This is my sixth year in the rental property business. With several dozen rentals, I've had just about every bad thing occur that is possible. However, this morning I received the call that I've always dreaded. It was a call that one of my buildings (a duplex) was on fire.
Before I get too far into the story, let me back up a little bit. I keep my cellphone with me 24/7. I use my cellphone for all my business activities, including dealing with tenants. In the past 5+ years, I've never received one of the stereotypical "3am broken water line" calls that you always hear about. Nevertheless, I always keep it on just in case. Last night was no exception. When I went to bed, I put the phone on the headboard. At about 5am, my &%$#@ cellphone started chirping that the battery was almost dead. I was tired and it was nearly morning, so I shut it off instead of getting up to put it on charge. When I finally got up about 7am, I plugged my phone in and turned it on. I immediately had two voicemails, which I knew was a bad sign. Sure enough, as the first voicemail began, I could hear sirens in the background. The call was from one of my tenants who was telling me that the duplex was on fire. That voicemail was received at 5:50 am, a full one hour and ten minutes before I plugged the phone in. As I started to listen to the second voice mail, I had a call waiting, which was the tenant. She told me that the fire had started in the downstairs apartment and that the fire was out. I told her that I would be right there. It was quite ironic that I received the dreaded 5 am call on just about the only occassion that my phone has been off in the past 6 years!
About 10 minutes later, I arrived at the house. There was still a fire engine in the middle of the street with the emergency lights flashing. As it turned out, I knew the fire captain that was on the scene and he took me into the apartment to show me the cause of the fire.
I had been using this one-bedroom apartment for storage. There were a lot of tools and supplies still in there, even though I had been slowly transferring my stuff to the storeroom at the pink elephant, which I will be using as a central location for all my rental stuff. Because it was being used for storage, there was nothing actually being electrically powered in the apartment, even though the electric service was on. Even more strange is that an electrical fire would occur in a duplex that had a brand new electrical service and all modern (or new) electrical wiring. Anyway, the fire captain took me to the bathroom to show me where the fire started. The fire started in an electric wall mounted heater that had not been used in the 4 years that I have owned the property. We installed a new electric furnace and heat pump for the unit and I was planning to remove the electric heater when we renovated the unit. There was little doubt that the heater was the cause of the fire. The walls in the bathroom were completely charred, with the worst charring immediately surrounding the heater. The only other electrical appliance in the unit was the light, which was on the opposite wall and showed no evidence of significant damage (other than smoke damage). I have a lot of experience with electrical work, and I can tell you that I have absolutely no idea how a heater that wasn't turned on and hasn't been used in several years, could suddenly burst into flames. I suppose that it's possible a mouse was chewing on the wiring, but beyond that, I don't have a good idea. I thought that maybe someone had broken into the apartment and caused the fire, but the fire captain said that all the windows and doors were closed and locked when they arrived. They broke in the back door to gain access to the unit.
The bottom line is that the bathroom walls were charred; the kitchen has a lot of smoke damage; and the rest of the apartment has light to moderate smoke damage. I'll need to remove the drywall in the bathroom. The rest of the apartment will need to be cleaned and then painted with Kilz.
While all this may sound bad, I am actually very glad that it turned out so well. The safety equipment worked perfectly in the upstairs apartment. The smoke alarm woke up the tenants and no one was injured. There wasn't even any smoke damage in the upstairs apartment. So, all in all, things could have been a LOT worse.
Lessons learned? Be sure that there are smoke detectors on every floor of every unit (there were) and, of course, keep your cell phone charged.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Copper vs. Pex in the Cold
The last two days have been an interesting study in the relative merits of copper water line vs. Pex water line (with brass Sharkbite connectors). In yesterday's blog, I discussed how a mistake on my part resulted in a frozen waterline in one of my apartment buildings. Today, I would like to discuss another apartment that had a frozen waterline today and the starkly different result in that unit with Pex vs. the one yesterday with copper.
