"Men Don't Read Directions"

Today's project was to install the kit that I bought yesterday to convert an old claw foot tub into a shower. At about 11am, I went to the apartment to start the installation. To my surprise, when I opened the box, there were no instructions inside. The kit contained a LOT of parts and it wasn't at all obvious how to assemble the parts. I assumed that the instructions were missing and that other parts might also be missing. It's pretty typical for things to go wrong like this, so I put everything back in the box and headed back to the plumbing shop.

The plumbing shop is a family owned business that has had the same people working there for many years. Two of the regular employees are men and one is a woman. Today, I was waited on by the female employee. I explained the situation to her and to my surprise she informed me that the shower conversion kit did not have any instructions. I told her that I was very surprised that the kit didn't have any instructions and she said "men don't read instructions anyway". I guess she put me in my place!!! Actually, there is probably some truth to that statement. Unfortunately, I still had the same problem, a box full of a couple dozen parts and no instructions. Fortunately, the female employee knew how to install it and she explained the process to me.

After the short delay for my plumbing lesson, I was indeed able to install the shower kit without any further problems. The tenant was very grateful and my day was done!

Back in the Groove

I'm now officially back in my normal groove! Almost everything is rented and the rehabbing is mostly done. Today, I took it easy until about 10:30, then headed into town to do a little work on the rentals. My main project today was to finish converting a two-bedroom apartment to all-electric. I ran the conduit and wiring last week and today I wired the plug for the stove, the electric baseboard heat, and the wiring to the new circuit breakers. All done and checked out! Mission Accomplished. Since it was still early, I also did a small floor repair in another unit and took screens to another tenant. Finally, I went to the plumbing supply store to buy a kit to convert an old claw foot tub into a shower. One of my tenants is having medical problems and is having trouble getting up after sitting in the tub. Having a shower should really help her and I'm happy to do that for a long term tenant.

This will be another 4 day week. We're planning on camping this weekend with another couple from church. I think that we're going to camp for about 10 days. We'll be camping about 1/2 hour from home and I'll have to ride my motorcycle back to collect the rent on the 1st thru 4th.

Another Day Off

I had fully planned to work today, but it just didn't happen. A family member called and wanted me to help with the walk-thru of her new house. The house is being built by one of the larger homebuilders in the area and today was the opportunity to walk through the house with the contractor and find any last minute items to be fixed before closing. Since I frequently inspect properties before buying rentals, I was the logical person to help.

After that, I wanted to deal with the safety gates for my scaffolding. A couple of months ago, I bought some contractor type scaffolding to paint a large duplex. I had to stack the scaffolding to paint the duplex. Scaffolding gets pretty wobbly at that height (even with braces) and I clearly needed safety gates. I ordered the safety gates the same day that I bought the scaffolding and they finally came in this week. Even after waiting two months, the gates I received would not fit on top of my scaffolding. UGH! So, I took the safety gates back to the store today to try to get them to order the correct safety gates. The clerk at the store called the manufacturer who explained that the gates didn't fit on top of the scaffold ends but in rectangular pockets that are built into the frame rails. Boy, did I feel stupid!

By the time I got all this done, it was about 3pm and I was ready to quit for the weekend. I'll try again next week.

Long Day

Yesterday was a very long day.

It all started when a very alert optometrist found a speck of plaque in my father's eye during an eye exam. The doctor realized that this speck had probably broken off from an obstruction in one of my father's carotid arteries. After some initial testing, they decided a couple of days ago that my father needed an angiogram to determine how much blockage he had and what to do about it. The procedure was scheduled for yesterday morning at 7am at a hospital that was about an hour away.

Thanks to my rental property business, I can take a day off anytime I like. Once again, my rental property business allowed me to attend to family matters instead of going to work. That's what I like the most about my business. I can set my own schedule and don't have to ask permission to take a day (or a week) off. If I don't want to work today, I don't have to!!!

Anyway, we left at 0530 am (OUCH) and didn't get home until last evening. It was a very long day, but my father did fine. He will be having surgery in a couple of weeks, but that is good news. His problem is one that could cause big problems, but with the surgery he should be fine. It was a blessing that the alert optometrist discovered this issue before a major medical problem occurred.

