Lease Addendum For Occupants Of Public Housing Units: Fill & Download for Free

Thanks Paul Denlinger for giving me even more impetus via the A2A to research this topic more than I already have. WARNING: this is going to be a long read and would raise more question after the answer.My original thoughts when I listened to the State of the Nation address (live) was ‘is this man crazy’ The transcript can be found here IN FULL | Read Cyril Ramaphosa's first state of the nation address Below is the quote from the address wrt the expropriation of land.This year, we will take decisive action to realise the enormous economic potential of agriculture.We will accelerate our land redistribution programme not only to redress a grave historical injustice, but also to bring more producers into the agricultural sector and to make more land available for cultivation.We will pursue a comprehensive approach that makes effective use of all the mechanisms at our disposal.Guided by the resolutions of the 54th National Conference of the governing party, this approach will include the expropriation of land without compensation.We are determined that expropriation without compensation should be implemented in a way that increases agricultural production, improves food security and ensure that the land is returned to those from whom it was taken under colonialism and apartheid.Government will undertake a process of consultation to determine the modalities of the implementation of this resolution.We make a special call to financial institutions to be our partners in mobilising resources to accelerate the land redistribution programme as increased investment will be needed in this sector.Note that CR does not mention any race group or ‘white farmers’ He does mention “land redistribution” and “grave historical injustice” this could allude to the ‘land belonging to the Blacks” I ask are we reading too much into his statement? Is“grave historical injustice” alluding to restorative justice for colonialism? Time would answer these questions.INTRODUCTION:So the answer below is my opinion - taking into account that I’m an optimist, anti communist & anti capitalist - there are other systems out there that have not been tested. Progressive Utilization Theory - Wikipedia , A Brief Introduction to the Progressive Utilization Theory (PROUT) for example. My impression could be wrong but interacting with Americans gives me the impression of a large income disparity, a large population (just under the South African population) living in poverty. On the other hand South Africa’s economic system is wanting for a name https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/4969/Truu_Wanted%281997%29_.pdf?sequence=1 & The Myth of South African Capitalism & has a really high Income disparity. Yes there are super rich & ultra poor living in close proximity. About 12% of the country pay income tax supporting the majority 78%.So I’m writing this based on my opinions of the politics & economic systems (with no name but parading as capitalism tending to have some Marxist qualities), having lived through apartheid & the new democratic South Africa.My take on Capitalism: If Capitalism was so great then this stats show the opposite. From Record 46.7 Million Americans Live In Poverty; Household Income Back To 1989 LevelsAnd from More Facts About Poverty & Policy In AmericaIf this picture is true - The blame for poverty lies on the doorstep of Capitalism.And from Google Image search: American Povertyand from Perspective | Extreme poverty returns to AmericaIn the late 19th and early 20th centuries, unfettered capitalism in the United States led to rapid economic expansion. This was characterized by widening class disparities and profound economic insecurity among the poor, a recipe that contributed to the crisis of the Great Depression.From The New Africa - Capitalist or Socialist?TWO SYSTEMSWe know capitalism in Africa. We have seen it and suffered under it.Under capitalism, the land, the natural resources and the industries, built up by the hands of the workers, belong to private owners or companies. Each owner is producing not for the public good but for his private profit. He pays as little wages as he can and wants to take as much as possible for himself.Take a capitalist who is making shoes in a factory. He is not worried about the people who are barefoot. He wants to make a lot of money and get rich. All the profit he makes comes out of the exploitation of the workers, for all value comes from labour. Capitalism means the exploitation of man by man.Maybe that’s why I’m Anti Capitalist, believing that capitalism encourages slavery to a system, for a very seldom achieved dream of acquiring wealth through innovation & hard work, while keeping the privileged in power (& wealth). It encourages selfishness instead of altruism just to climb that social & economic ladder. I believe that it is more ‘EVIL’ (yes I know a thing cannot be evil) than the ideals of Marxism, although I do not think that Marxism is the best possible solution.This introduction was meant to set the tone with regards to the misconceptions regarding economic systems & spoke a lot about economics that alludes to the associated politics. This needs to be understood in relation to the citizens of our beautiful country & the trials they have experienced through apartheid & post the Madiba period.ANSWER DETAILS:So Why is President Cyril Ramaphosa proposing the expropriation of white farmers' lands without compensation? I first ask if this perception regarding “white farmers' lands” is true?Although I believe that CR is the best president we could have after Madiba, the following points or a combination of both could be the answer to the question.Money / wealth, some people have suggested that similar to JZ, a capture of state funds could be on the agenda although this does not seem likely as CR seems to be a person that realises that killing the ‘gold egg laying goose’ would be counter productive to capturing the wealth.Political Ploy, (more likely reason) note the following political parties EFF: Economic Freedom Fighters & Inkatha Freedom Party that demand the expropriation of land. Below I expand on the reasons for this.The EFF is the unwanted child of the ANC. They hold a large support base especially among the poor of the country. From Economic Freedom Fighters - WikipediaAccording to a dated November 2013 Ipsos survey, the party's supporters are younger than average, with 49% being younger than 24, overwhelmingly black (99%) and mostly male, with women representing only 33% of the support base. A disproportionate number of supporters live in Malema's home province of Limpopo (28%), while only 1% live in KwaZulu-Natal, a more populous province.The party was expected to make an impact in the 2014 general election, taking between 4 per cent and 8 per cent of the national vote. This was potentially enough for the party to hold the balance of power in provinces where the governing African National Congress was in danger of losing