As you may recall from yesterday's blog post, I failed to ensure that the electric service was on at a vacant apartment and the result was frozen water lines in the apartment at the back of the building. Once I thawed the water lines, there were so many breaks in the water lines that it was a virtual downpour in the apartment. Those broken water lines were all copper. I replaced enough of those broken lines last night to re-establish water service to the two occupied units in that 3-unit building. Since the electric was obviously still out last night at the back apartment, I asked the tenant in one of the other units to let the water drip overnight to prevent re-freezing.
As you have probably already surmised, the tenant did NOT keep the water dripping overnight and the water lines refroze. So, this morning, I went over to the apartment to thaw the water lines with my torpedo heater again. Before I even arrived at the building, I received a call from another tenant in one of our duplexes and she also reported that her water was frozen. I was somewhat surprised that this building had a frozen water line as I have owned this building about 3 years and never had a problem before, even when the temperature reached 10 to 20 degrees below zero! Last night's temperature was only about zero, but the wind was blowing quite strongly.
The interesting facet to my situation over the past 2 days is the stark difference between the frozen water lines that were copper and those that were Pex (with brass Sharkbite connectors). In the unit with the copper lines, there were several breaks in the lines. In the unit with the Pex lines, there were absolutely no breaks in the lines. Furthermore, when the Pex lines that I installed last night refroze this morning, there were no breaks in the lines. My conclusion is that Pex performs exactly as advertised - it's won't break even when frozen solid, whereas copper easily breaks when frozen! This is certainly something to consider when deciding what type of water line to install in rentals in cold climates.
As you may recall from yesterday's blog post, I failed to ensure that the electric service was on at a vacant apartment and the result was frozen water lines in the apartment at the back of the building. Once I thawed the water lines, there were so many breaks in the water lines that it was a virtual downpour in the apartment. Those broken water lines were all copper. I replaced enough of those broken lines last night to re-establish water service to the two occupied units in that 3-unit building. Since the electric was obviously still out last night at the back apartment, I asked the tenant in one of the other units to let the water drip overnight to prevent re-freezing.
As you have probably already surmised, the tenant did NOT keep the water dripping overnight and the water lines refroze. So, this morning, I went over to the apartment to thaw the water lines with my torpedo heater again. Before I even arrived at the building, I received a call from another tenant in one of our duplexes and she also reported that her water was frozen. I was somewhat surprised that this building had a frozen water line as I have owned this building about 3 years and never had a problem before, even when the temperature reached 10 to 20 degrees below zero! Last night's temperature was only about zero, but the wind was blowing quite strongly.
The interesting facet to my situation over the past 2 days is the stark difference between the frozen water lines that were copper and those that were Pex (with brass Sharkbite connectors). In the unit with the copper lines, there were several breaks in the lines. In the unit with the Pex lines, there were absolutely no breaks in the lines. Furthermore, when the Pex lines that I installed last night refroze this morning, there were no breaks in the lines. My conclusion is that Pex performs exactly as advertised - it's won't break even when frozen solid, whereas copper easily breaks when frozen! This is certainly something to consider when deciding what type of water line to install in rentals in cold climates.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Self-inflicted Wound!
Today I found out what happens when an absolute idiot (me) mismanages a rental property with the outside air temperature near zero. Here's the story:
My plan for today was to pay a few bills; go to the post office; go to the bank; sign the lease with a new tenant; and then finish the laminate floor I've been working on. I estimated that this would take about 4 hours. Everything was going as planned. Since it was very cold today, I didn't go to work until about noon. After accomplishing everything on my list, I was getting ready to go home. That's when things started going downhill.
I received a call from one of my tenants who said that her water had frozen. She lives in one of my 3-unit buildings and obviously if she was out of water, the entire building was without water. I drove right over to the building and met with the tenant. Just as she said, the water was frozen. After looking carefully at the situation, it became obvious what the problem was. I WAS THE PROBLEM!
You see, the back apartment in this building is vacant. I didn't realize that the water line heat tape for the main water line that runs under that apartment was run from the electrical service of that apartment. Since the unit was vacant, I allowed the electric to be shut off and therefore the waterline became frozen.
