You may recall from yesterday that I was considering putting in an offer on a mobile home. It is located on a small lot and the retail value is about $45,000.
This is one of those times when I've had a BUNCH of potential properties to buy come along all at the same time. In addition to the mobile home, there is an auction Monday which will have a 4 bedroom, 2 bath house that I might get CHEAP (like $20,000). Today, I also located 4 properties that are going up for tax sale next week. Since the weather was nice today (about 50 degrees), I decided to ride my motorcycle to look at these properties. Yes, it is a tough job, but somebody's got to do it. I looked at two of these properties today. One was a large log home that is probably worth about $175,000 and the minimum bid will be $3,500. Another is a used car business which contains a LARGE steel building and huge commercial lot. This is being auctioned for $15,000 in back taxes. I will look at the other two properties in the next couple of days.
At any rate, there seems to be many potentially GREAT deals available in the next week or so. After a little thought, I decided to proceed with the offer on the mobile home today. I put in two offers. In the first offer, I proposed $17,500, all cash, with the closing to be in 5 business days. I felt that the all cash offer with fast closing would be very powerful. In the second offer, I agreed to pay $20,000 for the same property if the owner would finance the deal with a 10 year term at 5% interest. I put in the offer at noon and at 2pm, I received the seller's reply. He countered with $20,000 all cash. This is still a very good deal, but I declined it. I told the seller's agent that I had several other deals in the works and that if he changed his mind to let me know by 5pm tomorrow. We'll see what happens.
My reasoning for turning down this offer was that I have several great deals available. The mobile home property has been on the market (at a higher price) for over 200 days. I don't anticipate it going anywhere in the next few days and I want to see what happens with all these other deals. I believe that I will still be able to buy it for $20,000 next week if the other deals fall through. It is also still possible that the owner will think about my offer tonight and accept it tomorrow. Either way, I'll be happy.
I'm already starting to smile about tomorrow. Why? Tomorrow is the 1st - RENTS ARE DUE!
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Looking for That Next Deal
Today I went to look for our next rental property. If you recall yesterday's post, I found a mobile home on a small lot that could probably be purchased for $20,000 or a little less. I looked at that mobile home today and was quite impressed. The mobile home is in excellent condition and would require no work before tenants could move in. After looking at the property, I believe that I could rent it for $500 per month, which would be good for a $20,000 rental. As part of my due diligence on the property, I looked up the property on my county auditor's website. The land alone is valued by the auditor at $17,000. I also looked up the owner's name on the county recorder's website. I was able to determine that the owner had a $17,000 mortgage on the property. The mortgage was made in 2002, so the owner probably owes nearly the full amount. Because the owner has a mortgage on the property, he will likely need cash for this deal. I like this deal and am seriously considering placing an offer on the property in the morning.
While I was in this mobile home development, I found four other mobile homes for sale. One was another mobile home right across the street. This was listed with an out of town realtor, who I called. The asking price was $62,000!!! I about fell over dead from the shock. The realtor insisted that they were taking all offers, so I told him to tell the owner that I MIGHT offer $20,000 and if the owner was interested to call me back.
Two of the others for sale had FSBO signs in front of them, but no phone numbers. They were clearly vacant and had been for some time. In fact, they were vacant so long that the phone numbers on their FSBO signs had faded away. I made an initial effort through the auditor's website and the phone book to locate the owners, but to no avail. I'll have to do a little more work on these. Good deals often require a little extra work!
I'll let you know tomorrow what I decide to do about the offer.
While I was in this mobile home development, I found four other mobile homes for sale. One was another mobile home right across the street. This was listed with an out of town realtor, who I called. The asking price was $62,000!!! I about fell over dead from the shock. The realtor insisted that they were taking all offers, so I told him to tell the owner that I MIGHT offer $20,000 and if the owner was interested to call me back.
Two of the others for sale had FSBO signs in front of them, but no phone numbers. They were clearly vacant and had been for some time. In fact, they were vacant so long that the phone numbers on their FSBO signs had faded away. I made an initial effort through the auditor's website and the phone book to locate the owners, but to no avail. I'll have to do a little more work on these. Good deals often require a little extra work!