its absolute majority.In fact, the ANC retained its absolute majority, but the EFF moved into third place, surging past the shrinking Inkatha Freedom Party, with a 6.35% share of the vote to the IFP's 2.40%.Now the EFF’s driving agenda is the expropriation of land without compensation & therefore believe that he maybe wants to bring that lost child, the EFF under control & could therefore be strategic use of words to rope them in. Below is a quote from EFF: Economic Freedom FightersExpropriation of land without compensation for equitable redistribution.1. The EFF’s approach to land expropriation without occupation is that all land should be transferred to the ownership and custodianship of the state in a similar way that all mineral and petroleum resources were transferred to the ownership and custodianship of the state through the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) of 2002. The state should, through its legislative capacity transfer all land to the state, which will administer and use land for sustainable-development purposes. This transfer should happen without compensation, and should apply to all South Africans, black and white.2. Once the state is in control and custodianship of all land, those who are currently using the land or intend using land in the immediate will apply for land-use licences, which should be granted only when there is a purpose for the land being applied for. Those applying for licences will be granted licences for a maximum of 25 years, renewable on the basis that the land is being used as planned. The state should, within this context, hold the right to withdraw the licence and reallocate the land for public purposes.3. State custodianship of land will mean that those who currently occupy land should apply for licensing to continue using the land and should clearly state in the application what they want to use the land for over a period of time. Under this legislation, no one should be allowed to own land forever, because those who have money can, over time, buy huge plots of land and use them for counter-developmental private purposes, such as using land as game farms. A maximum of 25 years can then be placed on all land leases applied for by private corporations and individuals, with the state retaining the right to expropriate in instances where the land is not used for the purpose applied for.4. In line with the Freedom Charter and a new vision of agrarian revolution, the state should also provide implements and related extension services to help those who work the land to use it productively. Furthermore, the state’s procurement of food should prioritise small-scale farmers so that small-scale farming becomes a sustainable economic activity for the majority of our people. The state must buy more than 50% of the food for hospitals, prisons and schools from small-scale farmers in order to develop small-scale agriculture.5. Food production, packaging, transportation, marketing, advertising, retail, and trade should constitute one of South Africa’s biggest economic sectors. With a growing global population, and the growing capacity of Africans to buy food, South Africa needs to produce agricultural output through provision of subsidies to small-scale farmers, and open packaging and retail opportunities for these farmers.6. A structured state support and agricultural-protection mechanism should be applied to all food products, including beef and other meats’ production and processing. The same applies to fruit, maize, and other essential food items produced by small-scale farmers. To boost sustainable demand domestically, the South African government should pass legislation that all the food bought by government for hospitals, schools, prisons, and the like should be sourced from small-scale food producers. This in itself will create sustainable economic activity, and inspire many young people to go into food production because there will be income and financial benefits to boost other economic activities out of it. The economy of food production needs well-structured protection mechanisms and subsidies in order to protect jobs and safeguard food security. Most developed and developing nations are doing the same.7. With a clearly defined and well-structured mechanism, South Africa, which is, oddly, a net importer of food, can realise the development of the food economy in a manner that exceeds Brazil’s. This will add sustainable job creation, not the kind of short-term jobs created through infrastructure development. This will, of course, require land reform to be expedited and water supplies to be guaranteed for the sustainability of the this important sector of the economy.Notice that Julius Malema doesn’t discriminate on race groups when he talks about land expropriation of land without compensation. He talks off all the land belonging to the government - Wait, what - is this not Communism?The poverty, created by apartheid & the economic systems (then & now) in play have encouraged this feeling.Now I’m sure that CR being a business man (vs JZ a warrior / soldier) understands the implications of “expropriation of ‘white farm land’ without compensation”Increased poverty.Food shortage.Smaller tax base.etc.would hurt his & South Africa’s pockets & stomachs. Would he go down this road. Others have already answered by unpacking the situation / history of our neighbour Zimbabwe. I’m not going to expand on that here suffice to say that I believe that CR seems intelligent enough to have learnt the lessons from that ongoing episode & not take us down that route.The other issue with “expropriation of ‘white farm land’ without compensation” is related to the Black Economic Empowerment - Wikipedia & the way it is exercised here in South Africa, is throwing the individual into the deep end of the pool without any lessons or life jacket. These individuals are destined to fail & the past 20 years have proven this fact. There must be a transition phase that includes the appropriate training & mentoring for Black Economic Empowerment - Wikipedia to work in any meaningful way. “Expropriation of ‘white farm land’ without compensation” would just drive the Mentors / experts away, setting up the Beneficiaries of redistribution for failure. We can see this happening to RDP housing, where the Beneficiaries sell their houses or just not maintain it etc.That is creating Beneficiaries without Empowering them ——- a major failure of the South African Government since democracy. Hopefully our current President Cyril Ramaphosa realises this & not walk the road Zimbabwe has.The rest of his Sate of the Nation Address seemed very positive —— But we the People of South Africa are really really tired of text based narratives & want action plans put into place ASAP.Addendum:What is to happen to me a South African of Indian heritage, who’s ancestors where brought here as indentured workers (read as slaves) - I was not white enough for privileged under apartheid & not black enough for privileged under democracy & the B-BEEE system in place? Are they going to take my land away without compensation?EDIT 1:Interesting narrative here: Is there a future for the EFF in S. Africa after Zuma? and How much has the EFF changed the nature of SA politics?When you read this EFF: Economic Freedom Fighters - “Notice that Julius Malema doesn’t discriminate on race groups when he talks about land expropriation of land without compensation. He talks off all the land belonging to the government - Wait, what - is this not Communism?”Note that the actions of the EFF is contrary to their written stance on Land grabs & the racist words of their leader.EDIT 2:Thanks to Henri Burger for this Why expropriation without compensation is incompatible with economic growth another good read.

