NOTE: We have had quite a few calls lately about whether we accept section 8 vouchers or HUD vouchers. We do not accept Section 8 vouchers, HUD, or any governmental housing supplements. We have not accepted these vouchers for at least 20 years and do not plan on doing so in the future.

And there are a lot of them. We have tried to cover most all of the questions we are asked when renting a house or an apartment on these next few pages.

1) Written Directions: We have written directions from our office @ 209 West Monroe Street to all rentals on page 6. IT IS UP TO YOU TO RIDE BY THE DIFFERENT RENTALS AND MAKE YOUR OWN CHOICES OF WHERE AND WHERE NOT YOU WOULD LIKE TO LIVE. PRICES A LOT OF TIMES TELLS YOU THE BETTER PLACES. NORMALLY, THE MORE THE RENT, THE BETTER THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND THE BETTER THE HOUSE.

2) OCCUPIED: SHOW RESPECT. Sometimes, we list properties that are still occupied by a family. Out of respect to them, we must set up an appointment 24 hours in advance before showing these properties. PLEASE DO NOT GO ON THESE PROPERTIES WITHOUT A SET APPOINTMENT. TENANTS ARE INSTRUCTED TO CALL POLICE for their own saftey WHEN THERE IS NO APPOINTMENT SET UP WHERE THEY ARE EXPECTING SOMEONE TO COME ON THE PROPERTY. WITHOUT THE APPOINTMENT, THERE IS A CHANCE YOU COULD BE ARRESTED FOR CRIMINAL TRESPASSING. If you are interested in looking on the inside of those occupied, we will call and set up a time with the tenants. Call us and give us a time frame the next day you would like to look at the house. We will try our best to coordinate times. However, we must realize some tenants will not cooperate with us. Therefore, there is a possibility you will not be able to look on the inside until they have moved out.

3) Riding by the location-; Is it a good neighborhood: Once you receive our list of rentals, we ask you to find a map (the local Chamber of Commerce has city maps) and ride by the different locations to see whether you would like to live in that neighborhood or not. Unfortunately we cannot describe neighborhoods. All neighborhoods are good to us. One thing to keep in mind, normally the more a person pays for something, the better the house and the better the neighborhood. This is why there are $50,000 houses and $200,000 type houses. You just have to try and narrow down where or where not you would like to live. The more the price, the better the house and the better the neighborhood.

4) LOOKING ON THE INSIDE OF OUR RENTALS: If you would like to look on the inside of any of these rentals, please call our pager at 229-225-0314 and we will return your call. We will set up a time we can meet at the office and give you a key to go and look for yourself (Except for the ones occupied of course). We will ask for a photo ID and sign a key release form. You will have 30 minutes to go and look at the rental of your choice. We give out keys between the hours of 8:30 AM and 4:30 PM Monday through Friday. Our regular office hours are 8:30 AM till 5 PM Monday though Friday. HOWEVER, I am in and out of the office; sometimes seem to be out more than in. This is why it is important to communicate through the pager. The pager number again is 229-225-0314.

5) PRICES: PRICES DO NOT REMAIN THE SAME FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME. When we do run a sale or SPECIAL reduced price, nOrmally it is for a week or sometimes a month only. if we do not rent the house or apartment at the reDuCed price after having it on the list for A week or a month, then it will probably go back to the original price. WE DO AT RANDOM, AND IN NO PARTICUALR ORDER, REDUCE PRICES AS A SALE ITEM or a Special --Reduced price. Our main objective is to get someone to commit for a one-year lease at the reduced price for one year. Prices can change at anytime up or down, depending on sale times. Sometimes owners call and want us to change prices on the spot. Unfortunately, there is no fine science here.

6) ADVERTISE: We do not advertise sale or special reduced prices; you just have to continue to check by phone or coming to our office for a list at ANYTIME 24/7. THE RENTALS AVAILABLE LISTS ARE ON THE WALL AS YOU APPROACH OUR OFFICE TO THE RIGHT OF THE FRONT DOOR. OR we can fax, mail, or email our most current rental lists to you. If you want it faxed, you will need to call OFFICE @ 229-226-3889 and leave us your fax number on our voice message system BY PRESSING 0.