I'll let you know tomorrow what I decide to do about the offer.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Hunting for My Next Rental
I had scheduled today as a snowboarding day. Unfortunately, the weather did no cooperate. I shifted to Plan B which was to work on the taxes for my real estate businesses. In addition, I am really on the hunt for a new rental property. My realtor brought me a bunch of properties to evaluate. Several of them were good possibilities. We rapidly narrowed the list down to one property - a mobile home on a relatively small lot. The thing that is attractive about this property is that is has a problem, a potentially serious problem. The problem is that there is no title for the mobile home! While that could be a serious problem, it could also make this a very good deal for me. After talking to the realtor representing the seller, I discovered that the seller is having a great deal of trouble selling the property because of the title issue. The seller is asking $27,000 for the property, but the realtor told me that he thought the property could be bought for $20,000. This is basically the value of the land!
Tomorrow, I am going to look at the property. If it looks good, I will probably make an all cash offer for $15,000 to $18,000, depending on the condition of mobile home. I should be able to rent the property for $500 per month.
You might recall from my blog of last week that I made an offer on a 4 bedroom, 2 bath REO. We received a counter-offer from the bank today. That counter-offer was for $43,000! While this isn't a bad price, it is far more than I would pay for the property in today's market. I believe that there is a huge number of foreclosures coming in the near future and I am only buying at a huge discount. I had offered $21,000 for the property and I am still planning to attend the auction next Monday. Maybe I can even get the property cheaper at the auction. I'll let you know what happens.
Tomorrow, I am going to look at the property. If it looks good, I will probably make an all cash offer for $15,000 to $18,000, depending on the condition of mobile home. I should be able to rent the property for $500 per month.
You might recall from my blog of last week that I made an offer on a 4 bedroom, 2 bath REO. We received a counter-offer from the bank today. That counter-offer was for $43,000! While this isn't a bad price, it is far more than I would pay for the property in today's market. I believe that there is a huge number of foreclosures coming in the near future and I am only buying at a huge discount. I had offered $21,000 for the property and I am still planning to attend the auction next Monday. Maybe I can even get the property cheaper at the auction. I'll let you know what happens.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
New Windows Finally In
I finally got back to my little rehab project today. The two new (surplus) windows that I bought the other day are now in. I had planned to do this earlier in the week, but things just kept getting in the way of my plans. So, I'm finally happy to get this little project done.
While I was working on the apartment, I also steam cleaned the carpet. The carpet is only one year old, but is now in bad condition. Even with the steam cleaning, it still does not look good. I'm going to try some commercial spot cleaner on the bad spots Monday, but if that doesn't improve the carpet, I'll have to decide about replacing the carpet.
I also showed one of our apartments and one of our duplexes today to prospective tenants. I don't think that either are a good prospect.
Finally, I got a call from one of the tenants who said that her electric had gone out in the living room. She claimed to have checked the circuit breakers and didn't find any that had tripped. I went to the house to check the electric. I found that circuit breaker had indeed tripped and I reset it. After a couple of questions, the tenant said that she had a television, electric space heater, phone, and vacuum all plugged into the same circuit. I cautioned her about plugging so much into a single circuit and left.
Tomorrow is church and Monday I'm taking the day off for some more snowboarding. Back to the rehab on Tuesday!
While I was working on the apartment, I also steam cleaned the carpet. The carpet is only one year old, but is now in bad condition. Even with the steam cleaning, it still does not look good. I'm going to try some commercial spot cleaner on the bad spots Monday, but if that doesn't improve the carpet, I'll have to decide about replacing the carpet.
I also showed one of our apartments and one of our duplexes today to prospective tenants. I don't think that either are a good prospect.
Finally, I got a call from one of the tenants who said that her electric had gone out in the living room. She claimed to have checked the circuit breakers and didn't find any that had tripped. I went to the house to check the electric. I found that circuit breaker had indeed tripped and I reset it. After a couple of questions, the tenant said that she had a television, electric space heater, phone, and vacuum all plugged into the same circuit. I cautioned her about plugging so much into a single circuit and left.