Get rid of them, if I can't find a way to sell them at a decent price, and if I can find a way to eliminate them that the owners will go along with.I'm serious.The same law of supply and demand that means you have to pay $175 to $300 per night for a mediocre room in a mediocre hotel in, say, New York or Boston, where scarcity of hotel rooms occurs naturally, also turns around to bite us in the butt when scarcity is . . . well, scarce.So, I'm going to create some scarcity - even if I do it by letting some rooms go empty.I might have an older 125-room property, for example, that was built in the '70's.(Back in the day, that many rooms was about average size, maybe a little below average. Now, it's too big. Most hotels built nowadays have sixty to eighty rooms. Someone figured out, over the years, that that size makes more sense. If it turns out - and it usually does - that contrary to your rosy revenue projections on your mortgage loan application, once your new property opens, you can actually rent only forty to fifty rooms a night most nights, then you're not carrying an increased debt load on the extra forty to sixty-five rooms that you're not renting.)I can rent around 40 of those rooms per night at around $65.00. I may fill it completely maybe three nights per year, during big events like graduation or homecoming for the local college, or a Watchtower convention in a nearby arena.But on most busy weekends, I can rent maybe sixty to seventy rooms. So, obviously, in that location, I don't need more than 60 to 72 rooms.Over the years, I have seen some very stupid things done to rent the extra rooms. Like cutting rates. Or engaging in "Don't let anyone walk away" marketing. Or renting them at weekly rates to SRO's - essentially, converting the hotel to a slum. (A slum, according to our old friend Jane Jacobs [The Death and Life of Great American Cities: Jane Jacobs: 9780679741954: Amazon.com: Books ], is by definition a place where people live because they have no choice [Page on meyersnave.com ].)I've heard it said, the big problem with hotels and motels as an investment isn't overbuilding, it's under-demolition. I agree. People who cut rates, or do "Don't let anyone walk away" marketing, are the reason why, and it shows in the hotels they run.Let's do a little hotel math, here:First, if you have an older hotel or motel, you are much better off renting 40 rooms at an average rate of $60.00 per night than you are renting 60 rooms at an average rate of $40.00 per night. Either way, you're going to get the same $2400 in room revenue, but the extra bodies in the other twenty rooms aren't doing you any good. They're just adding to your variable costs - your housekeeping, your utilities, your food if you offer a free breakfast - and devaluing your product and making your overall marketing more difficult. If lowering your rate will get you enough extra, good customers that your increased total revenue is more than your added, total, per-room costs; then okay, it's a good move. If not - as is usually the case - then don't do it.Second, about $60.00 to $65.00 per night is as low as most older, modest hotels and motels can set their rates, and still cover their costs and stay on top of their housekeeping and maintenance needs, and give the owners a reasonable profit. (With many owners, if they have to choose between keeping up their housekeeping and maintenance, and making a good profit for themselves, guess what they're going to choose?)Don't believe me? Go to TripAdvisor, pick a town or city you'd like to visit, select a date a week or two in the future, and when you get the list of available hotels, click the drop-down 'Sorted by' tab and rank them by "Price (low to high)". Then scroll down until you find a hotel with a bubble score of 3.5 out of five or more. (We'll use Parkersburg, West Virginia, as an example: Hotels in Parkersburg .) The rate will be close to my $60-to-65 magic number (that Red Roof Inn in Parkersburg came in at $67).Exceptions are possible in the case of an older property that's been under the same ownership for so long that it's paid for, or that has an old mortgage loan whose monthly payments were negotiated in a year when its rates were much lower, before inflation did its power and magic and the mortgage payment gradually became a smaller and smaller part of the property's total revenue. Exceptions can also occur when the owner got such a good deal buying the property that, after necessary renovations, he can go a little easier on the rate and still get a return.But generally, no matter where you go, if you're paying less than $60.00 per night, you're inviting an unpleasant encounter with housekeeping, maintenance and/or security problems. Asking for it. Begging for it. Cruising for it. As in, go tell your story to TripAdvisor, where someone might care, because I don't want to hear it. You brought it down on your own head and don't have my shoulder to cry on about it: I tried to warn you, you wouldn't listen to me, so forget you.The average rate for 'the cheapest decent hotel in town' in all of the markets we've evaluated is $58.52 (and many of those markets are ones where we wouldn't want to put an economy hotel, but it was only after evaluating the market that we could know that with any certainty - so that brings the average down a bit). We define 'the cheapest decent hotel in town' as the lowest-priced hotel in any city or town that has a TripAdvisor bubble score of 3.5 or more. (We defined it so precisely because we're planning to use it as an advertising tagline for a new economy brand we're developing - Calico Inns - Beechmont Hotels Corporation - and intend to communicate that we're serious about it; that you can see, either we're doing it or we're not, and that you can hold us to it.)A hotel with that score is maybe older, maybe beginning to show its age, but is kept up well, run well, and managing its problems. A hotel with a bubble score of 2 or less out of 5 is a bottom-feeder property. A hotel with a bubble score of one or one-and-a-half is still open at all only because the health department, fire department, or police department in that city has more pressing things to do than to pay it an visit and take a look around for code violations or evidence of criminal