7) When are rentals added or deleted: RENTAL (S) ARE ADDED OR DELETED SOMETIMES DAILY OR SOMETIMES ONCE A MONTH. So, It is very difficult to keep up with the demand. As quick as we can, we add and/or delete properties. There is a very high demand for rental properties, especially in the county. Unfortunately, we seldom have any rentals in the county. When we do, they do not last very long. You will just need to check with us periodically to see if the list has changed. When the list changes, we immediately change the recording on the phone of the rentals available. You can now get our rental list over the phone. Call the office number at 226-3889. When the answering machine answers, press 1 on your

Touch-tone phone. Then follow the directions from there. At the beginning of the 1 bedroom message, the 2 bedrooms message, etc., I will state when the list was updated last.

8) When will the RENTAL Property BE READY: When we state that a particular rental property should be ready by a certain date, we try our best to have the tenants out and the house ready as soon as practically possible around that date. Again, there is no fine science of when the house will definitely be ready. There are a lot of unforeseen factors that almost always occur, such as tenants not taking good care of the house. We may need to do some painting and such. So, a lot of times, but not all the time, you will have to be a little flexible on a move in date.

9) When will the RENTAL Property BE READY 2: A lot of times people will go and look at a rental house and do not like it because it is not clean or from one reason to another. There is always an explanation for this. We have so many rentals we take care of, there is no way we can have the exact one you may be looking in great shape when you go and look. Every house has its concerns or problems. We would ask you to write down those concerns on paper and we can normally correct these concerns (most of the time) within the 48 hours it takes to approve your application. With limited help, sometimes focusing in on your situation can become difficult, but we try our best to have it ready for you. Everyone’s time frame is different. So, we try to accommodate your time frame as much as possible.

10) Commitment from YOU: If interested in any of our rentals, please put down at least the rent amount and an HOME application to help us move forward a little faster. With all of the rentals we have and trying to please everyone, sometimes it is very difficult to have things ready for you as fast as you would like. With your commitment that you will lease a particular house or apartment for at least ONE YEAR (by putting at least the rent amount down), we will stop where we are working and try to put full focus on your house and to get your place ready as quickly as possible. WE DO NOT BEGIN THE QUALIFYING PROCEDURES WITHOUT AT LEAST THE RENT AMOUNT PAID IN FULL AND YOU SIGNING A COMMITMENT FORM THAT YOU WILL LEASE THE HOUSE OR APARTMENT FOR AT LEAST ONE YEAR. Please, have your mind made up because once we accept any monies, we take the house off the rental market trying to get you qualified for it. If you change your mind after placing at least the rent amount down and signing the commitment form saying you will lease for one year, you will lose this money. If your application is not approved, then your monies can be refunded.

11) CONCERNS: Again, If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about any rental property, we would ask you to write down those concerns on paper. You can fax, mail, email, or bring those concerns back to us in the office. We actually have a form in the office you can carry with you when looking at the properties. PEOPLE OFTEN HAVE CONCERNS WHILE LOOKING AT OUR RENTAL PROPERTIES. MOST OF THE TIME, THESE ARE COSMETIC CONCERNS, which can be easily resolved. IT IS MUCH EASIER FOR US TO DISCUSS YOUR CONCERNS ON PAPER. WE CAN NORMALLY CORRECT ALL CONCERNS WITHIN THE 48-HOUR PERIOD OF APPROVING YOUR APPLICATION. We may ask you to meet our maintenance people over at the house or apartments and go over the list you have written down. So there is no misunderstanding of your concern. Once we get a copy of these written concerns, we will give the list of concerns to the proper maintenance personnel. If cleanliness of the place is a problem for you, we will have the maintenance clean while you are watching so you can see we are making an effort to satisfy. In some situations, it may be as clean as it will get. This is when you must realize this is a rental house and a lot of times you will have to do your own cleaning.

