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Mary Ann Diorio was one of the first advertisers in the New Tampa Neighborhood News. For two decades, she advertised her property management business on these pages. After a battle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Mary Ann passed away in September 2015.

Her husband, Nick Diorio, and daughter, Jolene Baldwin, are continuing Mary Ann’s legacy through their business, which is called First in Tampa Bay Real Estate and uses the website MaryAnnRents.com, finding tenants for property owners in New Tampa and the surrounding areas, and managing properties for those owners.

Nick has been a licensed Realtor since 1987. When he retired from a 20-year career at Verizon in 2008, he got his real estate Broker’s license and opened First in Tampa Bay Real Estate. Mary Ann had been working at other area companies, and Nick says they “joined forces” at First In Tampa Bay Real Estate in 2013. Astrid Coffey, a Pebble Creek resident and licensed Realtor since 1998, has been with the company since 2014.

When her mom passed away, Jolene also became licensed as a Realtor and joined the company.

“If you’re a landlord and we manage your property,” Nick explains, “we act as your representative.”

So, for example, the tenant pays rent to First In Tampa Bay Real Estate, and calls the company to schedule necessary repairs. “It takes the emotion out of being an owner and having to deal with tenants.”

For example, he says landlords often give tenants the benefit of the doubt, so if tenants say they’ll be a “little late” on rent, they grant them extra time to pay.

“But then, all of a sudden,” Nick says, “it’s the middle of the month, then it’s the end of that month and that ‘slow pay’ turns into a ‘no pay.’”

He works with tenants whenever possible, but will start a 45-day eviction process if the tenant doesn’t pay as agreed. “We don’t want to evict,” he says, “and I would say less than three percent of our properties ever get evicted.” But, he adds, there’s a process in place to ensure that all rent is paid on time.

A Pebble Creek resident named Joan says she started working with Mary Ann 18 years ago, when Joan became responsible for a property a family member owns in Tampa Palms.

“I had a camaraderie with Mary Ann for so many years,” Joan says, “but the company hasn’t changed. They’re very helpful and friendly, the rent is always on time, and they take care of business.”

Ernie Angelilli owns a townhome in Tampa Palms and had worked with Mary Ann for the past eight years.

“Mary Ann was always there, but over the past couple of years, Nick became more integrated with the business,” Ernie says. “The transition was seamless and you couldn’t even tell Mary Ann was getting sicker.”

Ernie also says that First In Tampa Bay Real Estate is “fabulous” and lists many reasons why he recommends the company. “They’re pleasant, easy to work with, and very responsive,” he says. “They properly screen tenants and I’ve never had any problems with payments. They always let me know in advance if there’s a problem and give me options to resolve it. Then, they give very detailed statements on anything they do.”

Nick says, “This business has always been Mary Ann’s business,” and explains that his role was always more behind the scenes. “For the two years she was sick, we began building trust with her clients, and our clients have stayed with us since she passed away.”

Mary Ann’s way of handling her clients set the standard for how Nick, Jolene and Astrid now continue running the business.

“Our tagline has been, ‘We manage your property properly,’ and that’s what we do,” Nick says. “Mary Ann was always honest and straightforward. For example, she’d rather give you her honest opinion, even if she risked losing the business when a client didn’t hear what they wanted to hear [about what their property is worth on the rental market].”

‘Priced Right & Shows Well’

“If a property is priced right and shows well, it’s going to rent right away,” Nick says, warning that asking for too much rent can backfire on a property owner. “If you let it sit for a month, you’ve lost that rent (for that month).”

First In Tampa Bay Real Estate recently listed a 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom home in Hunter’s Green for $2,950 per month. It was rented in 6 days for a monthly rent of $2,850.

“We’re coming into the busy season because people are starting to look now so they can move when school gets out,” says Nick. “But, even in the middle of winter, a house will still rent if the price is right.”

As for showing well, when the Realtors at First In Tampa Bay Real Estate take on a new client, they give their professional opinion as to what needs to be done, usually easy fixes such as painting or removing wallpaper.

“Making a small investment often makes a big difference,” Nick explains. “We give you advice to get the price you want. If you don’t want to do these things, you might get less, and your home might be the last one rented.”

When a renter moves in, a member of the First In Tampa Bay Real Estate team does a walk-through via video to record what the property looks like. When that tenant moves out, another walk-through is conducted to determine what needs to be corrected before the property goes back on the market. “This provides proof to both the owner and tenant of the condition of when they moved in and when they move out,” says Nick.

Someone from First In Tampa Bay Real Estate also checks on each property in person at least once every six months, to check on the property’s condition. Checklist items include being sure sprinklers are on, air filters have been changed, and there are no bugs, since pest control is normally the responsibility of the tenant.

First in Tampa Bay Real Estate currently manages about 90 properties.

“We’re not a large company,” says Nick, “so we’re able to offer personalized services, but we have the benefits of a larger company because of technology.” He says this includes a 24-hour emergency phone number that is always answered.

“It’s not about the number of accounts we have,” Nick says, “but about having accounts that are happy with us.”

First In Tampa Bay Real Estate is located at 9385 N. 56th St., #312. Hours are Mon.–Fri., 9 a.m.-5 p.m., with other hours available by appointment. For more information, go to MaryAnnRents.com, call Nick at 417-9575 or email nick@nickdiorio.com.