activity.I'm not going to cut my rate below $60.00 (maybe a little lower if I can maintain the property well, and rent rooms at maybe fifty or fifty-five bucks and still get a return). Because if lowering my rates does increase my demand, most of that increased demand will occur only among a market segment that considers a hotel room a discretionary purchase: local people. People from the surrounding town who have a date and need a place to have sex - and those are the most respectable in the bunch (provided, of course, that they fornicate quietly and only with consenting adults, pay the bill, don't trash the room, don't have a lot of people over, and don't go wandering the property all night). The 'hot pillow' trade. The party animals, the drunks, the druggies, the prostitutes and their takers, the criminal element. People who don't go to bed at night - and who have lots of late-night visitors. The hellraisers. Basically, the kind of people that good customers who are willing to pay you $60 to $65 per night for a room will gladly pay twenty to fifty bucks a night more at another hotel instead, because they don't want to be around the kind of people you'll be getting if you drop your rate lower than sixty bucks.What "Don't let anyone walk away" marketing gets you is people that you can't run off fast enough.(Want to try it with your hotel? It'll get you an average of fifty rooms a night -- if you drop your rates to $39.95 per night -- and a TripAdvisor bubble score of 2.5, if you put people on your own staff and their friends writing bogus, glowing reviews from time to time without getting caught. You'll be averaging 24 police calls to the property per month, and have several major crimes, including two rapes and at least one homicide [one other guy was found dead in a room under suspicious circumstances, but could not definitively be ruled a homicide], occur on your property in a four-year period, if you can get away with it that long. That's exactly what happened to the last hotel I saw do it. To give their dipstick corporate management company some credit, they did take care to keep up their housekeeping and maintenance carefully -- resulting in an annual loss of $150-200k per year to the hotel's investors for the last three to four years before it was sold . . . for half its original asking price . . . and only after the investors agreed to take back a note from the new owners. That property's housekeeping supervisor could have done a better job of running it than the prior corporate management. How do I know that she could? Because she already has. When the new owners took over earlier this year, they made her the general manager, despite her lack of management experience, and she's already done an impressive job of turning it around (their TripAdvisor bubble score is back up to 3.0 now [Innkeeper - Winston Salem South ] and climbing). Of course, I did advise and coach her a little, partly because she's a friend, I like her, and I want her to succeed; and partly because I want to see its former corporate management embarrassed and humiliated when it becomes clear to all that their one-time 'maid' does a better job of running that hotel than they ever did.)By setting my rates too low, I would not only be lowering the perceived value of my product, I would be lowering the actual value of it. I'd draw a clientele that would scare off any good customers that I could get. I wouldn't be able to keep up my property properly on that kind of revenue, and it would deteriorate. Forget it. I'm not going to do it.If you're buying or selling a hotel or motel, one of the most commonly agreed upon rules of valuation is a multiple of gross room revenue (GRR). The magic number is usually three - 3xGRR. If I'm willing to pay more than that to buy a hotel, it's because I'm considering a property with a good history and an upward revenue trend (as in, I want to see the gross for the last three or more years, and it needs to be increasing every year, not declining), that is in pristine condition, with high barriers to entry; perhaps because I want that particular property and I'm willing to pay a premium. I'll happily buy one for less - maybe 2.5 or even 2xGRR - but at 2xGRR or below, I'm going to want to make sure the problems I'm probably buying are worth having and that I can solve them. 2xGRR is like buying a $500 car: anything that runs at all is worth that much, but you're probably buying a vehicle that's on its last leg, someone's mechanical problems. Likewise, you can always get a good deal on a leaky boat.The lower my property is grossing per year in room revenue, the less it's worth. And if most of my revenue is eaten up by my costs, it's going to be worth even less (and as we noted, lowering your rates is a good thing only if it increases your total revenue by more than the total amount it will increase your per-room costs). If I'm not bringing in enough to keep up my property, it's going to lose value by any measure and become worth even less than that.So, now my pride and arrogance has me sitting on a bunch of empty rooms. If I can't sell them . . . what to do with them?Ideally, I want to sell the rooms, not bulldoze them or use them to store junk furniture and maintenance supplies. That's my job.To too many people who think they are hotel sales and marketing geniuses, however, it's all about sell, sell, sell. (The smarter, more professional ones tend to be employed at pricier properties, which might have something to do with the reason why the pricier properties are more pricy.) That's where you get the unsustainably low, $42 per night rates, the "Don't let anyone walk away" marketing, and the look-the-other-way approach to bad behavior by guests who shouldn't even be allowed to rent there.And they rent a few more rooms, but with the consequences that I've described, destroying any value that their property may have ever had in the process.(Want to do it with your hotel? It'll increase your revenue by about 17% -- for the first year. At the end of that year, your TripAdvisor bubble score will have plunged from a 3.5 to a 2. At the end of the first quarter of the following year, your room revenue will be less than that you had during the corresponding quarter from two years ago, your franchise reservation contribution will have plunged from twelve to maybe three percent, nearly ninety percent of your business will be walk-ins and local people, you'll have lowered your rate by ten to fifteen percent because that's the only way you can sell any rooms at all, and there's no way your end of the year revenue is going to match that from the end of the year two years ago. That's exactly what happened to the last hotel I saw do it. By the numbers - 3xGRR if it were in good condition - it's worth about two million. But it's not in good condition: it needs a couple million in renovations. And the numbers are irrelevant, because it has very few customers left that I'd want to keep after I'd shut it down for a few months, renovated, and made the investment in