12) How to get in touch with us: BEST WAY TO CATCH US: THE PAGER NUMBER (225-0314) IS THE BEST WAY TO CATCH US, AS WE ARE OUT OF THE OFFICE QUITE OFTEN HELPING FOLKS LIKE YOU or making decisions on remodeling jobs. We have gone to an automated voice message system at the office where people can call our office anytime 24 hours a day and get our list of rentals. The only time we hear the phone ring in the office is when you press 0 or 3 for the two extensions. PeOPLE CAN CALL OUR OFFICE 24/7 TO GET OUR LIST OF CURRENT RENTALS OVER THE PHONE.

13) PETS: THE PETS ISSUE HAS BECOME ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES TO OWNERS AND TENANTS ALIKE. ALL PETS NOW REQUIRE A $300 NON-Refundable Pet Deposit: We realize everyone’s pet is trained. When people tell us their dog or cat is trained to go to the bathroom outside or THEIR DOG OR CAT IS AN OUTSIDE DOG/CAT AND THE PET NEVER COMES IN THE HOUSE, or the cat uses their litter box, we’ve heard about every story in the book. There are accidents. (Most of the time, the ones that try to argue this point are the ones you have the most trouble with and when they leave the house, there is a terrible odor from their pet) And sometimes, pets end up not going to the bathroom in their designated locations. Therefore, we had to charge everyone the $300 NON-Refundable Pet Deposit. Most owners do not like pets in their rental houses because of the extensive damage AND ODORS THE PETS

HAVE DONE OVER THE YEARS. The $300 does not even start to correct a problem that may be caused by Pets. Therefore, in order for owners to accept pets, there must be a $300 NON-Refundable Pet Deposit. There is a maximum pet requirement of 2 pets. One dog and one cat, or two dogs and no cats, or two cats and no dogs. If this is a possible problem with you having more than two pets, then we will need to discuss. If you say there are no pets and pets are found, you will be in violation of the lease. Therefore, immediate eviction will occur. If you get pets after moving in and you have not come in to tell us and pay your $300 NON-Refundable Pet Deposit, we will be forced to do an immediate eviction from said premises for violation of the lease. As a part of the lease, we will sign a form stating you have pets or you do not have pets.

14) Property Management: THIS IS THE MOST UPDATED LIST AVAILABLE. WE NEED MORE RENTALS. SO, IF YOU KNOW OF SOMEONE THAT OWNS RENTAL PROPERTY, WE WOULD LIKE TO TALK WITH HIM OR HER ABOUT OUR 46 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN THE REAL ESTATE RENTAL MANAGEMENT BUSNESS. We manage many rental properties for other owners.

15) What are the procedures to rent a house from Cook Real Estate Agency: After you have gone by the locations and feel like you would live in that location, please contact us by pager at 229-225-0314 or call our office @ 229-226-3889, press 0, and leave a voice message. Once you press 0 or 3, and leave your message, the office phone system will page me and I will get your voice message. Once we talk, we will see which house or apartment you would like to look at on the inside. Once you look at the house and like it, bring us at least the rent amount and an application. Ask us for an application. We can always fax applications or rental lists to your work or home. What ever is convenient for you, we will try our best to accommodate.

A) Once we receive at least the rent amount and an application from you and your family, we will try our best to qualify you. We will run credit reports, but don’t let that really scare you. Again, we stress, we try our hardest not to turn anyone away. Unfortunately, we must realize there are times when applications are not approved.

16) Getting money back if application is not approved: You can get your money back, only if the application is not approved. This is why we consider first monies received as rent and not a security deposit or damage fund. If we are in the process of qualifying you and your family, plus we are taking the property off the rental market for you, plus you come in later to change your mind, then monies will be forfeited. We have a form we sign to this agreement. Once we receive any monies and you sign the commitment form you will lease a particular rental for at least one year, there is no refunds. Again, the only exception to this rule is if your application is not approved.