On a normal day, I wouldn't receive a single call from a tenant. Yesterday was not such a day. I received a call from one tenant who had a sewage backup and another tenant that had her central air go out. I normally handle all the maintenance myself, but that simply wasn't possible yesterday. So, I called a plumber to fix the sewage backup and another contractor to take care of the broken air-conditioner. With only two quick phone calls, I was able to manage both problems even though I was out of town. Did I mention that I like this business?

Money for the Eviction

I worked about 4 hours today, which began by taking eviction paperwork and a check for the court filing fee to my lawyer. She will file the eviction with the court tomorrow for our freak tenant (see the previous few posts for the details on this eviction).

After taking care of that, I repaired a soft bathroom floor and installed some new carpet in the apartment of one of my long time tenants. This tenant has been in this apartment building for many years, even before I bought the building. I like tenants that stay a long time and try to take care of them. Therefore, I try to keep their apartments updated. This particular tenant is getting some new carpet; some new paint; and new windows (new surplus windows).

My next stop was one of my 3-bedroom houses where I did some more painting. It was a real mess when I started and is now starting to look pretty good! I'm hoping to get this house rented for July 1st. I finished there about 3pm and started heading for home. Before I drove a mile, I received a call from one of my tenants who had a leaking shower stall. I made a quick stop at this apartment and caulked the shower. I'm hoping that fixed the problem!

Certified Mail

I absolutely hate to receive certified mail. In the rental business, it usually means that someone wants to sue you. Fortunately, today I was sending certified mail instead of receiving it. Today's certified mail was the letter I typed up yesterday threatening one of my tenants with criminal prosecution for the bad check she wrote for her June rent. I doubt if she'll accept the certified mail, but whether she accepts it or not, it will serve the legal purpose of giving her a 10 day notice before we press criminal charges. That 10 day notice is required in Ohio.

After sending out this certified mail, I did some painting at one of my new 3 bedroom houses. This one is taking a lot of time because all of the window framing and trim had been painted a tan color. In low income rentals, we paint everything off-white (Berkshire White from Walmart to be exact). So, I'm having to spend a lot of time repainting all the trim and window frames, which are somewhat elaborate with a lot of antique craftsmanship. The good news is that once we get the house painted like a white tornado, it will be easy to touch-up between tenants.

Eviction and Prosecution of the FREAK!

Today I received mail from the bank. It was a returned check for the FREAK tenant that I discussed in an earlier post (see Freak Show, Part Deux). This wack-job tenant wrote me a bad check for her June rent!

This is not the first bad tenant that I've dealt with and so I immediately took action. As soon as I got the letter from the bank, I immediately printed off a 3-day eviction notice. When I went into town to work on my rentals, I posted the eviction notice on her door. That gets the eviction process started! On Thursday morning, I'll have my attorney file the eviction with the court.

After working on a couple of projects with my rentals, I returned home and wrote a letter to the tenant giving her 10 days to take care of the bad check. That is required by law in Ohio before you can file a criminal complaint for writing bad checks. If she hasn't made the check good within the 10 days, I WILL press charges against her. The only other time that someone else gave me a bad check, this was enough to get the tenant to make the check good. In reality, I don't care either way. I despise criminals and I'd be just as happy to see her go to jail as make the check good. Since she is trying to stiff me with this bad check, she's probably gotten away with it many times before! She won't get away with it this time!

There is a good lesson in all of this. I made a big mistake by accepting this tenant. She passed our screening, but there was a warning sign that she was a freak. When we were signing the lease, she asked if we exterminated the property every month. That is certainly not a normal question. I almost didn't sign the lease with her because of that question. It was totally abnormal and shows some sort of obsession about pests, even though the apartment was spotless when she moved in. That was my clue; I did recognize that it was a problem; and I didn't act on it. I won't be that stupid again!!!

"NoGood Deed" Revisited

I have a very strict rule that I treat my rental business as a business. Mixing business with good deeds is usually an invitation to be punished. I've learned that lesson over and over again, but I still apparently haven't been punished enough.