repositioning it. So, what's that hotel worth now? Do the math: c'mon, it's basic grade school subtraction, two million minus two million, any number at all minus itself, what do you get?)It's my job to sell the rooms, but first it's my job to preserve - and increase - the value of your property. If your property loses its value, you've got nothing to sell.So, I try to approach hotel sales and marketing a little more intelligently.Needless to say, that property is going to be squeaky clean, I'm going to be more anal than Leona Helmsley at her worst about maintenance and security; and if I could get Anthony Melchiorri to come out and look at it (Hotel Impossible : TV Shows : Travel Channel ), I'd like to dare him to find anything wrong there. I'll take any criticism he has to offer. Just find one. Bring it!I'll run a promotion - on more or less a permanent basis - that gives you ten bucks a night off the cost of a room if you donate five bucks to a local charity or non-profit. This gets the local non-profits and their supporters referring business to me.If, out of those 125 or so rooms, I only have 70 or so that I can rent for around sixty to sixty-five bucks, those are the ones that'll be offered for rent. The others will be blocked until I can renovate them one by one out of revenue and make them worth close to seventy bucks per night. There's my artificial scarcity, and no one gets a bad room.Or, I'll combine two of those rooms and make suites (Michael Forrest Jones's answer to Why can't many hotel suites, including presidential suites, be booked online? How often do they actually get used, and by what types of people? ). Residence Inns sell one-bedroom suites at a rate in the $150-200 range. Candlewood sells them for something around $120 to $150. How would you like one for several days at a rate around an even hundred?Jacuzzi rooms, whirlpool rooms, or waterbeds? Get out. What kind of business do you think I'm pursuing? Want to check in, maybe with the wife and kids, in the room next to one? If I find one in an existing property, it comes out. You want it, come get it: offer me something - dinner at McDonald's, a couple packs of smokes, anything - and bring a truck to haul it off. If not, it's still coming out. With a Sawzall, if need be.If I don't have refrigerators and microwaves in all my rooms, I'll price the ones that do have refrigerators and microwaves a little higher. If you want one, you'll pay an extra ten bucks for a room that has one - unless you're staying more than one night. People staying in town for only one night usually eat out anyway (unless they're local, in which case they just use them to keep their beer cold). People traveling on business, or families, who stay several nights and don't want to spend a lot of money doing it, and who pick up a few re-heatable items at the nearby supermarket, are who in-room refrigerators and microwaves are for, so we want them to have one.I'd structure my pricing so that you automatically - without having to ask for it - get a twelve to fifteen percent discount if you book for a stay of three or four nights . . . or a discount of twenty percent if you stay for a week. (After all, you're doing something for me in return: you're reducing my housekeeping costs. Every three days or so, I'd send the room attendant around to change out your towels, empty your trash and vacuum: it'll take her an entire ten minutes. And every week, you get your linen changed. So, I don't mind sharing the savings with you.)I'd rent to local people: their money spends the same as anyone else's -- so long as they're willing to pay full price. (No discounts of any kind. Period. For you, it's always going to be the same price, no matter who is the clerk on duty. Negotiations are over.) And, of course, behave themselves. While 85 to 90% of your problems come from local people, 85 to 90% of your local people give you no problems. You just have to deal assertively and conclusively with the ten to fifteen percent who do. (Screw up just this much and you're out of here, permanently. For whatever kind of offense - even answering back to a clerk -- and I'm not going to mediate or overrule: when I'm not here, the clerks run the hotel, you don't. If I wouldn't want my 11-year-old niece sleeping alone in a room next to one we put you in, you are not getting a room here. If following our rules is a problem for you, and you want to try your luck at a motel up the street, fine, I'm not going to allow my hotel to be or become dependent upon that type of business, anyway; and you'll be a walking advertisement for us: any decent customers there who see you acting the way you do will stay with us next time so they won't have to be around people like you. End of negotiation.) Watch that ten-to-fifteen percent figure get lower and lower over the coming months.I'd negotiate as many corporate and group accounts as I could: I'm giving up some discounts here, but what I'm getting in return is business volume.In summary, if I let you have a room for forty-five or fifty bucks a night, it's because you're someone I want there at forty-five or fifty bucks a night; not just anyone who staggers up to the door because I'm so desperate that I have to rent the rooms cheap, and am willing take anyone that shows up even if I can't count on them for much more than to tear the place apart or scare off my other guests.A big, very important, part of marketing is not only building your customer base, but shaping and sculpting your customer base.But if I can't get a decent price for the rooms, then some of them are just going to have to go already, and that's that.Keeping them in inventory is a cost factor if you're only going to rent them maybe three nights a year on big annual events. They're still going to have to be supplied with some level of utilities. Heat will have to be provided in the winter to keep the pipes from freezing. If they get too hot in the summer - especially in a high-humidity climate - they're going to be mold and mildew prone. If they're not ventilated, they're going to get all musty. They'll even need housekeeping: a room attendant will have to go through them once a week to dust everything, flush the toilet to keep a disgusting ring from forming in the bowl, and maybe squirt down the vanity top, sink and shower.So, they have to be converted into some other use.Corporate office space is always an option. No hotel company's corporate office space needs to be more than 5000 square feet or so, about the size of a good-sized house. Any hotel company that needs even that much has at least one hotel with a vacancy problem. It doesn't even have to be in the same town: electronic communication and cheap, sometimes free, long distance service make it a telecommuting option and assures daily visits from people who'll let you know it in a hurry if a property is in a decline. I'd locate back office functions, sales and marketing, and multi-unit managers' offices in such facilities.Leasing some converted room bays as office space is an