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I would like to introduce you to Ty Lane.  He has been a resident in several of our rental communities for the past 3 years.  He is truly one of the more remarkable personalities to whom I have had the pleasure of renting.  He is funny and smart and generous with his time and his talents.  In each apartment that Ty has lived, he has taken a mostly barren and dirt-filled courtyard and converted it into a lush, beautiful garden.  What has he asked for in return?  Occasionally, he'll ask to borrow a pair of scissors so that he can remove small clippings from our office garden and replant them in and around his apartment.  But, for the most part, all that he has asked for is permission to do more. 

What makes Ty's story so unique isn't his desire to live in a nice and clean environment.  The vast majority of our tenants wish for the same.  What truly makes Ty's story so unique is the passion with which he lives his life despite the challenges he has faced over the past decade and a half.  Over 12 years ago, Ty suffered a severe stroke leaving him completely unable to speak and paralyzing one side of his body.  Doctors believed he would never walk or speak again.  Ty never agreed with his diagnosis, and within 5 years he had proven them all wrong.

At initial glance, you might think he was in his late 60's, but he is only 52.  While he looks older and often feels much older, Ty has the spirit and playfulness of a man half his age.  Due to the severity of his stroke he can, at times, be quite difficult to understand; but that won't prevent him from talking your ear off if you allow him.  Although he is regularly unable to operate either of his hands or to walk without pain in his legs and back, you will often find him walking around Lakeland from his apartment to the bank to WalMart to The Agency to Big Lots, etc. ... quite slowly...  He takes the bus and he has recently applied for permission to take the Handy Bus; but on his limited income, he can only afford so many rides per month.  Therefore, he strictly limits himself to $15.00 per month in transporation costs (That's 15 one-way trips on Citrus Connection or 10 one-way trips on the Handy Bus), riding only when he feels he absolutely must.

The most important trip that Ty makes is on the first day of each month.  This is when his $623.00 S.S.I. check gets deposited into his checking account at Mid Florida Credit Union.  He gets up early, takes the bus to Mid Florida where he stands at the teller window for at least 20 minutes.  If you're in the Mid Florida lobby early in the month and need to conduct your transaction quickly, make sure not to get stuck behind Ty at the teller window.  The Mid Florida tellers know Ty very well and graciously help him set up his monthly expense envelopes (rent money, food and groceries, Walmart, Lakeland Electric, Citrus Connection, etc.), placing the exact amount of money in each envelope that Ty needs to make it through the month.  Needless to say, with only $623.00 to spend, there is rarely any money left over; but if there is any it will likely go toward his favorite hobby, gardening.

Fortunately for Ty, he recently caught a break when he received a letter from the Lakeland Housing Authority accepting his application for public rental assistance.  To the outside observer considering his obvious need, it might be of little surprise that he is eligible to receive housing assistance.  What might surprise you, however, is the fact that he had been on a waiting list for over 18 months.  This is not in any way a slap at the Lakeland Housing Authority.  I am a huge supporter of the people and the programs at LHA and the very difficult and important work that they do.  The reality simply is that there are far too many people in need of rental assistance and not enough money and organizations able to help.  The Lakeland Housing Authority and Section 8 are at the front lines of this uphill battle of providing affordable housing and payment assistance to the neediest people in our community.  The job can often be thankless and tiring, but they do tremendous and important work. 

Fortunately, the Lakeland Housing Authority is not alone in offering these essential services throughout our community.  For a list of other local organizations providing local shelter and rental assistance, please click on the following link: (Polk Rental Assistance).

So, as of August 15th, Ty Lane now receives Section 8 assistance and his rental payment is $89.00/month, which to him was like winning the lottery.  Still, if you think like me, you must be asking yourself the same question that I still ask Ty everytime I see him.  Without rental assistance of any kind, how in the world was he covering all his expenses every month?  The answer to that question is "not very easily," but he was doing it.  Fortunately, at The Agency we are blessed to work with some very compassionate and generous Landlords; and for the past 16 months we were able to place him in a couple different rental units at rental rates below market value.  Most recently he was living in an efficiency in Dixieland at $375.00/month, and his utility bill was about $50.00/month.  Subtract those dollar amounts from $623.00/month and he literally was living on $198.00/month ($2,376.00/year).  And, since he moved to the efficiency in Dixieland about 9 months ago, he never once was late with his rental payment...not once. 

I think Ty Lane is amazing, and I imagine that you probably think so, too.  But this isn't just a story about a man overcoming tremendous obstacles while inspiring others to appreciate the joy and beauty of every day life.  My primary purpose of writing this story is to encurage you to ask yourself one question and to make it a priority to help find an answer to it.  "What is wrong with our current political and economic system that we can allow someone as needy as Ty Lane to go without any rental assistance for over 18 months?"  If you can answer this question, you're smarter than me.  If you can fix it, you're smarter than most. 

If you have any thoughts or ideas, please feel free to comment on The Blog, published exclusively at The Agency.

Meanwhile, allow me to leave you with the words of my good friend, Ty Lane.  It's his favorite joke; and although it's funny, it's a little bit sad.  "I ain't got no money.  If you were a robber and I was the robbee, you would just be practicing."

In the "all-or-nothing" approach to real estate sales, the consumer has no choices and virtually no control over the transaction.  You either get "full service" or "no service".  There is nothing in between.  At The Agency, you can choose from a menu of services, and you only pay us for the services we provide, nothing more.  As a client of The Agency, you will no longer pay for services that you don't need.  Together, we will determine your individual real estate needs and objectives, and together we will decide which of our services will best help you meet those specific objectives.

As your professional real estate consultant, we will guide you through the process, not decide for you.  We will tell you our professional opinion, not sell you anything.  In the near future, the real estate consultant is going to replace the real estate salesperson, and The Agency is leading the industry in providing our clients with an improved real estate model that is consumer friendly, not commission friendly.

Initially, a small percentage like 5, 6 or 7 percent doesn't sound very significant.  Even if you calculate the actual dollar amount of a particular transaction, a $10,000.00 commission doesn't sound so high when you're selling a $200,000.00 home.  But in order to truly understand how sizable a 5% commission is, you need to take a closer look.  Many homeowners don't have more than 10% to 20% equity in their homes.  For the sake of our example, let's assume that you have 10% equity in your $200,000.00 home ($20,000.00).  If you sell your home for $200,000.00 and pay a real estate commission of $10,000.00, you will give a whopping 50% of the equity you have in your home to a real estate agent or agents.  It's your home.  You've made the mortgage payments, paid the taxes and the insurance, maintained the property and lived in it for the past 5+ years.  Doesn't it seem a bit excessive that, after a real estate agent spends roughly 90 to 120 days helping you sell your home, he/she is entitled to half of the equity in your home?  Your home is probably the biggest investment you will ever make.  At The Agency, we will never forget that.  Please stay tuned to The Blog for more information on how the current real estate model is broken.

If you were were to call a real estate agent to ask how much he/she would charge to sell your home, you would most likely hear a percentage, perhaps somewhere between 5 and 7 percent, based upon the sale price of your home.  Today's real estate commission model has become so ingrained into the American subconscious, that most real estate consumers and many real estate professionals have never even considered the possibility of another method of compensation.  “If it ain't broke, don't fix it”, right?  Well, it is broken, and homeowners are just beginning to realize it.  Fortunately, The Menu provides these homeowners with a unique listing alternative.  Stay tuned to this blog for more information on the significant differences between a real estate salesperson and a Consumer-Certified Real Estate Consultant.

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