At the beginning of June, I rented one of our one-bedroom apartments to an older gentleman (70+ year old guy) that was living in a rooming house. He checked out fine with our screening and receives a government check each month. When he moved in, he literally carried all his belongings in a few grocery bags. We don't have any furnished apartments and I had no idea that he didn't have any furnishings. The guy has literally lived in this apartment for the past 2 weeks with nothing: no couch, no chairs, no bed, no air-conditioning - NOTHING! We do provide a stove and refrigerator, so at least he could prepare food (if he has utencils).

Although I have the reputation of being a hard nosed landlord, I try to be a Christian (not easy when you deal with bad tenants). I feel very bad for this man who is living in an absolutely empty apartment. Just after he moved in, I put out the word that I was looking for furniture that anyone was giving away. I told all my family members and told our small group at Church. A couple of people thought that they were going to have things, but so far nothing had happened.

Today, I felt that I needed to get him some furniture, even if I had to buy it. As it happened, a local village near me was having a community yard sale day. I almost never carry any personal cash (more than $5-$10). Therefore, I made a trip to the bank to get a little cash for the furniture. On the way to the bank, I drove through the yard sale and saw a couch that would be appropriate. I got the cash at the bank and drove straight back to the yard sale with the couch for sale. As I pulled in, three men were loading the couch into a pickup truck. UGH!

I drove around the rest of the village looking for another couch. As I turned onto the next block, I saw another couch and as I pulled up I saw the sign on the couch: FREE TO A GOOD HOME! Wow! Maybe this was meant to be! The couch was in good condition and a man helped me load it up.

I took the couch to my tenant's apartment. Since the tenant is elderly and frail, I asked the tenant in the front apartment to help me carry the couch to the elderly tenant's apartment. When the front apartment tenant realized that the elderly tenant was living without air-conditioning or a fan, he donated two fans that he had saved when a previous tenant had been evicted.

While I was at the apartment building, I stopped in to fix a drawer in another apartment. This young coupe had moved from a larger apartment to save money. As I entered the apartment, the first thing the tenant said was that they still hadn't found a place for all their stuff and that they were getting rid of a matress that was right in the middle of their living room! I explained the situation with the elderly tenant and they offered to give the elderly tenant the mattress.

I was quite excited about the way this worked out! I planned to buy a couch and found one for free. One tenant donated two fans and another tenant donated a mattress. In addition to the elderly man being very happy, the two tenants who donated things to their fellow tenant felt good about themselves. All in all, a good day!

Unfortunately, my instincts tell me that I'm going to pay a price for doing a good deed. EVERY TIME that I have done a good deed in the past, I've been screwed by the tenant. One tenant even tried to fake an injury and tried to sue us! I'm hoping things will work out better this time. I'll keep you posted.

No Excitement Today

I wish I had something exciting to report, but the real life of a rental property owner isn't always like that. The most exciting thing that happened today is that one of my tenants locked herself out of her apartment and I unlocked the door for her. BORING!

I worked about 4 hours today. Most of my time was spent wiring an apartment for electric baseboard heat and an electric stove. This is the last of 4 apartments in the building to be converted over to all electric. We are converting all our rentals to "all electric" so that we don't have to deal with the idiots at the gas company. Unfortunately, our local gas company apparently has no inspection standards. With tenants frequently having their utilities turned off and on (due to payment issues), we frequently have the gas company coming to turn the gas on. It's always a crapshoot as to whether the idiots will turn the gas on. It all depends on WHO comes from the gas company. Some of their employees will red tag just about every gas appliance they see, while others will turn on just about anything. It's completely ridiculous.

Here's an example. One of our houses has a boiler system that is OLD (probably about 75 years old). Last year, we had a boiler expert (that installs the boilers in all the local schools) come to inspect the boiler. Due to the age of the system, I asked him if we should replace the boiler. He laughed and said that the boiler would probably outlast any new system that we could put in today. It did need some maintenance, and he overhauled the unit for about $400.

This year, when a new tenant moved in, we needed the gas turned on. The idiot from the gas company red tagged (failed) the boiler and told the tenant that it was UNSAFE and should be abandoned. To make matters worse, the gas company sent a letter to the tenant saying that the boiler was unsafe and could cause injury or death to the occupants. I called the gas company to ask why the boiler had been red tagged. Their answer - they didn't have a reason. Although the technician was required by company policy to list a reason, he hadn't done so. Apparently, he didn't know anything about boilers, so he simply red tagged the unit so that he wouldn't have to light it. This moron had not only inconvenienced the tenant, but he also scared them with his stupid talk of injury or death. The whole incident highlighted the incompetence of our gas company.