17) When can you get the keys to move into the house or apartment: when your application is approved, we will set up a time when you can come into the office and sign a lease. All adults must sign on the lease. We must have social security numbers for all adults 18 and over. When lease is signed, when all monies have been paid in full including the First month’s rent, the damage fund, and any NON REFUNDABLE pet deposit, THEN KEYS TO YOUR NEW HOME CAN BE RELEASED TO YOU FOR YOU TO BE READY TO MOVE IN.

18) What is the damage fund? We call our security deposit a damage fund because that is what it is for. All damage funds will be held in our real estate trust account until you decide to move. A Damage fund is for Damages you may cause while living in the house and you did not repair yourself during the course of renting the house or apartment. If there is no damage to the house when you decide to move out and you follow all of the requirements of moving out, then the damage fund can be refunded back to you when you move. If there is any damage or if there is no 30 written notice of you moving out of the house or apartment or if any of the requirements on the damage fund agreement are not followed, there is a good possibility the damage fund will be forfeited.

19) RENT – TO – OWN: There are occasions we will RENT – TO – OWN properties owned by Cook Real Estate Agency. Cook Real Estate Agency does not own all properties we rent out. IN fact, other owners own the majority of the houses you see for rent and we manage their rental properties collecting rents and completing service calls. Whenever we do consider a rent to own prospect, we do it from current renters. You will need to sign a one-year lease to show us good faith. So, until you can show us good faith that you will pay rent when due and we will have no troubles out of you, we will not do a rent to own for you. Again, in order to rent to own one of our houses, it has to be a Cook Real Estate Agency owned property.

20) Working with you on the damage fund---Unfortunately, we cannot work with you on the damage fund or security deposit. We put the full amount on there for a reason. We will need to have the full amount PAID IN FULL before we can do your lease papers and before you can get the key to start moving into the house or apartment. We have tried working with people before, but people will promise one thing and do another these days. It is unfortunate, but a reality.

Again, we may be the most information oriented Real Estate Rental Company in Thomasville where it is easy to get our list of rentals. There are many ways to get our list of rentals.

1) You can NOW call our office at 226-3889 and get our most updated RENTAL LIST over the phone. By calling 229-226-3889 and pressing 1 when the answering machine answers, you will be able to get our most updated list of rentals. Then, the recording will ask you (Remember it is very important to press one (1) FIRST on your touch-tone phone when the answering machine answers) to press ONE (1) for a list of 1 bedroom, TWO (2) for a list of our 2 bedrooms, etc. For instance: When you are finished listening to the list of 1 bedroom, you can stay on the line and it will go back to the main menu of rentals available. So, you can listen to 1 bedroom and wait until it goes back to the main menu of rentals available and then press 3 for the list of three bedrooms. At the beginning of the recordings for each, you can see when that particular size house has been changed. Changing could mean another rental has been added or one has been taken off of the list, as it has been rented or in the process of being approved for renting or we may be running a specially reduced price trying to get someone to commit to a particular rental. Of course, if someone has not been approved for a particular rental, that particular rental property will go back on the market within 48 to 72 hours.

a. You can call our office and get our rental list faxed, mailed, or emailed to you. All we ask is that you call the office and press 0 for the receptionist desk. If someone answers the phone, you can give them your fax number, mailing address, or email address (one letter at a time and clearing specifying on the email address. If we write down one thing wrong on the email address it will not go through.) If you have reached our voice mail (another answering machine message), at the end of the message and the beep sounds, please leave your name, and the information of your mailing address, your fax number, or your email address.

b. You can come by our office to get the most updated list of rentals available from outside of our front door. You can come by our office without even coming in the office (after hours is fine). This is a 24 hour a day 7 days a week service. If the box is empty when you come by, we will add more rental lists on the next business day. Directions to our office are simple. Find the downtown POST OFFICE. It is on the corner of Broad Street and Monroe Street. Our office is two blocks down from the post office going towards Tallahassee. 209 West Monroe Street is where our office is located. We are right across the street from Singletary Tire Service, Tom Horne Supply, and Horne Candy Company.

c. Check out our web site @ www.cookrealest.com. You can now complete a waiting list form for us to contact you when a particular rental you may be interested in becomes available. We will call all of the ones that may be interested in the same property. It will be rented on a first come first serve basis. We would like to organize a time for you to see the inside of a particular rental before accepting any monies.