Tomorrow is church and Monday I'm taking the day off for some more snowboarding. Back to the rehab on Tuesday!
Friday, February 23, 2007
Offer Submitted!
Well, I didn't get my rehab finished this week. In fact, I haven't worked on it the last two days. I am planning to work on it some more tomorrow.
I ended up having some minor laser surgery on one of my eyes twice this week. Although I could have worked if I had to, I didn't have anything pressing to do and therefore I took both yesterday and today off. However, that's not to say that I didn't accomplish anything today. My realtor presented me with a bank owned 4 bedroom, 2 bath house that is going up for auction in early March. The bank is asking $57,900 for the property. I checked the auditor's web site and discovered that the bank took over the property for $20,000 (which I presume was the amount of their outstanding loan on the property). I estimate that the property will appraise for about $78,000 once it is rehabbed. The property needs carpet throughout and some other cosmetic repair. Everything else seems to be in reasonably good condition.
The paperwork that I got from my realtor said that the bank was offering the property for pre-auction sale until February 27th. Therefore, I made an offer of $21,000 for the property. My offer is all cash, close in two weeks, and contained no contingencies. I offered a $5,000 earnest money deposit. I think that there is a good chance they'll accept my offer and avoid the risk of allowing the property to go to the absolute auction.
I also looked at a 6 unit apartment building. The building had gross rents of about $2,200 per month and the asking price is $170,000. I did a little research and found that the owner paid $87,000 for it a few years ago. I will probably offer $90,000 for it with owner financing. I don't expect to get it right away, but a $90,000 offer can haunt an owner that badly wants to get rid of a property. We'll see what happens.
Once again, I'm planning to work on my rehab tomorrow.
I ended up having some minor laser surgery on one of my eyes twice this week. Although I could have worked if I had to, I didn't have anything pressing to do and therefore I took both yesterday and today off. However, that's not to say that I didn't accomplish anything today. My realtor presented me with a bank owned 4 bedroom, 2 bath house that is going up for auction in early March. The bank is asking $57,900 for the property. I checked the auditor's web site and discovered that the bank took over the property for $20,000 (which I presume was the amount of their outstanding loan on the property). I estimate that the property will appraise for about $78,000 once it is rehabbed. The property needs carpet throughout and some other cosmetic repair. Everything else seems to be in reasonably good condition.
The paperwork that I got from my realtor said that the bank was offering the property for pre-auction sale until February 27th. Therefore, I made an offer of $21,000 for the property. My offer is all cash, close in two weeks, and contained no contingencies. I offered a $5,000 earnest money deposit. I think that there is a good chance they'll accept my offer and avoid the risk of allowing the property to go to the absolute auction.
I also looked at a 6 unit apartment building. The building had gross rents of about $2,200 per month and the asking price is $170,000. I did a little research and found that the owner paid $87,000 for it a few years ago. I will probably offer $90,000 for it with owner financing. I don't expect to get it right away, but a $90,000 offer can haunt an owner that badly wants to get rid of a property. We'll see what happens.
Once again, I'm planning to work on my rehab tomorrow.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
New windows.
The one constant thing in my daily schedule is that it is unpredictable. Unlike the predictable 9-5 job that most people have, I rarely know what each day will bring. Today was a good example of one of those days. One of my relatives is getting ready to build a new house and called last night to see if I would meet them and their contractor at the site to help lay out their house. Fortunately, I set my own schedule and therefore I was able to help.
After helping lay out the house, it was lunch time, so I headed to Burger King. While at Burger King, I got a call from a potential tenant who wanted to look at a one or two bedroom apartment. I currently have one two-bedroom apartment and two one-bedroom apartments available. I met the applicant and showed her the three apartments. She was very "IFFY" looking, with a lip ring, an eyebrow ring, and a 3 inch red and blue tattoo on the front of her neck. That sets off alarm bells for me, a LOT of alarm bells. I have found that someone who is trying to look like a druggie usually IS A DRUGGIE!