option, if they're on a low floor, or convenient to the entrance of the property. I'd try for people who run some sort of solo practice and do not do a lot of business with the public, where in-and-out traffic is minimal and signage requirements are minimal if non-existent.You can fit up an individual, 12-by-24-foot room bay to make the perfect size office for a one-person shop, or you can combine several. (Since many older properties have load-bearing walls between rooms, I'd be careful if, and where, I put new openings in them; especially if it's a midrise property. I once contemplated doing just that in a five-story motel and my architect friend warned me, "I'd want an engineer standing there while I'm doing it.")Retail space frequently doesn't work in a hotel even when it's located in purpose built space. I have seen a hair salon, located in a set of converted rooms, that did. The important thing to remember if you're in a spot where the rooms are easy to get to and can be converted for this use is tenant selection: you want people who can draw their customers to their space, not people who are going to rely upon traffic from your hotel.Even the iconic Plaza Hotel in New York has converted several floors of its former rooms to apartments (Inside an Apartment in the New Plaza | Pied a Terre | The Plaza ), so there's certainly no shame in that (Historic Motel Converted to $5.7M Low-Cost Housing; Downtown Sears Building on the Market | NewLife Homes, Inc. ). You lease the space, you have steady income, and you don't have to worry about housekeeping. To do it right, however, requires some work, care and investment (17.400.080 Hotel and Motel Conversions ). Your apartments need to be a minimum of two room bays - 576 square feet - because you're not turning your rooms to SRO's (more to come on that one and what I think of them). Screen your tenants carefully: you want to collect the rent promptly when it's due, and your guests will see them most every day. (Unless you're providing a separate utility hookup to each of your new apartments, you will be renting them utilities included, so keep that in mind when you verify income, credit and employment. I'd also do a background check.) Your rent will be a little on the high side, especially if you offer them utilities included, or furnished, and allow them the use of the hotel's facilities such as the pool or fitness room. Each apartment rental will be an individually negotiated transaction, not to be confused with a room rental.Interior Spaces, Features and FinishesI'd be very hesitant - indeed, possibly quite recalcitrant - about single room occupancy; renting to people by the week who have no permanent address elsewhere. Remember, you're trying to turn around your hotel, not bring about its ultimate decline. If I rented to people by the week at all, I'd certainly not allow them a leasehold interest: they'd sign off on a registration card like any hotel guest, with the addendum that This is a licensed lodging facility and the laws governing hotels apply. I acknowledge that I acquire no leasehold interest here, regardless of the length of my stay..., etc. We actually got hauled into the local landlord-tenant court in a cheap property in Connecticut by a weekly renter who got behind on his rent - and who habitually left a small child alone in the room every day so we couldn't lock him out. Well, one day, he took the kid with him, and we applied the lockout - and got served with a summons a few days later. Fortunately, we showed up with a copy of our business license and it was quickly resolved, but we should not have needed to make the trip. Another problem you're going to have with SROs, even the more respectable ones, is the "one missed paycheck away from homelessness" syndrome - or in this case, the "two days out of work with a cold or flu away from homelessness" syndrome. (The $250-300 per week rent you're charging them is much of the reason why. Anyone who can spend that much of their income on rent and still save ahead isn't going to be staying there long, anyway - they'll find a place to live where they don't have to live in one room, can rent by the month, and don't have to pay out so much of their income in rent.) Eventually, anyone who spends that much of their total income renting a room by the week is going to fall behind, and you have a tough decision to make: do you let them slide, knowing they'll probably never catch it up? Or do you throw them out in the street (along with maybe an ill spouse, one or two kids, and pets) after you've bled them dry with your high weekly rental rate? Could you do that, and go home at night and feel good about yourself?Forget about unit ownership. I have never seen a hotel sell its rooms - without, before, or after converting them to apartments - as condominiums without having serious problems at some point. Even the Plaza in New York rolled out its apartments in 2007 at a price higher than people were willing to pay, even though they were intended and designed for the wealthiest of the wealthy. Even with purpose-built condos and co-ops, you're in another, entirely different field of management. Because ownership is, by definition, permanent; you increase the odds of getting into a situation that can be resolved only at catastrophic cost. Any hotel manager can manage apartments and collect rents. Not all of them have the transferable skills appropriate to condominium management. Chances are, your hotel is an older one, which you'll be converting to more modest apartments or office space, so unit ownership will probably be good for much more grief and aggravation than it can possibly be worth.Do this right, plan your tenant selection so that those who show up will add to the ambiance of your hotel rather than detract from it, and you can add to the value of the hotel as a hotel business. But you have to plan it carefully.You can't just let the extra rooms sit there.Thanks for the A2A. Sorry it's late, but as you can see, it took awhile and I started having fun with it.

