The Winds of Change

by Jessica Hickok on December 27, 2012

MaryPoppinsI shall stay until the wind changes. — Mary Poppins

No doubt Mary Poppins was very serious about her job as a nanny.  She tended to the position with intense creativity, a passion for getting the job done and had the common sense to make sure that the children stayed in line.  The children always begged her to stay forever and she would answer them with a chilling statement of “I shall stay until the wind changes.”  Like a forceful wind, Mary Poppins came into the Banks household and never left anyone the same.

Although I do not consider myself to be Mary Poppins (I can’t sing), this movie has always been my favorite and I never realized how much I am like her.  In the movie, Mary Poppins even hires herself for the job!  Yep, I’ve been there and done that.  But more importantly I have realized that I have applied myself to my job with the same seriousness, intense creativity, passion and common sense that Mary Poppins had.  As many of you already know, there are areas of my job in property management that are quite a bit like tending to children and babysitting.  So maybe I could be Mary Poppins!

But now, the winds are changing for me too.  Granted it has taken almost 13 years for the winds to change – but nonetheless they are changing and I am leaving my post at Dizmang Properties, Inc.

I have accepted a position as the new
CEO/Association Executive
of the Greater Springfield Board of REALTORS® starting January 2, 2013.

This has been in the works since mid-November and I assure you that everything is on the up-and-up with Paul Dizmang.  In fact, he has been very supportive, almost  to the point where I think he kinda wants me to go… ha-ha! Kinda.

You see, I have been very involved with the local, state and national REALTOR® Associations over the last few years and recently have taken on quite a few projects including an area MLS Regionalization.  The work that I have done for the Associations on the committees, task forces, boards and workgroups that I have served on has granted me a whole new passion for moving Associations forward.  So naturally, when a position such as the CEO/Association Executive at the local Greater Springfield Board of REALTORS® came open, I realized that the winds had changed and I could no longer stay where I was.

While I am not leaving the REALTOR® trade, I am changing hats and will be dropping my broker’s license and will no longer continue to practice real estate and property management or teach classes as an independent real estate instructor with the Dizmang Properties School of Real Estate.  I will also be resigning as the Springfield MLS President for 2013.  I will, however, continue my work with the Missouri Association of REALTORS® as the 2013 Strategic Planning Committee Vice-Chair.  I am also going to be Vice-Chairing the Leadership Academy Advisory Board with the National Association of REALTORS®.  Both roles will play a vital part to bringing our local Springfield Association on board and staying plugged in with both the state and national organization.

This is a hard post to write because I never thought that I would be leaving the Dizmang family.  I really thought that I would be with the company for life.  The staff, clients, owners/investors, tenants, vendors and sub-contractors have made my job very interesting over the last 13 years and have taught me a lot about life.  I only hope that if you fall into one of those categories, that you go easy on Paul as he will have a lot on his plate over the next several months especially as things continue to change.  I understand that his position is not an easy one and there will be a lot of work that he will have to take on.  Quite possibly, he may even have to clean up a few messes I am leaving behind!  But he is an amazing leader and I know he will do great things because he taught me how to do the same.  Please don’t judge me for not being loyal to my mentor.  I am not leaving because I think that I can do better than Paul.  I am leaving because I have been made an offer that I cannot refuse, especially when it is something I enjoy doing.

While I have always thought of the Dizmang Properties crew as my family, I cannot end this without mention of my real family.  My husband, Ty, and my two adorable children, Jake and Collin.  They have supported me in ways I never thought possible and they are the reason of why I get out of bed every morning and work so hard.  Hang on kids… the next chapter of our lives will be better than ever!

What will come of this blog, I am not sure.  Obviously, I won’t have the crazy tenant stories to tell.  I may document some of the projects I am working on with the new position, such as the southern Missouri MLS Regionalization.  Or it may just revert back to talking about what life is like when living with Type 1 diabetes.  I am not sure, maybe it will just lie dormant for a while…

However, either way, life is pretty darn supercalifragilisticexpialidocious right now.  Wish me luck.  Or if you’re a chimney sweep, blow me a kiss.

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Lowe’s Will Sell Paint To Anyone

by Jessica Hickok on December 17, 2012

At some point, everyone thinks that they’re a painter.  Newsflash: Not everyone is a painter.  I wish someone would tell Lowe’s, Home Depot, Sherwin Williams and any other store that sells paint that not everyone is a painter.

Tenants ask me all of the time if they can paint the walls.  I breathe deep and resist stepping up on my soapbox to go into a tirade about how I think that the stores selling paint should have some sort of approval system that rivals credit checks.  Luckily, after several years, I got my ducks in a row and came up with a form for tenants when they request to paint.

This authorization form that they sign, requires them to paint in a professional manner and not get paint on the ceiling, trim, doors, light fixtures, light switches, outlets and yes it also requires them to remove any light switch or outlet covers before painting.  It’s a pretty intense form and I’m happy to share it… you will just have to leave me a comment here requesting the form and I will e-mail you a copy.  I haven’t uploaded it to the site just yet.

Now if I could just get my tenants to stop using such weird colors.

Nice work Picasso.  Thanks for not getting it on the trim, ceiling, or light switches.

 

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Angles

November 27, 2012

A pictures says a thousand words, right? So what does it say when my flip-flops are in the picture? I have been known to climb up into the craziest positions on furniture (or in this case up on the bathtub ledge) to snap a good angle of a photo that would be quite boring otherwise. [...]

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Creating Opportunities With Property Management

November 13, 2012

Sick of hearing me talk, tweet and blog about the National Association of REALTORS® 2012 Annual Conference and Expo yet?  Well if so, get used to it because more is coming later this week as a I recap the session we did.  But in the meantime, here is a quick video interview that the Conference [...]

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I Am Poor.

August 27, 2012

I’ve told you before that I’m a stickler about forms and checklists.  So it may come to you as no surprise that I have a “Tenant Request for Payment Arrangements” form for when my tenants have some bizarro excuse about why they can’t pay their rent. Rents are due on the 1st day of each [...]

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Made in America

July 4, 2012

I was completely inspired by a recent video that was forwarded to me by a friend not too long ago.  It was all about a home builder in Bozeman, Montana who built a home and every single piece of material he used was made in America.  Right down to the very last nail.Nonetheless, I’m not [...]

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You Either Have A Lease Or You Are Trespassing

June 30, 2012

After the one year term lapses on a lease agreement, it does not mean that it is a free-for-all for the tenant.  You cannot just move out without notice, pay rent late, or do whatever it is that you want.  YOU ARE STILL UNDER A LEASE. On June 3rd, I had one of my tenants [...]

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DUST IN THE WINDows

June 28, 2012

Seriously, I can’t make this stuff up.  About a year ago, I had a tenant waiting for me at the door at 7:00 am (how do these people know I come in early?!) demanding my attention to do something about the dust in his house. Maybe I hadn’t had enough coffee yet this particular morning, because [...]

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Potato-Potahtoe, Tomato-Tomahtoe, One-Month-30 Days

June 27, 2012

In the rental property management world, the word “30 Days Notice” is used so often and so interchangeably with “one month notice” that it drives me crazy when our tenants actually take the “30 Days Notice” thing literally.  Sorry, but if you give me 30 days written notice on September 1st, you do not have until [...]

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Have A Wonderful Day

June 13, 2012

OK, so maybe I am not the world’s greatest Landlord ever as I am posting this text message I received from one of my tenants.  (Not that I was ever in the running for the “Landlord of the Year” title anyway.) The tenant’s text is in gray and my response is in green.  This is [...]

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