After showing the 3 apartments, I proceeded to the apartment that I have been rehabbing. One of the main projects left to do is replace the broken windows. I had already taken the double-pane, sliding window to the glass shop for repair. This window was from the Florida Room at the back of the apartment. Today it was time to remove one of the front windows and replace the glass in it. As I started removing the window, I discovered that both the lower pane and a small upper pane were broken. As I tried to remove the upper pane, it became obvious that the frame was in very poor condition. This building is very old, probably 75 to 80 years old, and the windows were probably the original windows. Based on these factors, I decided to remove both of the windows in the front of the apartment and replace them with vinyl replacement windows. After removing the old windows, I measured the openings. They were 26" by 53 3/4". I went to Lowes to see if they had windows that were the appropriate size. Unfortunately, they did not have a window that was even close in size. I inquired about ordering a window and was quoted $157 each. NO WAY! These are low income aparments and I'm not spending over $300 for 2 new windows.
There is a builder's surplus store just a few mile away, so I decided to see if they had a couple of windows that might fit. This store is just a big warehouse building with construction supplies strewn all over (in no particular location). They probably have 2,000 windows placed in several spots. Apparently, the size I needed is an odd size because I had to look through all 2,000 windows to find 2 that were close to the right size. The windows that I found were 24" by 53 1/2". They were white vinyl on the outside and a fake wood pattern (vinyl) on the inside. I would have preferred white on both sides, but beggars can't be choosers. The windows were only $42 each, which was a LOT better than the $157 (each) at Lowes.
By the time I dropped the windows off at the apartment, it was already 2:45 pm, so I decided to call it a day.
My goal for tomorrow is to install the two windows that I bought today and install the repaired window in the Florida Room. I also still need to steam clean the carpet in one room and do a few last items. Getting very close to wrapping this rehab up.
After helping lay out the house, it was lunch time, so I headed to Burger King. While at Burger King, I got a call from a potential tenant who wanted to look at a one or two bedroom apartment. I currently have one two-bedroom apartment and two one-bedroom apartments available. I met the applicant and showed her the three apartments. She was very "IFFY" looking, with a lip ring, an eyebrow ring, and a 3 inch red and blue tattoo on the front of her neck. That sets off alarm bells for me, a LOT of alarm bells. I have found that someone who is trying to look like a druggie usually IS A DRUGGIE!
After showing the 3 apartments, I proceeded to the apartment that I have been rehabbing. One of the main projects left to do is replace the broken windows. I had already taken the double-pane, sliding window to the glass shop for repair. This window was from the Florida Room at the back of the apartment. Today it was time to remove one of the front windows and replace the glass in it. As I started removing the window, I discovered that both the lower pane and a small upper pane were broken. As I tried to remove the upper pane, it became obvious that the frame was in very poor condition. This building is very old, probably 75 to 80 years old, and the windows were probably the original windows. Based on these factors, I decided to remove both of the windows in the front of the apartment and replace them with vinyl replacement windows. After removing the old windows, I measured the openings. They were 26" by 53 3/4". I went to Lowes to see if they had windows that were the appropriate size. Unfortunately, they did not have a window that was even close in size. I inquired about ordering a window and was quoted $157 each. NO WAY! These are low income aparments and I'm not spending over $300 for 2 new windows.
There is a builder's surplus store just a few mile away, so I decided to see if they had a couple of windows that might fit. This store is just a big warehouse building with construction supplies strewn all over (in no particular location). They probably have 2,000 windows placed in several spots. Apparently, the size I needed is an odd size because I had to look through all 2,000 windows to find 2 that were close to the right size. The windows that I found were 24" by 53 1/2". They were white vinyl on the outside and a fake wood pattern (vinyl) on the inside. I would have preferred white on both sides, but beggars can't be choosers. The windows were only $42 each, which was a LOT better than the $157 (each) at Lowes.
By the time I dropped the windows off at the apartment, it was already 2:45 pm, so I decided to call it a day.
My goal for tomorrow is to install the two windows that I bought today and install the repaired window in the Florida Room. I also still need to steam clean the carpet in one room and do a few last items. Getting very close to wrapping this rehab up.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Back to work!
We had a great time snowboarding these last 2 days. After the terribly cold weather of this past week and the filthy rehab, I was ready for a break. This is only my second year of snowboarding and I'm still working on it. I have goals for my snowboarding just like I do for my rental property business. My goal for this year is to learn to snowboard "goofy" (which means with my right foot forward) and to learn the half pipe and some basic jumps. As of this weekend, I am happy to report that I have learned to land the basic jumps and also am doing quite well with the half-pipe.
Today, I reported back to the real world and did a little work (very little). Actually, my day started with getting one of my eyes zapped with a lazer. This was to correct compliciations from an earlier surgery. After the eye zapping, I repaired a gas heater and changed an electrical outlet in one of our apartment buildings. The electrical outlet needed to be changed becausea the tenant had replaced a 20 amp breaker with a 30 amp breaker, which nearly caused a fire when a space heater and a vacuum cleaner were both plugged into the outlet. Fortunately, the tenant unplugged the vacuum and heater when smoke started pouring out of the outlet. The wire insulation was burned back about 4 inches. You can never underestimate the stupidity of some tenants!
After about an hour of that, my eye was irritated so I decided to take the rest of the day off. That is what I like the most about owning a rental property business. I can work when I want to. I don't need anyone's permission to take the day off and the rent still comes in whether I work or not. Of course, if there is maintenance to do, I have to do it sometime. However, because I only work on average 3-4 hours each day, I can do it anytime. That leaves plenty of time for taking a lot of time off: for snowboarding; camping; motorcycle riding; taking an eye health day; or whatever.
I'm planning to get back to my normal 3-4 hour workday tomorrow.
Today, I reported back to the real world and did a little work (very little). Actually, my day started with getting one of my eyes zapped with a lazer. This was to correct compliciations from an earlier surgery. After the eye zapping, I repaired a gas heater and changed an electrical outlet in one of our apartment buildings. The electrical outlet needed to be changed becausea the tenant had replaced a 20 amp breaker with a 30 amp breaker, which nearly caused a fire when a space heater and a vacuum cleaner were both plugged into the outlet. Fortunately, the tenant unplugged the vacuum and heater when smoke started pouring out of the outlet. The wire insulation was burned back about 4 inches. You can never underestimate the stupidity of some tenants!
After about an hour of that, my eye was irritated so I decided to take the rest of the day off. That is what I like the most about owning a rental property business. I can work when I want to. I don't need anyone's permission to take the day off and the rent still comes in whether I work or not. Of course, if there is maintenance to do, I have to do it sometime. However, because I only work on average 3-4 hours each day, I can do it anytime. That leaves plenty of time for taking a lot of time off: for snowboarding; camping; motorcycle riding; taking an eye health day; or whatever.
I'm planning to get back to my normal 3-4 hour workday tomorrow.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
The Messy Part is Done!
These pictures may give you an idea of the absolute mess that I cleaned up today. Any guess what that big brown spot is in the tub? (hint: that's what happens when the water has been shut off; the toilet is full; and the drug addict needs to use the bathroom) YUK! After finishing the tub, I threw my scraper and gloves away. Do the gurus ever mention this crap in their multi-thousand dollar seminars? Welcome to the real world of being a landlord!
Fortunately, the messy cleanup is over. I cleaned out both the kitchen and bathroom. I also replaced the fire extinguisher and smoke alarm battery. Low income tenants like to remove the smoke alarm batteries for use in their CD players. Who cares about a fire so long as your CD player is working??? I wonder if these misplaced priorities are why the tenants ARE tenants?
The rehab is nearing completion. With today's 3 hours of work, I'm estimating that only one more day will be needed to complete the rehab and have this apartment ready to rent. The rehab will have to wait. After church tomorrow, I'm going skiing. I'm seriously thinking about taking Monday off also (for some more skiing). After today, I'm ready for a break!
Friday, February 16, 2007
Day two of the rehab.