This type situation happens frequently and I simply have gotten tired of dealing with the gas company. Their inconsistent application of whatever standards they have and their outright incompetence have led me to change many units over to "all electric". While my actions will not single-handedly shut down the gas company, I own more than one percent of all the rental housing in our city and that is significant. In addition, I'm encouraging the other landlords to switch over to "all electric" also. It won't take more than a few landlords switching to have an impact on the gas company.

When to Stay Home!

The rental property business is a little different than most other businesses. In most businesses and jobs, the more hours you put in during the week, the more pay you expect to receive. In the rental property business, you receive your pay at the beginning of the month (the rent) and then you see how much you can keep.

There is a certain amount of work that must be done each month. Fixing water leaks, electrical problems, heating and air conditioning problems, and other urgent maintenance issues are examples of things that must be done. Each of these tasks decreases the money that you keep. However, if you don't do them, you will lose tenants and won't receive as much rent the next month. Therefore, all of these tasks MUST be done.

Then, there are the additional projects that are always lingering. Installing a new roof on this property. Painting the exterior of that property. Upgrading the electric on this duplex. Installing new electric baseboard heat in that apartment. These are all examples of jobs that could be done, but don't have to be done now.

One of the important responsibilities of the owner of rental properties is to control the pace of these tasks and thereby manage your cash flow. With several dozen rentals, I find that working about 16 hours per week allows me to complete all the "must do" jobs and complete some "can do" jobs, while still leaving enough cash flow to support my life style. If I work much more than that, the materials that I buy will start to eat away at my cash. If I work less than that, I'm not keeping up with the longer term "elective" maintenance.

So, I guess that the point of this lengthy blog is to say that one of the tricks of the trade is to know when to stay home. The rental property business is one where being a work-aholic can be almost as bad as being lazy. Of course, all of this assumes that your business is already up and running. While you're expanding your business, expect to work hard and long!

Where There's Smoke....

Where there's smoke....there's a low income tenant with terrible kids.

OK, I know that's not really how the old saying goes, but that's what it meant today. I was in town getting ready to paint the floor in my last vacant 3-bedroom house. I received a call from my dirtiest tenant. I knew that she was a poor housekeeper when I accepted her and I put her in a two bedroom apartment that was in poor cosmetic condition (although safe and clean). Anyway, the tenant called today to tell me that there had been smoke coming out of one of the outlets. I asked her what she had plugged in and she said "nothing". However, she said that something was wrong with the outlet.

It took me at least 2 seconds to know exactly what the problem was. I knew that her terrible monster children had caused the problem. I arrived at her apartment a few minutes later and confirmed that my suspicion was right. The children had not only destroyed the outlet, they had stuck a pop can tab into the outlet. It's a wonder they hadn't been shocked (or worse).

So, I shut the power off and went to pick up an outlet and outlet cover. I returned a few minutes later and replaced the outlet without incident. While I was there, I also checked the smoke detector. It was not a big surprise that they had removed the smoke detector battery (probably to use in a CD Player).

It's a joy to deal with these low income tenants. Every day is another soap opera!

9 Million Millionaires!

I heard on television today that there are more than 9 million millionaires in the United States. By my calculation, that's about one in every 33 people in the United States! If you haven't joined the club yet, what are you waiting for?

Rents In, Time for Fun

With all the rents collected and work caught up, it's time for some fun. I guess that I'm still recovering from working like a dog last month on our 12 new rentals. This week I was really lazy. Except for collecting the rents and doing a little painting Monday, I didn't work a single day all week. I usually enjoy working 3-4 hours each day (about 4 days a week), but this week I just wasn't motivated to do anything - SO I DIDN'T. The truth is that I feel a little guilty about being so lazy.

We left home yesterday and are now camping near Sandusky. My wife and I will be enjoying some motorcycle riding today and I'm anxious to see what happens at Bike Week, which is the event that we're attending. Should be a lot of fun. This will be our first major motorcycle event after just learning to ride last year.