Angela, thank you for your question.I understand where you are coming from totally.Agents are compensated for their expertise and time in assisting Sellers and Buyers in real estate transactions. The agent (Buyer) of your home should deserve compensation because he/she (as the Buyer) would still be assisting you with the whole transaction process. Unless you are representing yourself as well as the Agent Buyer with the whole process like; in writing your own contracts, negotiating, processing your own paper works, dealing with inspectors, lenders, escrow companies, termite companies, arranging for repairs, tracking the transaction process to stay on top of things, dealing with City or County inspectors….etc…then perhaps you have a valid reason to not pay. Agents are trained professionals however and it’s worth taking advantage of their skills to help you through your process.It is common for agents to apply their commissions towards either their down payment or closing costs when buying a home. This is not public knowledge, so I don’t expect you to know.There is a belief that agents don’t do enough to justify their commissions and rightly so in my opinion. The reason for that is because agents don’t advertise ALL of the things they do for their clients every time they go out to show homes or take listings. So, I’m here to debunk the belief.Agents are trained professionals just like ANY trained professionals in their respective jobs. Some professionals receive W2 wages while others, like for instances Real Estate Agents, gets paid in commissions. Agents are compensated for their expertise and all that is they do in real estate in assisting clients, in making sure that:Their transaction goes smoothly and completedThat all the right documents are completed, processed, and disseminated properlyThat nothing about the sale of the home comes back to haunt you in the future in the form of lawsuits.Agents work 60 hours weeks and do many duties that the public don’t realize they do because a LOT of what they do is usually done behind the scenes. To put this in perspective, here’s a list. It’s very comprehensive as you can see but I feel it warrants highlighting.Pre-Listing (before taking a listing)Property InformationTitle searchMLS search for COMPS ( similar homes sold)Active listings searchPending listings searchCancelled and Withdrawn listings search - for last 3-6 months (depending on market activities, hyper or slow)Search for withdrawn listings that ended up being rentedSearch for Listings that fell out of escrow and re-listedSearch for Listings that fell out of escrow and withdrawnAverage listing market days searchAverage sold market days searchAverage listing to sold dayssearchAverage listing to pending days searchAverage pending to sold days searchThese are typically things agents do before they even secure a listing, and they may not even get the listing.I like to include in my searches the following:Demographics searchAverage median family income searchMost used mortgage type search for the zip code the home is located inWhy?The demographic search provide information on what the dominant demographic is for that specific zip code. This gives an agent an educated idea as to who would most likely be the ideal buyer for the house.Search for the median family income. This search gives the agent an idea on how much home a Buyer from within the zip code can buy. This information gives the agent a sense of where the listing price of the home needs to be at. I try to keep it in line with the affordability range for the zip code.Search for the “most used mortgage type” . This search allows the agent to foresee as to the type of Buyer/s that would most likely be making offers on the home and what type of loan the offer would most like have.Having insight into these aspects prepares the agent for the types of negotiations he/she might expect to be engaging in.Here are more duties that agents perform as part of their occupation norm.Listing presentation - prepare and gather informationSet listing appointment & presentation with sellerConfirm listing appointment - call or email.Review property tax roll information.Neighborhood Drive - check neighborhood activities and traffic impact"Comparable Market Analysis" (CMA) - prepareObtain copy of subdivision plat/complex lay-out.Property's ownership and deed type - research and verify.Lot size and dimensions - research public recordLegal description - research and verify.Land Use - Deed restrictions- and Codes - researchLand Use and Zoning - researchOwnership Verification - research public property records.Prepare listing presentation packageEvaluate exterior Curb AppealCompile and assemble formal file on property.Confirm current public schools and explain impact of schools on market value.Review listing appointment checklist to ensure all steps and actions have been completed.Present Listing Presentation to SellerGive seller an overview of current market conditions and projections.Present CMA Results To Seller, including Comparables, Solds, Current Listings and Expireds.Offer pricing strategy based on professional judgment and interpretation of current market conditions.Discuss goals with seller to market effectively.Explain benefits of Multiple Listing Service.Explain the work the brokerage and agent do behind the scenes and agent's availability on weekends.Explain importance of agent taking and screening calls to protect seller privacy.Present and discuss marketing plan.Explain agency relationships.Explain the Listing ContractSecure seller's signature.Assess property condition - does it have deferred, if so whats the planProperty Under Listing Agreement - perform full Agent inspection and verification of informationsReview current title profile.Measure interior room sizes.Confirm lot size via owner's copy of certified survey, if available.Note any and all unrecorded property lines, agreements, easements.Obtain house plans, if applicable and available.Review house plans and make copy.Order plat map for record keepingDiscuss and Prepare showing instructions .Obtain current mortgage loan(s) information: companies and loan account numbers.Verify current loan information with lender(s).Discuss all financing options.47. Review current appraisal report if any.48. Gather Home Owner Association information.49. Verify Home Owner Association Fees with manager - mandatory or optional and current annual fee.50. Order copy of Homeowner Association bylaws51. Request and and retain copies of all utility bills with supplier's names and contact information.52. Calculate average utility usage from last 12 months of bills.53. Research and verify city sewer/septic tank system.54. Water Bill - Calculate average water usage and fees or rates from last 12 months of bills.55. Well water - Confirm well status, depth and output from Well Report.56. Natural gas -: Research/verify availability and supplier's name and contact57. Verify security system, current term of service and whether owned or leased.58. Solar panels - Verify if owned or leased59. Lead based paint - Ascertain need for disclosure.60. Prepare detailed list of property amenities and assess market impact.61. Prepare detailed list of property's "Inclusions & Conveyances with Sale."62. Compile list of completed repairs and maintenance items.63. Send "Vacancy Checklist" to seller if property is vacant.64. Explain benefits of Home Owner Warranty to seller.65. Assist sellers with completion and submission of Home Owner Warranty Application.66. Have extra key made for lock box.Does property have rental units - If so:Make copies of all leases for retention in listing file.Verify all rents and deposits.Inform tenants of listing and discuss how showings will be handled.Arrange for installation of yard sign(s).73. Assist seller with completion of Seller's Disclosure form.74. Complete "New Listing Checklist."75. Discuss Curb Appeal and provide suggestions for improvements76. Discuss needed work if any and benefits to the sale77. Prepare MLS Profile Sheet79. Input listing data into MLS80. Proof and verify all information is accurate81. Pitch listing to in house agents and add to company's Active Listings list.82. Provide seller within 48 hours signed copies of Listing Agreement and MLS Profile Sheet information83. Take photos for MLS and use in flyers.84. Discuss virtual tour photography as optionMarketingCreate blue print for marketing plan - discuss with Sellers - request their inputCoordinate and communicate showings with owners, tenants, and Realtors.Lock Box - Install if authorized by Seller.Prepare mailing and contact list..Generate mail-merge letters to contact list.Order "Just Listed" labels and reports.Prepare flyersRegularly review MLS market activities - make recommendations to change things if needed.Brochures - invite sellers to review.Print and distribute brochures or flyers.Upload listing to company and agent Internet site, if applicable.Mail Out “Just Listed” notice to all neighborhood residents.Advise Network Referral Program of listing.Provide marketing data to buyers coming through international relocation networks.Provide marketing data to buyers coming from referral network.Provide “Special Feature” cards for marketing, if applicable.Submit ads to company’s participating Internet real estate sites.Immediate communication of price or any changes to the listingReprint/supply brochures promptly as needed.Review loan informationReceive Feedback e-mails/faxes from agents after showings.Review weekly Market activities.Review lockbox reports to study home showing traffic.Discuss lockbox showing reports and feedback from showing agents with seller to determine if changes will accelerate the sale.Place regular weekly update calls to seller to discuss marketing and pricing.Promptly enter price changes in MLS listing database.The Offer And ContractReceive, review and communicate to Seller all Offers to submitted by buyers or buyers’ agents.Evaluate offer(s)Draft a “net sheet”Counsel seller on offers. Explain merits and weakness of each component of each offer.Contact buyers’ agents to review buyer’s qualifications and discuss offer.Fax/deliver Seller’s Disclosure to buyer’s agent or buyer upon request and prior to offer if possible.Call Buyers lender to confirm buyer is pre-qualificationRequest and receive Buyer pre-qualification letter lender.Negotiate all offers on seller’s behalf, setting time limit for loan approval and closing date.Prepare and convey any counter offers, acceptance or amendments to buyer’s agent.Fax copies of contract and all addendums to closing attorney or title company.Deliver to Buyers agent accepted offer for Buyer’s signatureIf received deposit money from buyer record in Trust Fund account.Deliver copies of fully signed Offer to Purchase contract to seller.Fax/deliver copies of Offer to Purchase contract to Selling Agent.Fax copies of Offer to Purchase contract to lender.Provide copies of signed Offer to broker file.Discuss action required on offers received after acceptance of anotherChange status in MLS to “Sale Pending.”Update MLS and transaction management program to show “Sale Pending.”Review buyer’s credit report results -- advise seller of worst and best case scenarios.Provide credit report information to seller if property will be seller-financed.Assist buyer with obtaining financing, if applicable and follow-up as necessary.Coordinate with lender on discount points being locked in with dates.Deliver unrecorded property information to buyer.Order septic system inspection, if applicable.Receive and review septic system report and assess any possible impact on sale.Deliver copy of septic system inspection report lender and buyer.Deliver Well Flow Test Report copies to lender and buyer and property listing file.Verify termite inspection ordered.Verify mold inspection ordered, if required.Loan TrackingRequest from lender copy of Buyers loan approval letterDiscuss with Lender Buyers strength in securing the loanFollow loan processing through to the underwriter.Add lender and other vendors to transaction management program so agents, buyer and seller can track progress of sale.Contact lender weekly to ensure processing is on track.Relay final approval of buyer’s loan application to seller.Home InspectionCoordinate buyer’s professional home inspection with seller.Review home inspector’s report.Enter completion into transaction management tracking software program.Explain seller’s responsibilities with respect to loan limits and interpret any clauses in the contract.Ensure seller’s compliance with Home Inspection Clause requirements.Recommend or assist seller with identifying and negotiating with trustworthy contractors to perform any required repairs.Negotiate payment and oversee completion of all required repairs on seller’s behalf, if needed.The AppraisalSchedule appraisal.Provide comparable sales used in market pricing to appraiser.Follow-Up on appraisal.Enter completion into transaction management program.Assist seller in questioning appraisal report, if questions arise.Closing PreparationsEnsure contract is signed by all parties.Coordinate closing process with buyer’s agent and lender.Update closing forms and files.Ensure all parties have all forms and information needed to close the sale.Select location where closing will be held.Confirm closing date and time and notify all parties.Assist in solving any title problems (boundary disputes, easements, etc) or in obtaining Death Certificates.Work with buyer’s agent in scheduling and conducting buyer’s final walk-through prior to closing.Research all tax, Home Owner Association, utility and other applicable prorations.Request final closing figures from closing agent (attorney or title company).Receive and carefully review closing figures to ensure accuracy of preparation.Forward verified closing figures to buyer’s agent.Request copy of closing documents from closing agent.Confirm buyer and buyer’s agent have received title insurance commitment.Provide Home Owners Warranty for availability at closing.Review all closing documents carefully for errors.Forward closing documents to absentee seller as requested.Review documents with closing agent (attorney).Provide earnest money deposit check from escrow account to closing agent.Coordinate this closing with seller’s next purchase and resolve any timing problems.Have a “no surprises” closing so that seller receives a net proceeds check at closing.Refer sellers to a Realtor at their destination, if applicable.Change MLS status to Sold. Enter sale date, price, selling broker and agent’s ID numbers, etc.Close out listing in transaction management program.After Closing Follow UpAnswer questions about filing claims with Home Owner Warranty company, if requested.Attempt to clarify and resolve any conflicts about repairs if buyer is not satisfied.Respond to any follow-on calls and provide any additional information required from office files.As you can see, this is a very comprehensive list and I may have overlooked other items but I hope this helps with your question…Cheers