Unfortunately, my stupidity and ignorance wasn't the end of the story. Once I got the water line unfrozen, there was a virtual rain storm in the back apartment due to the multiple ruptures in the copper water line caused by the freezing. I carry most of the parts in my pickup truck to fix almost any problem. I had several quick-connect Sharkbite connectors and some pieces of PEX waterline. Unfortunately, there were so many leaks that I didn't have enough connectors to finish repairing all the leaks, even after going to my storeroom and getting all the parts I had there. The only good news was that after cutting numerous holes in the walls and ceiling, I was able to repair the supply line that provides water to the two occupied apartments. So, tomorrow, I will still need to repair the remaining waterlines in the back apartment.
When all was said and done, my 4 hour work day turned into a 10 hour workday, and all because I failed to ensure that the electric was on at the back apartment. You can bet that this is a lesson that I won't soon forget! Who said that the rental business isn't fun? UGH!
My plan for today was to pay a few bills; go to the post office; go to the bank; sign the lease with a new tenant; and then finish the laminate floor I've been working on. I estimated that this would take about 4 hours. Everything was going as planned. Since it was very cold today, I didn't go to work until about noon. After accomplishing everything on my list, I was getting ready to go home. That's when things started going downhill.
I received a call from one of my tenants who said that her water had frozen. She lives in one of my 3-unit buildings and obviously if she was out of water, the entire building was without water. I drove right over to the building and met with the tenant. Just as she said, the water was frozen. After looking carefully at the situation, it became obvious what the problem was. I WAS THE PROBLEM!
You see, the back apartment in this building is vacant. I didn't realize that the water line heat tape for the main water line that runs under that apartment was run from the electrical service of that apartment. Since the unit was vacant, I allowed the electric to be shut off and therefore the waterline became frozen.
Unfortunately, my stupidity and ignorance wasn't the end of the story. Once I got the water line unfrozen, there was a virtual rain storm in the back apartment due to the multiple ruptures in the copper water line caused by the freezing. I carry most of the parts in my pickup truck to fix almost any problem. I had several quick-connect Sharkbite connectors and some pieces of PEX waterline. Unfortunately, there were so many leaks that I didn't have enough connectors to finish repairing all the leaks, even after going to my storeroom and getting all the parts I had there. The only good news was that after cutting numerous holes in the walls and ceiling, I was able to repair the supply line that provides water to the two occupied apartments. So, tomorrow, I will still need to repair the remaining waterlines in the back apartment.
When all was said and done, my 4 hour work day turned into a 10 hour workday, and all because I failed to ensure that the electric was on at the back apartment. You can bet that this is a lesson that I won't soon forget! Who said that the rental business isn't fun? UGH!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Finally Started on the Floor
I finally got started on the kitchen floor of the 2 bedroom house today. Things went fairly smoothly and I got about 3/4 of the floor done. I am still not satisfied with the joints between the individual laminate panels. I re-read the instructions for the installation and was very careful with each piece of laminate, yet there are still wider gaps in some of the panels than I would like. This is an old house and nothing is square or perfectly level, so that may be having an effect on the job.
My brother-in-law has a very large rental business and I may talk to him about observing his next installation. He has a guy that installs his laminate and this guy does an excellent job. There may be some tricks of the trade that I need to learn from an expert.
My brother-in-law has a very large rental business and I may talk to him about observing his next installation. He has a guy that installs his laminate and this guy does an excellent job. There may be some tricks of the trade that I need to learn from an expert.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Electrical Problem
We had a death in the family this week and therefore I didn't work from Sunday through Thursday as I was spending time with my family and we had a bunch of company at our house . I finally got back to work today and had every intention of finally laying the new laminate floor in the kitchen of one of my two bedroom houses. Unfortunately, I had a couple of other issues come up and I spent all afternoon working on those issues.
The first issue was a tenant that left a message yesterday about an upstairs tenant (Section 8) that was causing trouble. I tried to call the tenant that was reported to be causing the problem and then I tried to call the tenant that complained about the other tenant. Both of their cell phones had been disconnected. So, I stopped by the apartment building to check up on the situation. The downstairs tenant was home. He said that the tenant upstairs had started drinking heavily about two weeks ago and had been a problem every since. He also said that he saved the life of the upstairs tenant about a week ago when he was extremely drunk and severely cut his foot on a broken beer bottle.
