BDF Realty’s Blog

  Americans demand to have their food made-to-order.  We no longer live in a culture where you eat what’s put in front of you; rather if you don’t like an ingredient and would prefer to have other ingredients instead, it is deemed socially acceptable to make the food preparer bend to your individual whims.  Burger King based a multi-million dollar advertising campaign on (and trademarked...

If you knew you were running for president someday, you’d probably do many things differently.  You may rethink all your controversial letters to the Charlotte Observer loudly demeaning the local politicians (those idiots!!); you may need their help someday campaigning on your behalf.  That Election Day when you were in the throes of a “House of Cards” marathon, scarfing down Jet’s Pizza, and...

    No one really liked Janie.  And there were a lot of reasons why.  For a teenager, she was pretty much a know-at-all.  Stubbornly obnoxious.  She would not let you get a word in edgewise.  Always right.  Rude.  Cocky.  Maladjusted.  And that was just her award-losing personality.  And physically?  Her scrawny frame, big glasses, and overflowing braces (often full of food scraps)...

  Years ago, there was a small, remote island that was relatively non-descript and unnoteworthy.  Then two multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical companies decided their business’s future hinged on acquiring it.   Why?  Its climate and soil composition was ideal to grow a certain tree that had revolutionary medicinal value.  The pharmaceutical companies needed to harvest and grow and...

    “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Theodore Roosevelt   “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Walt Kelly (Pogo)   When you’re in the property management business, many different things in houses will break.  It’s a sad reality, but it is also the reality that keeps property managers in business (so we keep our complaints to a...

    The Situation: The tenant (Mitch) has received higher-than-average water bills for the past two months.  He calls his Charlotte property manager who sends out a plumber to investigate.  The plumber says there is a pipe cracked underneath the driveway that will cost $2,500.00 to fix.   Mitch’s take on the situation: “I just rent here.  My water bill is usually $60.00/month....

    There is a potential danger lurking in your rental home.  It may seem innocuous, but it can bring lots of shady characters and dangerous ideas into your tenants’ lives.  It never sleeps, relentlessly pushing its own agenda and standards on to its unsuspecting victims.   It’s satellite TV.  And the same moral danger exists to all of us.   But, alas, we live in a...

    “All of the other reindeers used to laugh and call him names.  They never let poor Rudolph play in any reindeer games.   … then all the reindeers loved him, and they shouted out with glee (whoo-pee!).  Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, you’ll go down in history!” Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Billy Gilman   Rudolph had a tough gig before becoming a legendary Christmas...

    “Moderation in all things, especially moderation.” Ralph Waldo Emerson   Over the years as a Charlotte property manager, I’ve gotten a lot of calls from landlords who tell some version of this story:   We had placed a family of tenants into our rental home and everything was going great!  They paid on time for the first 8 months and were really a joy to interact with....

The Charlotte Hornets opened up the NBA season the other night against the Miami Heat.  For NBA fans, this is exciting stuff!  The Hornets hope to replicate some of the past success of the Heat, while the Heat are looking to find success again. How well have the Heat done in the past 5 years? 2011: Eastern Conference Champions 2012: NBA Champions 2013: NBA Champions 2014: Eastern Conference...