We have a list of rentals for sale. Other owners and Cook Real Estate Agency own the rentals on our rentals for SALE list. Most all of the ones we have for sale are currently occupied. Call the office for our list of rentals for sale.

1) RIDE BY: Once you have received our list of rentals, we ask you to ride by the locations listed to see whether you would like to live in that particular area or not. We cannot describe neighborhoods. All neighborhoods are good to us. You have to see for yourself. Unfortunately, Real Estate Agents are limited on what they can or cannot say. Most of the time, the more something costs, the better the house, and the better the neighborhood. This is why you have $50,000 houses and $200,000 houses. Location, Location, Location. MOST PEOPLE WANT A $200,000 TYPE HOUSE WITH ALL THE LUXURY (bells and whistles) OF A $200,000 HOUSE (NEIGHBORHOOD, LOOKS, SIZE, ETC.) FOR THE PRICE OF A $50,000 HOUSE. THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN. SO, WHEN LOOKING FOR RENTAL PROPERTY, KEEP THIS IN MIND. I think we all get caught up in this. All rentals are priced according to the appraised value of the property at the time of renting. This rental price could increase at the end of the lease, depending on value increased and the value of the property.

2) TO LOOK ON THE INSIDE-----NARROW DOWN: Once you have narrowed down the list of rentals you would like to see on the inside, please call our pager at 225-0314 AND I WILL RETURN YOUR CALL TO SET UP A TIME TO LOOK ON THE INSIDE. AS I AM IN AND OUT OF THE OFFICE, SOMETIMES OPUT MORE THAN IN, THIS IS THE REASON WHY YOU SHOULD TRY MY PAGER. AGAIN, WE MEET ALL APPOINTMENTS HERE AT THE OFFICE of 209 West Monroe Street FOR SECURITY REASONS AND OTHER PURPOSES. We normally make a copy of your driver’s license or photo ID, you will sign a key release form, get you a key, and let you look on the inside. You will have 30 minutes to go and look at the house and return the key.

3) OCCUPIED HOUSES OR APARTMENTS-----APPOINTMENT ONLY--24 Hour in Advance: Some of these houses or apartments are occupied when we add them to the list of rentals availability. On the ones that are occupied, we will need to set up a time 24 hours in advance to see the inside. Keep in mind, not everyone will cooperate with us and let someone else in his or her house. So, it could be around the first of the month before you will be able to look on the inside of those currently occupied.

4) MONEY TALKS-----Once we meet up and you have looked on the inside and are interested in renting the house or apartment, we will need at least the rent amount PAID IN FULL and an application completed by you. We would like to have al of the money to move in paid when turning in an application, but will accept only the rent Amount for the processing of your application and trying to get you qualified. If there are any concerns about the rental property you are about to rent, we would ask you to write down your concerns on paper. We will approach them at the time we are receiving any monies. It is much easier to discuss your concerns on paper and in writing, as we can give your concerns to the maintenance person correcting the problems.

5) HOME APPLICATION AND RENT AMOUNT PAID IN FULL: Once we receive the application and the rent amount, we will begin the approving process of your application. AGAIN, WE STRESS THAT WE DO NOT LIKE TO TURN ANYONE AWAY. WE TRY OUR BEST TO QUALIFY. UNFORTUNATELY, WE MUST REALIZE THERE ARE TIMES WHEN AN OWNER SAYS NO.

6) APPROVAL PROCESS: The approval process takes a minimum of 48 hours to complete. If there are any concerns, we can try to correct these concerns within the 48 hours of approving your application. Depending on the amount of concerns and the time it takes to repair each one.