After hearing that side of the story, I went upstairs to talk to the upstairs tenant. He wasn't home, so I'll stop by another day to get his side of the story and try to get him to behave. Dealing with tenants is a lot like dealing with 3rd grade children.
My next stop was at an apartment that supposedly had a couple of lights that weren't working. My assumption was that the light bulbs had burned out and that the tenant wasn't intelligent enough to put in a working light bulb (it happens all the time). To my surprise, putting in new bulbs didn't fix the problem. So, I checked the fuses - all were ok. Both of these lights were ceiling lights (one was a ceiling fan). I checked voltage at both fixtures and found that there was no power to either fixture. So, I went back out to the fusebox to troubleshoot that. Everything checked out fine at the fusebox. To make a long story short, the trouble ended up being a broken wire in one of the electrical boxes in the ceiling. I replaced the first light fixture and then went to Lowes to get another ceiling light fixture to replace the old ceiling fan that had been installed. It is my policy to make Section 8 rentals as simple as possible. A ceiling fan is just one more thing to go bad and they can be quite dangerous. There was a recent legal case in which a landlord was sued when a tenant lost an eye in a ceiling fan mishap. The tenant was bouncing on a couch and was struck in the eye by the whirling ceiling fan blade.
Afer I finally finished the electrical issue (more than 2 hours after starting), I had to show a one-bedroom house to a prospective tenant. He filled out an application and claims he will take the apartment - we'll see. That was it for today. I'm planning to work tomorrow. Maybe I can finally get that floor started.
The first issue was a tenant that left a message yesterday about an upstairs tenant (Section 8) that was causing trouble. I tried to call the tenant that was reported to be causing the problem and then I tried to call the tenant that complained about the other tenant. Both of their cell phones had been disconnected. So, I stopped by the apartment building to check up on the situation. The downstairs tenant was home. He said that the tenant upstairs had started drinking heavily about two weeks ago and had been a problem every since. He also said that he saved the life of the upstairs tenant about a week ago when he was extremely drunk and severely cut his foot on a broken beer bottle.
After hearing that side of the story, I went upstairs to talk to the upstairs tenant. He wasn't home, so I'll stop by another day to get his side of the story and try to get him to behave. Dealing with tenants is a lot like dealing with 3rd grade children.
My next stop was at an apartment that supposedly had a couple of lights that weren't working. My assumption was that the light bulbs had burned out and that the tenant wasn't intelligent enough to put in a working light bulb (it happens all the time). To my surprise, putting in new bulbs didn't fix the problem. So, I checked the fuses - all were ok. Both of these lights were ceiling lights (one was a ceiling fan). I checked voltage at both fixtures and found that there was no power to either fixture. So, I went back out to the fusebox to troubleshoot that. Everything checked out fine at the fusebox. To make a long story short, the trouble ended up being a broken wire in one of the electrical boxes in the ceiling. I replaced the first light fixture and then went to Lowes to get another ceiling light fixture to replace the old ceiling fan that had been installed. It is my policy to make Section 8 rentals as simple as possible. A ceiling fan is just one more thing to go bad and they can be quite dangerous. There was a recent legal case in which a landlord was sued when a tenant lost an eye in a ceiling fan mishap. The tenant was bouncing on a couch and was struck in the eye by the whirling ceiling fan blade.
Afer I finally finished the electrical issue (more than 2 hours after starting), I had to show a one-bedroom house to a prospective tenant. He filled out an application and claims he will take the apartment - we'll see. That was it for today. I'm planning to work tomorrow. Maybe I can finally get that floor started.
