The first difficulty was that it’s on busy Burnside St, near 82^nd Ave. The neighborhood did not have the best reputation, especially the areas surrounding both of these busy streets.  Furthermore, there is a bus stop right in front of the property.  That explains why the first photo in the RMLS is at a funny angle.  I insisted on taking interior photos of one unit, where friends of the owner lived, who already knew the property would be sold.  So many multifamily listings do not show interior photos, even when the listing agent has a chance to get inside.  The building had significant historical character, which I tried to show in the pictures without including the tenants’ personal belongings.  In descriptions, I focused on all the positive elements of both the building and the location (up and coming Montavilla neighborhood, near many forms of transportation and shops, garages, solid brick building, happy long term tenants wanting to stay).

Another issue was that one tenant was known to be difficult.  Armed with this information, I approached her gently and gained her cooperation most of the time.  When difficulties arose, I found a way to accommodate her needs, but in a firm way that showed her she still needed to cooperate and was not going to control the situation.  By the end of the transaction we were chatting like old friends.

The sellers being out of town, I did not consider an obstacle, but they were very relieved that I was able to handle everything without them being here.  I often sent digital photos same day, of issues they wanted or needed to know about.  Email correspondence with sellers was frequent and daily.  Phone calls were answered immediately or messages returned very shortly.