7) APPROVED: Once we say you are approved, we will schedule you a time to come in and sign a one year lease with us explaining our rules and regulations and what we expect from you, as a tenant in one of our rentals. We would also expect the DAMAGE FUND AMOUNT PAID IN FULL AND ANY PET DEPOSIT REQUIRED.

We meet all persons at the office of 209 West Monroe Street, unless there are other arrangements made for you to meet the tenants that occupy the house or apartment. We are centrally located one block from the downtown post office, one block from the library, and one block from the Thomas County Courthouse. Our office is right off of Highway 84 or Madison Street. We are right across the street from Singletary Tire Service, Tom Horne Supply, Horne Candy Company.

ü We can sell anything any other Realtor or Real Estate Company has For Sale.

ü We can pull up any listings any other realtor has for sale and tell you the price and details.

ü We can look up on the Internet for a house For Sale in your price range.

ü We can check for land too.

Just about everyone has a dream to own his or her own home. And most people think it is impossible to do so. It is not as hard as one would think. Yes, there is some sacrifice to start with a small down payment, but after that, your payments should be the same, as you would pay for rent. Of course, you will have INSURANCE AND PROPERTY TAXES TO PAY EACH YEAR. The purchase of REAL ESTATE is a long-term investment and should pay off in the long haul, not short term.

Cook Real Estate Agency is offering FREE CONSULTATION on purchasing real estate. This could be anything from a home to land. We would appreciate the opportunity to sit down with you in our office to explain how you can own your own home. Please call ahead of time for an appointment, as we may already have an appointment scheduled when you pop into the office without an appointment.

1) Find out what you will qualify for? You will need to go to a financial institution of your choice such as Thomasville National Bank, Thomas County Federal, Commercial Bank, Bank of America, or any financial institution you may be currently doing business with. You will need to let them know you are interested in purchasing a house or Real Estate in general and you would like to know what you would qualify for in the purchase of your home. They will give you some papers to complete and they will discuss your options. We can do this in our office, too.

2) What programs the bank has for first time homebuyers? The next question you would ask the the financial institution if they have some kind of program for first time homebuyers.

3) Price Bracket you will qualify for? Once you know what price bracket to look for in a house, you can see a Realtor of your choice (we all can sell each other’s listings. So find one you like and trust. Then stick with them. They can help you with the showing and the paperwork in the purchase of your home. As a Real Estate Broker and a Realtor here at Cook Real Estate Agency, we can help you with this. But, you will need to know what price bracket to look. For Instance: the bank tells you that you should look in the price bracket of $30,000 to $60,000. Then we can begin the search.

4) Cook Real Estate can sell any property in the State of Georgia, no matter whose Real Estate sign is on the property: If you are riding around town and see a house you would like to find out more information about it, and then we can look this up for you. We will need to know the physical address of the property and whose Real Estate FOR SALE sign is on the property. Again, it does not matter what Realtor’s sign is on the house. We can help. All realtors try to work together to sell Real Estate in our community.

5) Cook Real Estate can set up appointments to see properties: We can set up a time so you can see on the inside of any of the houses for sale in our community, no matter what Real Estate sign is on the house. We all try to work together to sell the houses for the sellers. Cook Real Estate Agency and all other Realtors in town try to help you find that dream home. And all Realtors have the same information as Cook Real Estate Agency can get. So, the next time you are riding around and are wondering what the price of a particular house may be and the size of the house etc., we can help. Again, we will need to know the Realtor that has the property for sale and the physical address of the property. A lot of times, we can look it up with just the street name. Good luck in your search for your new home either to rent or to buy. Cook Real Estate Agency is here to help where we can. Our email is cookrealtyrental@aol.com

6) Cook Real Estate Agency is one of the oldest Real Estate companies in Thomasville Georgia, if not the oldest. Since 1960, we have been helping folks like you find a home you could rent or you could buy. Thank you for over 46 years of business.