Friday, December 12, 2008
New Tenant Moved In
Today's main project was to get the lease signed with the new tenant for one of my 1 bedroom apartments. The tenant was moving from Kentucky and didn't arrive until about 11:30. I had to finish moving all my supplies out of the apartment and I also installed a shower curtain rod around the claw foot tub. I make the shower curtain rods myself, which allow the claw foot tubs to be used as a shower. The reason that I make them is because the kits that you can buy to accomplish this are expensive and easily damaged by tenants. So, after some experimentation, I determined that the best way to make a tenant-safe shower ring is to use 1 1/4 inch PVC with floor flanges that screw into the wall. I can make a complete shower ring all the way around the tub for less that $40 as opposed to about $140 for the kit from the plumbing store. The floor flanges are the most expensive part of the project at about $7 each but they are cast iron and therefore indestructable by the tenants. About the worst thing the tenants can do to it is destroy the PVC pipe, which is very inexpensive.
I didn't do anything else today and won't be doing any rental related stuff this weekend. Our church is having our annual Christmas Cantada this weekend and my part is to run the projection. So, I'll be busy tomorrow with practice and then we'll have the Cantada both tomorrow evening and Sunday morning. It will be a busy weekend.
I didn't do anything else today and won't be doing any rental related stuff this weekend. Our church is having our annual Christmas Cantada this weekend and my part is to run the projection. So, I'll be busy tomorrow with practice and then we'll have the Cantada both tomorrow evening and Sunday morning. It will be a busy weekend.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Painting Complete.
I finished painting the 1-bedroom apartment today. In addition to the painting, I repaired a soft spot in the bathroom floor and steam-cleaned the carpets. The new tenant is moving in tomorrow, so I got finished just in the nick of time!
Not too much else to report here. This time between Thanksgiving and New Years is always slow and this year is no exception. Phone calls from potential tenants are down to a handful each day and tenants are busy doing their Christmas shopping.
I'm not sure what I will do tomorrow, but something will come up. I'm thinking about taking my wife to see the movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still" in the afternoon or evening.
Not too much else to report here. This time between Thanksgiving and New Years is always slow and this year is no exception. Phone calls from potential tenants are down to a handful each day and tenants are busy doing their Christmas shopping.
I'm not sure what I will do tomorrow, but something will come up. I'm thinking about taking my wife to see the movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still" in the afternoon or evening.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Painting again
I started the day with a 10 minute job to replace the element in the oven at one of my 3 bedroom houses. No big deal.
The rest of my time today was spent painting the floor in a 3 bedroom duplex and then painting the kitchen in the 1 bedroom apartment that I've been working on. Nothing too exciting.
I did have an interesting call from a prospective tenant today. She asked about one of my two bedroom houses. She asked if she could see it and I explained my screening criteria to her. After I got done, I asked if everyone that would live there would meet the criteria. Her answer was very telling. "I will be the only one on the lease and I will pass the criteria", even though she already told me that her mother and boyfriend would be living there. The translation of her answer is "my mother and boyfriend have evictions and a criminal record, so I'll be the one to apply". Needless to say, I wasn't fooled and I said "no thanks"!
The rest of my time today was spent painting the floor in a 3 bedroom duplex and then painting the kitchen in the 1 bedroom apartment that I've been working on. Nothing too exciting.
I did have an interesting call from a prospective tenant today. She asked about one of my two bedroom houses. She asked if she could see it and I explained my screening criteria to her. After I got done, I asked if everyone that would live there would meet the criteria. Her answer was very telling. "I will be the only one on the lease and I will pass the criteria", even though she already told me that her mother and boyfriend would be living there. The translation of her answer is "my mother and boyfriend have evictions and a criminal record, so I'll be the one to apply". Needless to say, I wasn't fooled and I said "no thanks"!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Torturing a Deadbeat Ex-Tenant!
No, the law doesn't allow water-boarding deadbeats here in Ohio, so I guess torture isn't exactly the right word. However, I currently have a situation that is going to provide some amusement to me as I get the chance to make an evicted tenant's life miserable. Here's the story.
Last January, I took over a building that was mismanaged and full of druggies and deadbeats. One of the apartments was occupied by a man and woman. The woman was a crack addict and they were not paying rent regularly to the previous owner. The woman decided to spend the money on crack instead of the rent. I suppose that she expected me to act like the last landlord and accept some silly excuse instead of the rent. I immediately evicted them. In addition to evicting them, I had them banned from the premises by the police department.
They moved into another rented apartment a few blocks away, but would return to stand on the sidewalk and talk to their mother who lives in a downstairs apartment. I have told them that if I caught either of them actually on the property that I would have them arrested (and I have had some of the other evicted druggies arrested for criminal trespass). I also told the mother that if she allowed them in her apartment, I would terminate her lease (she's on a month-to-month).
Well, the bottom line is that the two druggies split up and the man is homeless. He has returned to the property to live with his mother. The only problem for him is that he can't allow me to see him, or his mother will lose her apartment and they will both be homeless. Unfortunately for him, I have eight security cameras at the building and therefore he can't come or go without me seeing him. So, he snuck into the apartment wearing a hood and now he's trapped. He can't risk coming or going without being seen. He might as well be in prison!!! LOL!!!
So, now I'm going to have a little fun! There is a little spot on one of the walls that needs fixed in the mother's apartment. After keeping him trapped in the apartment for a few days, I'm going to call the mother, when we have a particularly cold day, and tell her that I'm coming over to fix the wall. He'll have to sneak out before I get there, which I will catch on the surveillance system. While I'm there, I'll mention to the mother that I heard that he's been seen by a neighbor and remind her that if I see him going into her apartment that I'll be forced to terminate her lease. That should be enough to keep him out on the street for a few days. If he sneaks back in, I'll find another excuse to go over and force him out again. It should be fun and I'll enjoy making his life miserable after he ripped me off for hundreds of dollars of rent and eviction costs!
I took yesterday off, so today was my first day of working on the rentals this week. My project today was to paint a one-bedroom apartment. I got one bedroom done and touched up the paint in the living room. I still have the kitchen to paint and that's on the agenda for tomorrow along with painting the floor in one of my duplexes.
Last January, I took over a building that was mismanaged and full of druggies and deadbeats. One of the apartments was occupied by a man and woman. The woman was a crack addict and they were not paying rent regularly to the previous owner. The woman decided to spend the money on crack instead of the rent. I suppose that she expected me to act like the last landlord and accept some silly excuse instead of the rent. I immediately evicted them. In addition to evicting them, I had them banned from the premises by the police department.
They moved into another rented apartment a few blocks away, but would return to stand on the sidewalk and talk to their mother who lives in a downstairs apartment. I have told them that if I caught either of them actually on the property that I would have them arrested (and I have had some of the other evicted druggies arrested for criminal trespass). I also told the mother that if she allowed them in her apartment, I would terminate her lease (she's on a month-to-month).
Well, the bottom line is that the two druggies split up and the man is homeless. He has returned to the property to live with his mother. The only problem for him is that he can't allow me to see him, or his mother will lose her apartment and they will both be homeless. Unfortunately for him, I have eight security cameras at the building and therefore he can't come or go without me seeing him. So, he snuck into the apartment wearing a hood and now he's trapped. He can't risk coming or going without being seen. He might as well be in prison!!! LOL!!!
So, now I'm going to have a little fun! There is a little spot on one of the walls that needs fixed in the mother's apartment. After keeping him trapped in the apartment for a few days, I'm going to call the mother, when we have a particularly cold day, and tell her that I'm coming over to fix the wall. He'll have to sneak out before I get there, which I will catch on the surveillance system. While I'm there, I'll mention to the mother that I heard that he's been seen by a neighbor and remind her that if I see him going into her apartment that I'll be forced to terminate her lease. That should be enough to keep him out on the street for a few days. If he sneaks back in, I'll find another excuse to go over and force him out again. It should be fun and I'll enjoy making his life miserable after he ripped me off for hundreds of dollars of rent and eviction costs!
I took yesterday off, so today was my first day of working on the rentals this week. My project today was to paint a one-bedroom apartment. I got one bedroom done and touched up the paint in the living room. I still have the kitchen to paint and that's on the agenda for tomorrow along with painting the floor in one of my duplexes.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
When is No Job the Best Job?
When is no job the best job? Answer: in the middle of a job-killing recession!
If you follow the news like I do, then you already know that our economy lost 533,000 jobs in November! The unemployment rate has also increased to 6.7%. Ironically, the only reason that the unemployment rate only went to 6.7% is that a huge number of people were so frustrated by the lack of jobs, that they stopped looking for work. In the screwed up fantasy land that is our government, when a person can't find work and gives up, they aren't counted as being unemployed! In addition, there are millions of lazy people in this country that simply don't want to work and they aren't counted either.
The point is that millions of Americans are in danger of losing their jobs right now. If we fall into a Depression, unemployment could skyrocket. Fortunately, those of us that are self-employed are not facing such a risk. That's not to say that running a rental property business is risk-free, it's not. However, at least my future isn't in the hands of some corporate bean counter that may want to save money by eliminating my job.
As long as there are people on this planet, people will need a place to live. That gives me assurance that rental property owners will have some job security!
If you follow the news like I do, then you already know that our economy lost 533,000 jobs in November! The unemployment rate has also increased to 6.7%. Ironically, the only reason that the unemployment rate only went to 6.7% is that a huge number of people were so frustrated by the lack of jobs, that they stopped looking for work. In the screwed up fantasy land that is our government, when a person can't find work and gives up, they aren't counted as being unemployed! In addition, there are millions of lazy people in this country that simply don't want to work and they aren't counted either.
The point is that millions of Americans are in danger of losing their jobs right now. If we fall into a Depression, unemployment could skyrocket. Fortunately, those of us that are self-employed are not facing such a risk. That's not to say that running a rental property business is risk-free, it's not. However, at least my future isn't in the hands of some corporate bean counter that may want to save money by eliminating my job.
As long as there are people on this planet, people will need a place to live. That gives me assurance that rental property owners will have some job security!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
The Rents are In!
The rents are in for this month and it looks like I'll have another month without an eviction. If so, I believe that this will be the fourth month without an eviction, which is absolutely wonderful. I still have two outstanding rents, even though my rent collection period has ended, but both have contacted me and have said that they will pay (including the $50 late fee) within the next 3 days, which is the 3 day eviction notice period.
I painted the trim around the floor that I've been working on and fixed a bad spot in one wall. I also did some other painting in the same house.
I had a young woman (maybe about 20 years old) and her mother look at an apartment today (for the girl and her boyfriend). She's supposed to bring the deposit tomorrow!
I'm planning to start installing my second laminate floor tomorrow in a two bedroom house. This will also be installed in a kitchen. I'm looking forward to improving my technique and hopefully the result.
Finally, I had a woman look at one of my two bedroom houses today. From the first time she opened her mouth, I didn't like her. She said that she needed a place to live right away. That is always a warning sign. When I asked her why she needed a place "right away", she said that her current house was about to be condemned. When I asked her why it was being condemned, she said that her child had been exposed to too much lead paint there. That tells me that she is a deadbeat parent who doesn't adequately watch her child. I asked her if she knew that my house was also built before 1978 and therefore probably had lead paint in it. Of course, any lead paint in my house has been properly encapsulated, but I didn't mention that. She didn't seem to care that there might be lead paint in my house, which is proof positive to me that she was lying about her real reason for leaving her current house. So, I asked her how it would help to move from one house with lead paint to another. Since there was no reasonable answer, she didn't apply to rent my house. AMEN! Tenants that cause trouble for one landlord will not hesitate to cause trouble for the next. The last thing I want is a trouble-maker for a tenant!
I painted the trim around the floor that I've been working on and fixed a bad spot in one wall. I also did some other painting in the same house.
I had a young woman (maybe about 20 years old) and her mother look at an apartment today (for the girl and her boyfriend). She's supposed to bring the deposit tomorrow!
I'm planning to start installing my second laminate floor tomorrow in a two bedroom house. This will also be installed in a kitchen. I'm looking forward to improving my technique and hopefully the result.