Made a little more progress on the rehab of my now-evicted drug addict's apartment. Today I rehabbed the bedroom which consisted of painting the entire room and removing an illegal electrical outlet that the tenant added. So far, I've only spent $136 on this rehab: $125 for a used refrigerator (including delivery and hauling away the old refrigerator) and $11 for paint. I finished every drop of the first gallon of paint today, so I'll have to get some more to finish the job. Unfortunately, I will be spending more money on this rehab, because I've still got 2 windows to replace, a closet door to repair or replace, a fire extinguisher to replace, and some other things. I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow. Anyone want to see the feces in the bathtub? The water was shut off for about 2 months! YUK! And who said that being a landlord isn't glamourous?
I'm also trying to decide what to do with some of the trim. The apartment has beautiful woodwork that has probably been in this apartment for over 100 years. Unfortunately, this tenant did a lot of damage and I'm thinking of just painting it white. I hate to do that, but it is a rental and I've got to keep that in mind. If it were my personal residence, I'd certainly refinish it, but that isn't very practical with a low income apartment.
In addition to working on the rehab, I went to the courthouse and got my $300 set-out fee back. Here in my little corner of the world, if the landlord does the setout himself, he gets back the $300 that the court makes him put up. Therefore, I always do the setouts myself. In this case, I made two trips to the dump which cost $60 and I paid a helper $40. Therefore, by doing the setout myself, I saved $200 for about 2 hours work. Well worth it to me! Plus, it's kind of theraputic to be able to take all the deadbeat's belongings to the dump!
I spent about 2 hours on the rehab today, which brings me to a total of about 5 hours for the rehab so far.
Tomorrow, I'm planning on doing the cleaning of the bathroom (YUK) and kitchen (YUK).
I'm also trying to decide what to do with some of the trim. The apartment has beautiful woodwork that has probably been in this apartment for over 100 years. Unfortunately, this tenant did a lot of damage and I'm thinking of just painting it white. I hate to do that, but it is a rental and I've got to keep that in mind. If it were my personal residence, I'd certainly refinish it, but that isn't very practical with a low income apartment.
In addition to working on the rehab, I went to the courthouse and got my $300 set-out fee back. Here in my little corner of the world, if the landlord does the setout himself, he gets back the $300 that the court makes him put up. Therefore, I always do the setouts myself. In this case, I made two trips to the dump which cost $60 and I paid a helper $40. Therefore, by doing the setout myself, I saved $200 for about 2 hours work. Well worth it to me! Plus, it's kind of theraputic to be able to take all the deadbeat's belongings to the dump!
I spent about 2 hours on the rehab today, which brings me to a total of about 5 hours for the rehab so far.
Tomorrow, I'm planning on doing the cleaning of the bathroom (YUK) and kitchen (YUK).
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Now for the repairs and cleanup!
Yesterday, I had a setout for a druggie that I evicted. Today, I started the rehab of the now vacant apartment. The apartment is a 1 bedroom, 1 bath apartment and sustained considerable cosmetic damage. The tenant and her druggie friends wrote obscene grafitti on the walls, destroyed one closet door, ripped a cabinet door from its hinges, badly stained the new carpet, broke out three windows, damaged the window frames, destroyed one mini-blind, removed one ceiling light, stole the fire extinguisher, removed the battery from the smoke detector, destroyed the refrigerator, and left virtually every surface covered with filth.
In the case of a complete mess like this, I like to do one room at a time. On a normal day, I like to work about 3-4 hours each afternoon and today I spent my 3 hours rehabbing the living room. I started out by removing several nails from the walls and removing the closet door that was destroyed by the tenant. Next, I patched several small holes in the walls. I then painted all of the walls and the entrance door, and replaced the mini-blind. One room done, 3 rooms to go!
In addition to the work on this apartment, I answered about 30 calls from people looking for a rental and showed one apartment to a potential tenant - she didn't like it.
That's about it for today. I'd say that today was a very typical day in my life as a landlord.
Tomorrow, I'm planning to rehab the bedroom.
