ROB ROGERS KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY CENTR

In 2008 I was a Mortgage Consultant and Air Force Reservist. As the market was crashing, I found an opportunity to purchase a rental property. I took a chance and found an inexpensive property that a family was begging me to purchase. While terrified and inexperienced about Property Management I felt it was time to secure a decent profitable future. I interviewed 10 different Property Managers and decided that I could teach myself and save the income. Many errors were made my first few years from renting to family and friends to renting to completely unqualified people. Learning from my mistakes I developed my own screening process that included deep dives of potential tenants. Becoming a firm yet fair screener. Discovering that the most important part of Renting was all about upfront diligence. As time progressed, we purchased several more properties to include a vacation rental. Once again, I meet with vacation rental companies and discovered there were less rules and restrictions and higher costs associated because it’s at the beach. I wanted to ensure profit, by using an rental management company there wouldn’t be any profit. So I learned the different avenues of how to ensure profitability. The resources were everywhere. Just had to keep accurate records and ensure complete follow-through. We have learned many things about vacation rentals. Most importantly you can’t please everyone no matter how hard we try. I joined the Army National Guard in 1992 as a Military Police Officer deploying to the Pentagon on September 11th, 2001, then Iraq in 2003. In 2005 I joined the Air Force Reserve in 2005. Went back to Iraq 2008. From 2005 through 2013 I was a Mortgage consultant. In 2013 I gave up the Mortgage world and began working at Dover Air Force base as a Federal Police Officer. While working at Dover, I accepted many new properties for those who were TDY or had a permanent change in duty station. Within a few years I was responsible for over 20 rentals. As the word traveled I was getting more and more requests for property management. Keeping expenses low, I hired a few people to help with property maintenance along with learning how to do many projects myself. Thanks to YouTube and licensed contractors I could do many projects that didn’t need a licensed contractor. Helping my owners keep expenses low and keeping our tenants happy. In 2018 I received a notification that the State of Delaware requires Property Managers who manage a property other than their own must be a licensed Real Estate agent in order to charge a fee. I quickly went through the 99-hour Real Estate course and passed the National and State Exam. Now a legally licensed Realtor and Property Manager many additional doors quickly opened. I discovered the overall need to serve the community was far greater then I knew. Many of my Military families were working with agents who didn’t understand simple terms such as PCS or TDY and needed expertise and experience to coach and guide them. This inspired me to earn an additional certification. The MRP, Military Relocation Professional. Which meant to me that my services are not only needed but a requirement to serve those who serve.