Finally, I had a woman look at one of my two bedroom houses today. From the first time she opened her mouth, I didn't like her. She said that she needed a place to live right away. That is always a warning sign. When I asked her why she needed a place "right away", she said that her current house was about to be condemned. When I asked her why it was being condemned, she said that her child had been exposed to too much lead paint there. That tells me that she is a deadbeat parent who doesn't adequately watch her child. I asked her if she knew that my house was also built before 1978 and therefore probably had lead paint in it. Of course, any lead paint in my house has been properly encapsulated, but I didn't mention that. She didn't seem to care that there might be lead paint in my house, which is proof positive to me that she was lying about her real reason for leaving her current house. So, I asked her how it would help to move from one house with lead paint to another. Since there was no reasonable answer, she didn't apply to rent my house. AMEN! Tenants that cause trouble for one landlord will not hesitate to cause trouble for the next. The last thing I want is a trouble-maker for a tenant!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Quite a Bit Done Today!
Today was one of those days when I got quite a bit done! I collected numerous rents, which is always nice - in fact, it's my favorite part of the business!
In addition to that, I finished the trim for the floor I've been working on. I have decided that it looks pretty good and I'll try to take a picture of it tomorrow after I've painted the trim.
While I was working on the floor, one of my tenants called to tell me that she had a break-in yesterday. She said that the tenant apparently got in through a window that wouldn't lock. So, after finishing the floor, I went over to that house to check out the situation. All of the windows had locks on them, but one window wasn't completely closed and of course wasn't locked. That is apparently how the criminal got in. The good news is that nothing was stolen and no-one was hurt.
Next, I went to one of my nicest 3 bedroom houses that had three issues to address. First, I fixed a faucet handle that had become loose. No big deal. Next, I removed a table and chairs that came with the house, because the tenant got her own table and chairs. Finally, I checked the water meter to determine if there was a water leak at the house. The tenant reported that her water bill went from $32 per month to $89 per month and that she must have a leak. With the faucets off in the house, the water meter wasn't turning. Therefore, there is no leak. I suspect that the water company misread the water meter.
In addition to that, I finished the trim for the floor I've been working on. I have decided that it looks pretty good and I'll try to take a picture of it tomorrow after I've painted the trim.
While I was working on the floor, one of my tenants called to tell me that she had a break-in yesterday. She said that the tenant apparently got in through a window that wouldn't lock. So, after finishing the floor, I went over to that house to check out the situation. All of the windows had locks on them, but one window wasn't completely closed and of course wasn't locked. That is apparently how the criminal got in. The good news is that nothing was stolen and no-one was hurt.
Next, I went to one of my nicest 3 bedroom houses that had three issues to address. First, I fixed a faucet handle that had become loose. No big deal. Next, I removed a table and chairs that came with the house, because the tenant got her own table and chairs. Finally, I checked the water meter to determine if there was a water leak at the house. The tenant reported that her water bill went from $32 per month to $89 per month and that she must have a leak. With the faucets off in the house, the water meter wasn't turning. Therefore, there is no leak. I suspect that the water company misread the water meter.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Floor Finished and Rent Collected!
Today was the 1st, which is the beginning of rent collections for the month. I started the day by going to the post office to pickup my Section 8 checks. I then made up deposit tickets and deposited those checks in the bank. From there, I picked up one rent from a tenant who called this morning and then came home for lunch.
After lunch, I picked up a bunch of other rents and spent a little time finishing the laminate floor that I started yesterday. After completing the floor, I went to Lowes to get the baseboard trim pieces and transition strips that I need to finish the project. I'm planning to install and paint the baseboard trim tomorrow.
When I looked at the laminate job today, I felt quite a bit better about it than I did last night. It looks very nice and really shines and the wider joints that I complained about last night don't seem to be really noticeable. I''ll try to remember to take a picture of it tomorrow.
After lunch, I picked up a bunch of other rents and spent a little time finishing the laminate floor that I started yesterday. After completing the floor, I went to Lowes to get the baseboard trim pieces and transition strips that I need to finish the project. I'm planning to install and paint the baseboard trim tomorrow.
When I looked at the laminate job today, I felt quite a bit better about it than I did last night. It looks very nice and really shines and the wider joints that I complained about last night don't seem to be really noticeable. I''ll try to remember to take a picture of it tomorrow.
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