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Meet Rachael Kulik of Jamaica Plain Rentals and Sales

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachael Kulik.

Rachael, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started working for JP Rentals as in intern in 2013 and was licensed the same year. But becoming an agent was pretty unexpected for me ….. my first JP apartment (where I lived at the time) I’d actually found through JP Rentals, and one of the services this office provides is for lease renewals and roommate changes. I walked in for a lease and walked out with a job, so a standard lease renewal turned into a career opportunity that changed my life forever. I fell in love with the field soon as I got my first taste. After getting my license, I became Office Manager in January 2014 and obtained my Broker’s License this January 2017.

Since then, we’ve really evolved. We’re still small and boutique-style, but very efficient and still have our personal touch. I incorporated some new things to up our game and the quality of our work, like Adobe Acrobat and digital signature (Adobesign) but we still keep other traditional methods too. We have a good mix of old school and 2.0. We still meet Landlords in person and take our own (quality) pictures. We all meet once a week to touch base on the units and make sure we’re updated and on the same page. We’re also thorough with all of our details – whether it’s processing application information or taking down listing information, everything matters. If an applicant has pets, we even ask for pictures (and put the size, weight and breed into the lease).

We grow even more every year. This year sales especially have boomed – of multi families and condos, and investors have consulted us for professional opinions multiple times. Liz (my associate) and I handle all sales together as a duo so that we’re able to seamlessly integrate it while renting more apartments at the same time. We help each other out, and in turn grow as a business.

Over the years we have changed a lot. We are always consistently striving to improve and refine. As a team, we all bring our strengths to the table and I like to encourage suggestions from each other along the way. Because we grow as a team, we grow as an office.

Has it been a smooth road?
No, it hasn’t always been smooth, but it’d be unrealistic not to expect any bumps on the way. I’d be more concerned if the ride was too easy. I grew up in a business too (my dad owns his own CPA firm) so I learned bumps would happen a pretty long time ago. Can’t learn without them!

We’ve had small battles or glitches here and there. One I personally had at first was my age – I started managing the office at 24 years old. Some of the Landlords who worked with Valerie a long time felt I was kind of young, but they were still getting to know me. Once they did they moved past it.

One significant challenge we’ve had was a misconception that we also manage all of the properties we list for rental. In reality, we don’t. We just work closely and exclusively with most of our landlords (I’m on a texting basis with many) so people often assume it. We’ve had ‘maintenance calls’ and more, such as tenants dropping their rent off in our mailbox and often listing us as their landlord reference. We addressed the problem by added a ‘CONTACT AND CLARIFICATION’ addendum to all of our leases and incorporated very clear, specific language into all of our processing paperwork. That made a huge difference immediately.”

Our nickname (believe it or not) has been another misconception. Over the years we’ve been coined as ‘JP Rentals’ (our full name is JAMAICA PLAIN RENTALS AND SALES LLC), so not everyone realized we sell properties too. Working with us to buy or sell an investment property (or general property) makes a lot of sense if you think about it….. You have NO idea how many brokers call me asking for ‘rental appraisals’ to help their own client out. Why not just use us? We’re able to help with that at the very beginning (we may even have rented the unit in question already!). Having one person to go to that understands both sides of the market equations is really beneficial and helpful for our customers.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Valerie Schechter founded JP Rentals and Sales after noticing the ‘little guy was often overlooked and undervalued’. The market is different here – most owners are NOT Investors, and their properties have sentimental value (i.e. multi-families are passed down generation to generation, condos that Landlords once raised their families in). They’re much more than income … they are memories. She felt JP’s unique clientele needed an advocate and someone with a well-rounded understanding to both sides of the market. Most agencies around her focus on sale s , not rentals, so the factors and complexities of them often gets lost in the dust. 

So, as you can probably guess we specialize in JP Apartment Rentals. This includes pricing, listing, and actually renting them. We also specialize in selling investment properties (to those who are interested in being a Landlord) and working with buyers looking to invest in a property. We help them make confident choices in which property to purchase, and give them a realistic idea of price and what to consider if moving forward. Because of our experience in renting apartments and make confident decisions when buying investment properties on their own , It’s safe to say our expertise in the ‘rental market’ is pretty well rounded in ‘sales’ too.

Whether it’s buying, selling or renting, we’re known to be efficient and on top of our game. We’re thorough, detail oriented, and we pride ourselves on quality, honesty and integrity.

As a company, we’re most proud of being able to help people and make a difference in their lives. Yes, we deal with a lot of rentals, but not everyone realizes that doing so means we’re often holding people’s lives in the palm of our hands. I’ve worked with customers in all sorts of situations – someone’s home burning down in a fire, job changes, limited price ranges, you name it. Life is unexpected, and that’s where we come in. We won’t always get a happy ending, but when we do it makes all those extra hours and time spent totally worth it.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
For many reasons, absolutely. With a booming real estate market and so many big agencies out there, I think a small boutique office is comfortable and refreshing.

I’d definitely recommend someone starting out here. I personally believe every agent should spend at least ONE year in rentals before touching sales. The amount you learn from it’s not even a fraction of what you’ll learn the next year. It’s also a great ‘test run’ to see if Real Estate’s the right job for you.

I’ve also been told our office is a great place to start learning. Once you’re licensed you are pretty much on your own most of the time – some offices simply put you down in a chair and ask you to post Craigslist. I personally don’t agree with that method. I try to keep it structured with some wiggle room so people know how to start, can learn something from it and branch of from there. I try to set Agents up for success. Plus, this job’s supposed to be fun. The sooner they learn how to work it, the sooner they’ll start having it. I love my career, so when others join the team here my goal is that they’ll love it too.

Pricing:

  • Contract Writing (side service if not renting apartments): $200.00
  • Rental Application Fees: $40/person
  • Rental Cosigner Fees: $40/person
  • Prospective Tenant Application Fees (for contracts not rentals): $50/person
  • Prospective Tenant Cosigner Fees (for contracts not rentals): $50/person

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Rachael Ann Kulik

Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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