In the case of a complete mess like this, I like to do one room at a time. On a normal day, I like to work about 3-4 hours each afternoon and today I spent my 3 hours rehabbing the living room. I started out by removing several nails from the walls and removing the closet door that was destroyed by the tenant. Next, I patched several small holes in the walls. I then painted all of the walls and the entrance door, and replaced the mini-blind. One room done, 3 rooms to go!
In addition to the work on this apartment, I answered about 30 calls from people looking for a rental and showed one apartment to a potential tenant - she didn't like it.
That's about it for today. I'd say that today was a very typical day in my life as a landlord.
Tomorrow, I'm planning to rehab the bedroom.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Outta Here! Another Druggie Hits the Street!
Eleven months ago we accepted a new Section 8 tenant. Like many of our low-income tenants, this was a young, single mother with a baby. She had no criminal history and had not been previously evicted. Within a few months of moving-in, things began to go downhill. The tenant started smoking marijuana; having very loud parties late at night; and disturbing the other tenants. I had a talk with the tenant and told her that her behavior could not continue. She promised to behave.
Within a month, the police were at the apartment and the tenant was arrested for fighting. I had another talk with the tenant and told her that she would be evicted if there were ANY more incidents. At about this time, I also discovered that the tenant's water had been shut off for non-payment. I informed the tenant that her lease required that the utilities be connected at all times and that this situation must be corrected or she would be evicted.
Unfortunately, this was not the last incident. About a month later, I received a call from one of the other tenants. There had been a loud fight and someone had been thrown down the stairs. Several police cruisers and two ambulances were at the building. Several people were arrested, including my wayward tenant.
That was it. The tenant had to go. I contacted the Section 8 office and requested that the tenant's Section 8 be terminated for cause. Without her Section 8 subsidy, I knew that she wouldn't be able to pay the rent and I'd be able to quickly evict her. Section 8 agreed and terminated her Section 8 payments based on the criminal activity; the disturbance of the other tenants; and the unsanitary condition caused by her water being shut off. This all happened in early December. During the month of December, there were several other incidents involving this tenant and the police.
As predicted, the tenant did not pay the January rent and I immediately filed for eviction. Unfortunately, the courts were backed up due to the recent holidays and I did not get a court date until February 6th. The problems continued and the tenant was arrested again in February. Apparently, the tenant was now doing heroin and her child had been removed by Children's Services. On one occasion, when the police came to the apartment, one of the druggies in her apartment jumped through a back window in an effort to avoid arrest!
February 6th finally arrived and we had our date in court. Needless to say, the tenant was evicted for non-payment of rent. The setout was set for today, Valentines Day! So, at 10 am this morning, I met the court officer at the apartment. All of her belongings were taken to the dump and we changed the locks. The apartment was a mess and had two broken windows. I will have a lot of painting and cleaning to do over the next couple of days, but I am very happy that the tenant is out! I hope that she took her coat - it is 19 degrees today and everything is covered with ice! Good Riddance!
Welcome to the real world of landlording!
Within a month, the police were at the apartment and the tenant was arrested for fighting. I had another talk with the tenant and told her that she would be evicted if there were ANY more incidents. At about this time, I also discovered that the tenant's water had been shut off for non-payment. I informed the tenant that her lease required that the utilities be connected at all times and that this situation must be corrected or she would be evicted.
Unfortunately, this was not the last incident. About a month later, I received a call from one of the other tenants. There had been a loud fight and someone had been thrown down the stairs. Several police cruisers and two ambulances were at the building. Several people were arrested, including my wayward tenant.
That was it. The tenant had to go. I contacted the Section 8 office and requested that the tenant's Section 8 be terminated for cause. Without her Section 8 subsidy, I knew that she wouldn't be able to pay the rent and I'd be able to quickly evict her. Section 8 agreed and terminated her Section 8 payments based on the criminal activity; the disturbance of the other tenants; and the unsanitary condition caused by her water being shut off. This all happened in early December. During the month of December, there were several other incidents involving this tenant and the police.
As predicted, the tenant did not pay the January rent and I immediately filed for eviction. Unfortunately, the courts were backed up due to the recent holidays and I did not get a court date until February 6th. The problems continued and the tenant was arrested again in February. Apparently, the tenant was now doing heroin and her child had been removed by Children's Services. On one occasion, when the police came to the apartment, one of the druggies in her apartment jumped through a back window in an effort to avoid arrest!
February 6th finally arrived and we had our date in court. Needless to say, the tenant was evicted for non-payment of rent. The setout was set for today, Valentines Day! So, at 10 am this morning, I met the court officer at the apartment. All of her belongings were taken to the dump and we changed the locks. The apartment was a mess and had two broken windows. I will have a lot of painting and cleaning to do over the next couple of days, but I am very happy that the tenant is out! I hope that she took her coat - it is 19 degrees today and everything is covered with ice! Good Riddance!
Welcome to the real world of landlording!
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Introduction
My name is Michael Rossi. A little over three years ago, I made a decision that changed my life forever. That decision was to improve my life (and that of my family) by starting a rental property business. The reason that I decided on rental properties is that I wanted to:
1. be free from a regular work schedule,
2. rapidly build a monthly cash flow that would support my lifestyle, &
3. build some significant wealth for retirement.
Rentals offer all of those advantages!
Now, only three years later, I have dozens of rentals. These rentals provide a cash flow that allows me to live a great lifestyle, free from a job or regular work schedule. They also are allowing me to rapidly build wealth that will provide for a great future.
I have decided to write this blog to allow you to see what the life of a real landlord is like. I intend to post my day-to-day activities on this site, including everything from buying new rentals (I'm currently working on the purchase of four additional apartment buildings) to the mundane management and maintenance chores. So, stay tuned...tomorrow promises to be fun! On the agenda, a Valentines Day Setout! If you're new to rentals, a "setout" is the process of actually throwing an evicted tenant's possessions out to the curb. These can be tense situations, especially when you're dealing with drug addicts!
In addition to my rental property business, I am excited about the new book that I have written, "1 Minute to Rental Property Riches". What I discovered when I started my rental property business was that there simply wasn't any accurate information available about the reality of operating rental properties. Sure, there are a lot of books, but I have yet to find one that accurately discussed the most important issues, such as cash flow, dealing with horrible tenants, etc. These are the real world issues that mean the difference between being successful in this business and being one of the vast majority of newbies that fail! If you are interested in getting into the rental business, you might want to check it out at www.1MinuteToRentalPropertyRiches.com
Happy Investing,
Michael Rossi
www.1MinuteToRentalPropertyRiches.com
1. be free from a regular work schedule,
2. rapidly build a monthly cash flow that would support my lifestyle, &
3. build some significant wealth for retirement.
Rentals offer all of those advantages!
Now, only three years later, I have dozens of rentals. These rentals provide a cash flow that allows me to live a great lifestyle, free from a job or regular work schedule. They also are allowing me to rapidly build wealth that will provide for a great future.
I have decided to write this blog to allow you to see what the life of a real landlord is like. I intend to post my day-to-day activities on this site, including everything from buying new rentals (I'm currently working on the purchase of four additional apartment buildings) to the mundane management and maintenance chores. So, stay tuned...tomorrow promises to be fun! On the agenda, a Valentines Day Setout! If you're new to rentals, a "setout" is the process of actually throwing an evicted tenant's possessions out to the curb. These can be tense situations, especially when you're dealing with drug addicts!
In addition to my rental property business, I am excited about the new book that I have written, "1 Minute to Rental Property Riches". What I discovered when I started my rental property business was that there simply wasn't any accurate information available about the reality of operating rental properties. Sure, there are a lot of books, but I have yet to find one that accurately discussed the most important issues, such as cash flow, dealing with horrible tenants, etc. These are the real world issues that mean the difference between being successful in this business and being one of the vast majority of newbies that fail! If you are interested in getting into the rental business, you might want to check it out at www.1MinuteToRentalPropertyRiches.com
Happy Investing,
Michael Rossi
www.1MinuteToRentalPropertyRiches.com
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