just in training for another long night of watching returns on Tuesday.

Remember:  Get out and Vote!

I try to ask lots of questions when I meet a prospective tenant.  This will usually allow me to ferret out any problem tenants or issues.

There are so many examples of interesting tenant screening discussions that I have on a monthly basis.  I thought this one was worthy of posting, not because it was funny, but for some of the subtle red flags, that I was hearing while talking to this prospective tenant.

This prospect called about a 2 bedroom apartment in an investment property in Crystal, that I own.  It was recently renovated and is priced at a below market rent of $765.

Me:
So where do you live now?

Prospect:
I live just down the block in Crystal.

Me:
Great, why are you moving?

Prospect:
The landlord is going into foreclosure and he won’t fix anything and we can get in touch with him.

Me:
How about sending him a letter with your rent?

Prospect:
Oh, we haven’t been paying rent there since March (8 months).

Me:
Really! And no one has contacted you about that.

Prospect:
Nope.

Me:
[Joking] So you should have all kinds of money saved up for the damage deposit and first month’s rent on my apartment, right.

Prospect:
No, I am going to need to get my damage deposit and probably my first month’s rent from emergency assistance.

Me:
OK…………[explained my screening process] Do you have anything on record that I should be concerned with?

Prospect:
Well, I have an eviction from 2 years ago and my credit is bad.

[Thinking to myself-I saw that one coming!]

Informal tenant screening is nothing more than carrying on a conversation with some subtle questioning.  I was just asking questions to understand more about where she lived and worked and such.  As I heard a red flag, I steered the conversation that direction.  While I did this in person, it is a great way to weed out bad tenants on the phone, saving yourself a trip to the property.