BIKE WEEK!

It's officially Bike Week in Ohio! In honor of that fact and because I worked the 1st thru 4th of June collecting the rent, I am taking the rest of the week off. The pool guy is coming tomorrow to install a new liner in our swimming pool and then we're off to Bike Week in Sandusky Friday through Monday. This will be a fun weekend. My wife and I will be combining camping with motorcycling. We're camping about 1/2 an hour south of Sandusky and will be riding up to the festivities with another guy from our church. Should be a great adventure! Time to forget work and put on the leather jacket and dew-rag!

Freak Show, Part Deux

After buying 12 new rentals and getting 10 new tenants last month, there were a lot more rents to collect this month. I was very pleased that every tenant paid. I've found that you are at the highest risk of a tenant not paying the first month after move-in. However, my luck with the tenants all paying did not mask my displeasure with one of my new tenants (who will be leaving soon). When I went to pick up the rent from her, she had a legal size paper completely filled with complaints. On the first line of this legal size piece of paper, she had written TRASH. She explained that she didn't know what to do with the trash. I told her when she moved in that we paid water/sewer/trash and that she could ask a neighbor what day the trash was picked up. She complained that the trash was my responsibility and that she shouldn't be required to talk to any neighbors. At that point, I KNEW I HAD A FREAK ON MY HANDS!!!

The next complaint was DUST. She explained that birds were flying around in the adjacent apartment (ridiculous) and that the birds were causing dust mites to bite her. Of course, dust mites are microscopic and can't possibly be seen with the human eye. In addition, I'm quite sure that imaginary birds have nothing to do with dust mites!!!

Before she could move on to her third complaint, I abruptly stopped the conversation. I told her that she was on a month to month lease and invited her to leave by the end of the month. She said that she might want to stay if I would address her concerns. However, I explained to her that I can't get rid of imaginary birds or convince invisible dust mites not to bite her. Therefore, I strongly suggested that her best course of action was to leave ASAP! Maybe her new apartment wouldn't have imaginary birds, neighbors, or angry dust mites. WHAT A FREAK!

This nutjob is one of the many reasons that I only do month-to-month leases with low income tenants. Even if their background check is good, you never know when you're going to have a FREAK slip through the cracks. This is my second nut in 3 1/2 years of being a landlord. I tell the entire story of my first experience with a freak in my book. She was absolutely certifiable and has been spending her time in jail since we kicked her out.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

On May 31st, I posted a 30 day notice for one of our worst tenants. This is the same Section 8 tenant that has gotten one of those scumbag contingency lawyers to try to sue us (extort money from us) over an alleged fall that wasn't my fault and over which I had no control. In fact, I think that the fall (if it even occurred) was caused by her son or his friends hiding drugs in the water meter cover (and leaving the cover off). This is a tenant who has been totally disabled for years and that I allowed to move out of one of my 2 story houses into one of my single floor houses because of her "back problems". I rehabbed the house before she moved into it. I have bent over backwards to accomodate her problems and listened to her whining for two years. The house was in excellent condition when she moved in. Nice Berber Carpet, fresh paint, and a new screen door were just a few of the things we did during the rehab.

Now, the carpet is in bad condition; the new screen door is ruined; the paint will need to be done again and she is trying to sue us over something that is likely her son's fault. The moral of the story here is that you should get rid of bad tenants quickly. She has always paid her portion of the Section 8 rent on time but she is filthy and destructive and so are her kids. Unfortunately, her one year lease just expired and therefore we are just now able to get rid of her.

I received a call from her daughter today. The tenant is reportedly in the hospital and has been in intensive care for a serious infection and blood clot, resulting from some more back surgery she had. The daughter said that after she gets out of the hospital, she will be going to a rehab facility for a couple of weeks. It may sound harsh, but I told the daughter that I expect them to be out with-in 30 days - NO EXCUSES! Their problems are not my problems and the threatened lawsuit scam is the final straw. I don't care what her condition is; what her problems are; or even if she has to live in the street. I'm sick of going above and beyond the call of duty for tenants, only to be screwed (or should I say sued) by them. Good Riddance!

Always remember that in business - NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED!