CAMPING!

We finally got our first camping trip of the year started! Thanks to the flexibility that my rental property business allows us to enjoy, my wife and I were able to wait out the bad weather. When the weather finally improved yesterday, we jumped in the motorhome and headed out on our first camping trip of the year! It was a beautiful day with sunny skies, but WOW - it was windy. The motorhome really bounces around in the wind and my wife was quite concerned when we drove one stretch of two-lane road with a deep ditch on the right side and absolutely no berm. I'll bet they have a LOT of accidents on that stretch of road. Thankfully, we made it without incident.

Before leaving yesterday afternoon, I did get some work done.

First, I changed a faucet that had gone bad. That took about 10 minutes; cost me $18 (at Lowes); and made me enough money to pay for this week's RV park fees. That is why I do the maintenance myself. If I had called a plumber to change that faucet, he would have certainly charged me a $75 to $100 service charge plus the cost of the faucet, which would have certainly been more $18. By doing it myself, I earned that $75 to $100 service charge. Is is worth 10 minutes of my time to make $75 to $100? YES!

Next, I patched a small hole in a concrete floor. Again, this took less than 10 minutes and the 40 pound bag of Quickrete was less than $3 at Lowes. How much would it have cost to have a handyman fix this problem? Again, too much! I pocketed that labor fee also!

Next, there was a small roof leak in one of our apartment buildings. This problem took a little longer - about 45 minutes all told. I had half a can of roofing tar left from sealing a roof last year, so there was no material cost for this repair. How much would it have cost to have a roofer fix this leak? I'm sure that it would have cost at least $100, if you could find anyone to do it. Another $100 made.

Finally, I met the Section 8 inspector at one of our 1 bedroom apartments. The apartment passed and the tenant will be moving in May 1st!

I was done at 12:30 and earned at least $250 by doing this maintenance myself. Not bad for 3 hours work. I headed home and we were on the road!

Many people ask me what would happen if there was a maintenance problem at one of our rentals while I'm on vacation or out of town on a camping trip? Simple, unless it's an emergency, I will schedule an appointment with the tenant to fix the problem when I return. If it is an emergency, like a big water leak or broken furnace, then I'll simply call the appropriate repair company. Although I usually do all maintenance myself and don't like to pay their high fees, I will call a plumber or heating/air conditioning company to correct a major problem if needed, so that I can enjoy my vacation! That's the beauty of the business! I'm earning the rent even while I'm camping.

On today's schedule: bicycle riding with my wife; a motorcycle ride; a cookout; FUN!

Have a great day!