I have tested the new slideshows on a variety of different browsers without issue, but everyone’s setup is a bit different. If you have any problems with this feature not working properly, please let me know. I hope you enjoy the changes.

They are still interconnected, but as time goes by they might diverge somewhat. I will continue to refine the site over the next few weeks and have a similar makeover coming to the actual blog. These changes have been a long time coming and when the final product is ready it will be better for both you readers and myself alike. I hope you like what I have done so far.

*NOTE – I am still working out a few bugs in the display for Internet Explorer. Should have those worked out in the next day or so. Also, I need to work on fixing all the blog links on the site so bare with me for a few days.

In the meantime, please feel free to browse through all the listings in the St. Louis area via this already excellent feature on the site. Best of all, you don’t have to register to use the feature. However, if you do, you will be able to save listings to your own cart and have email updates sent to you when any prices changes pop up on the property. It’s a great little system. You can perform this search anytime via the  MLS Search tab (the For Rent and For Sale tabs as well) on the main menu or you can just click here to perform a search now.

In the next few weeks, a full redesign of the entire Threshold Investment Properties site is coming, along with a redesign and reactivation of the semi-dormant blog. I think it will have been worth the wait. This will also feature a variety of custom MLS searches, which will allow you to search for specific types of properties (ie. 4-family) and/or specific areas (ie. Shaw). I’ll be sure to alert all you readers when those features are active.

The old URL will continue to link to the blog, but I am in the process of remaking my company website to include dynamic property searches and this is one of the changes I needed to make for this to work. Expect postings to continue at a sporatic pace for a few more weeks while I finish these improvements to the site (and finish rehabbing my office). If you notice anything out of the ordinary with the with the site in the next week or so, please give me a heads up. Thanks for your patience.

If you own rental units, you know how tedious it can be filling your vacant units. In order to compete with all the other landlords out there, you have to be persistent, creative and ready to meet prospective tenants at the drop of a hat. Thankfully, Threshold Investment Properties is now offering a leasing service to help you fill your units quickly and with no hassle.

Take a look at what we offer with our  service:

• Professional signage and flyers
• Consultation to determine market rent value on apartments and what improvements might be cost effective prior to renting.
• Custom website specific to each apartment
• Video walkthrough of your apartment – VERY EFFECTIVE
• Custom craigslist and backpage ads updated 3 times a week (2 for backpage)
• We handle all the showing and phone calls. At a minimum, we’re always available Monday through Friday from 10am to 6pm, and Saturdays from 10am to 2pm to make sure your prospective tenants get prompt attention.
• We screen the tenants ($40 charged to tenant, which is also available a-la-carte). Screening always includes credit, state criminal, eviction report, employment and rental history checks. And we do all we can to turn these around within 24 hours.
• Facilitate the lease signing. At no additional charge we can help you put together a lease and coordinate the lease signing with you and the tenant at our office or the property. This includes making copies of leases for you and any other advice you may need.

The best part is that there is no setup fee, and the service only costs $500 per apartment. You don’t owe us anything until the lease is signed, and the rent and security deposit are in hand. Compare that to the 75% to 100% charged by other leasing companies who do half the work.

Currently, our rental website is being updated, but even in it’s current state its proven to be a big success. Check it out this example for yourself. If you currently have any vacant apartments in South St. Louis or the inner suburbs, and are interested in learning more about our service, feel free to contact me anytime at mkastner@thresholdstl.com or 314-452-3924.

Despite the sluggish economy, I find myself in a position where I can’t seem to shoulder my current workload all by lonesome. As such, I’m looking for some help. Specifically, I am looking for someone to handle leasing apartments and residential sales for me.I work with a lot of real estate investors who are fixing up buildings both for sale and for lease and the position  would involve taking care of that angle of the business as well as bringing in business of your own. I am not a residential agent or leasing specialist and I need someone with the patience, tact and sales experience to do the best job possible.

Just about all this work will be in South St. Louis and the surrounding area’s so I prefer someone with an established knowledge of the area, who doesn’t live an hour a way. Experience in residential sales is a must (and a RE License too) and leasing experience is a bonus but not required. Compensation will be primarily a commission-based system, but with apartments already lined up to rent and houses in the pipeline, pay should be steady, respectable and start flowing in almost immediately.

If you are on this site, you know the kind of tools I use in my practice and the new stuff in the pipeline is even better. If you’re looking for a change of scenery, and this sounds like something you might be interested in, give me a call and 314-452-3924.

But now I am back, caught up with work and have time to post again. I’ve got a couple of good things coming in the next few days including a look at a local project which will bring geodesic domes to the City of St. Louis. Should have mor eon that soon.

With the glut of foreclosures that are pouring on the market from the banks, it can be hard keeping track of which properties are worth your time and which aren’t. I work with this stuff full time and its still tough for me. Knowing how difficult it can be, a couple months ago I started working on a new section for this website called Investment Insider.

The idea behind it is that any South City property I go into and like, I post it up in this area. Typically these posts will include pictures, anticipated repairs, a look at the current condition, full listing information and sometimes video and financial spreadsheets. I’m still ironing out a few bugs, but happy to say things are working quite well. There is a bit of beautification and streamlining yet to go, but the system has been working well for a few weeks now so I am comfortable putting the word out.

One of the biggest hurdles I have had to overcome is password protecting this area to only allow certain users to view it. Any user is always welcome to register an account, but I needed to keep this section reserved for clients only. I don’t have the listings on these properties, so posting this information to the general public is a bit of a gray area. Not to mention the fact that it takes a lot of work and I don’t want that work out there for anyone to steal. Without a password you can’t view the page, but if you’d like to get an idea what it is like, check out the Current Listings page, which takes a very similar approach.

If you’re in the market for properties at the moment or simply want to keep up with what kind of deals are out there at the moment, you are welcome to register an account to view this area of the site. Make sure you should me a message requesting client status when you register. There is no cost to do this, but if you end up pursuing one of the properties I turn you onto, I ask that you use me as your buyer’s agent. It’s sort of an honor system thing though, there is nothing to sign.

In other site news, I am also hard at work on a new newsletter system, which will email a digital newsletter to subscribers on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Each user will get to choose. Once I get this function working for the general site, I will make a separate newsletter just for Investment Insider people to make sharing info about these properties easier for everyone involved.

Sorry for all this shameless self promotion, but after all the time I spent putting this thing together, I couldn’t help myself. As always, I welcome any feedback, whether positive or negative.

I will, however, be continually working on a property database for properties currently on the market. Some of the less promionant pages could be a little glitchy over the next week. I’m delving into come css and php programing that is a little (a lot) out  of my league, so bare with me.

One thing I will point out, however, is that I am certainly not an expert in the field of loans and financing. I’m good with numbers and such, but I always have felt that questions related to loans are better left to the specialists. The one thing I forget about sometimes is that even though I am not an expert on the subject, I am certainly not a layman. I see the trends and that’s what I will be discussing from here on out. My goal is try to post something about financing trends and news each week to keep you up to snuff. I have a few other ideas, but it will be a few weeks before I have a change to flesh any of these out. If you have and suggestions I’m all ears. In the meantime, you can see my first attempt at this effort here.

NOTE: You’ll notice that some other sections of the blog are looking a bit rough as well. I’ll still in the middle of making a few other changes, so bear with me.

If you saw the title of this post, you have probably already figured out what this endeavor will be called: Threshold Investment Properties. I will be the sole member of this office (to start with at least), but the focus will be the same as I have always had. Rental, rehab and small commercial property transactions will be the exclusive realm of what this company represents. No leasing, no management and no residential. I’ll still be down here in South City as well. The logo above is just a rough draft of the final product, but that should give you an idea of what direction I will be going with my branding. This blog will continue to get the same kind of attention it has been getting once things settle down during this transition.

For the first six weeks or so of this companies existence, I will be working out of my house and various remote locations. I have a great office space in the works, but details are still being worked out and I don’t want to jinx anything. I’m really excited about it though.

As for my soon to be former office, Investors Alliance, our parting will be quite amicable. I have loved working with everyone at the company I helped to build, but as the focus of business has shifted from sales to leasing and property management, this move has become increasingly necessary. I will continue to refer leasing and management business to them, but as of next week we will no longer have any formal relationship.

At this point this company does not yet exist, as I am still waiting for my work permit from the State. Once that happens, I should be in business after a day or so. Hopefully everything will be ready by the end of next week. Once I reach that point I truly feel that this move is really going to give me a big increase in time to spend on searching for properties and focusing on providing the best representation possible to all the clients and customers I work with.

Thanks for your continued patronage on the blog. I promise I will be getting some topic relavent posts coming real soon. Everyone have a great 4th or July.

If you’re wondering where I went, I was in California for my 10th annual St. Louis Cardinals road trip. I visited Petco Park in San Diego and Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles (we also made a brief stop in Mexico, but that’s another story). The weather was surprisingly cold and wet, but it was a blast nonetheless. Best of all, for the first time on any of our trips we went undefeated.

As I said, this trip is the 10th in an annual tradition. What started in 1999 as a road trip to Kansas City has become a highlight of my every summer. Other trips have taken us through Houston, Denver, Milwaukee, New York (Yankees), Boston, Cincinnati, Washington, Phoenix and Atlanta. There is a long way to go before I manage to see all the ballparks, but I look forward to the challenge. Thirteen down and nineteen to go.

Things should be getting back a more normal situation as the week rolls on. I have a few interesting things coming up so stay tuned. I hope everyone had an enjoyable long Memorial Day weekend.

Post edited on May 27, 2008

To those who have already been through this this year; I feel your pain. For those who will be afflicted in the coming weeks; Make sure you drink your fluids and get lots and lots of rest. I’m finally on the uphill side of this and should have regular updates again next week. Have a great weekend.