Home for a day!

Sorry for the lack of posting this week. I simply haven't been home and will be gone again starting tomorrow. This past Sunday through Wednesday, I went with my wife to a conference that is connected with her business. The conference was held at the Hyatt (Boo-Hiss!), which I think is a TERRIBLE hotel. Although the rooms rent for $150 per night, they stick you for every little thing - like $21 per night for parking; $10 per day for internet access; etc. It's a total ripoff if you ask me (although as a landlord, I am a confirmed cheapskate). Are these "fancy" hotels really worth the price? I think not! Give me a Comfort Inn or Holiday Inn anytime, where you don't pay to park; don't pay for wireless internet access; and get a free breakfast; ALL FOR HALF THE PRICE!

Anyway, we had a good time and the business that sponsored my wife paid the tab for the room, internet, parking, and all that other stuff so I guess I shouldn't complain. It just rubs me the wrong way to throw away big money on substandard service. While I'm on a rant, I did have one more complaint. Since I didn't want to attend all the events, I took my personal taxes with me to complete (they're on extension). After I finished it up, I wanted to print one page and then copy 9 pages. The Hyatt had a business room, where you could accomplish all that. It cost $5 to hook up the laptop and $1 per page to make black and white copies ($2 for color copies). So, to print one page and copy my 9 pages, it would have cost about $15!!! Talk about ROBBERY! So, instead of doing that, we stopped by Office Max when we went to dinner. Office max copied them for a whopping 89 CENTS! They even gave me about half a dozen paperclips for free.

During our trip, Ohio received the remnants of Hurricane Gustav which combined with a cold front over Ohio. The result was hurricane force winds covering almost all of Ohio. As this occurred, I began receiving calls from tenants. When all was said and done, I had four properties damaged, thankfully none of them badly. One had some rolled roofing blown off a porch; two had some siding and shingles blown off; and one had a large tree down in the back yard. I was very fortunate that the tree fell parallel to the duplex, with the damage was limited to the edge of the roof and a fence that was smashed. All in all, not too bad, especially when compared to all the damage in Texas. We had about 2 million people without power in Ohio due to the storm, but most of my tenants had their power back on within a day and a half.

We got home yesterday about 1pm and I spent most of the remainder of the day checking all of my rentals for storm damage. I also had to re-initialize the remote viewing capability of my surveillance camera system at the Pink Elephant because the cable and power had been out. The surveillance system was working but the IP address for my remote viewing had been altered and that had to be taken care of.

Today, I did several small jobs, including signing leases for two apartments; fixing two minor water leaks; fixing a broken toilet; trashed out a basement; and steam cleaning the carpet in one apartment. Tomorrow morning, I'm planning to paint one bathroom and hopefully cut up the tree that fell in the back yard of my duplex.

Then, in the afternoon, we're going camping! We'll be gone Friday through Monday on another 4 day weekend. It should be a lot of fun with the beautiful fall weather coming to Ohio. I'm looking forward to some great mountain biking and a lot of good fellowship with some friends from church.

That's about it. We're caught up. I probably won't post while were at the campground. The campground is still out of power (due to Gustav) and I'd bet that the internet access is out also. We won't have to worry about electric - our Motorhome has a 6.5 KW Generator, but we don't have an independent source of internet access.

Have a good weekend!

Failed!

I have a very good record passing my Section 8 inspections. In fact, the inspectors have told me that I am one of the few landlords that frequently passes the inspection the first time. I am proud of that fact and do my best to pass them all the first time.

I had a Section 8 inspection this morning on my 6 bedroom house. This is a very nice house and I didn't anticipate any problems. As we walked through the house, everything was looking good until we walked into the downstairs bathroom. The inspector asked where the exhaust fan was and of course the answer was that there wasn't one!!! It hadn't even occurred to me that the downstairs bathroom didn't have a window or an exhaust fan (one of which is required). The upstairs bathroom has a fan, but both bathrooms need one. So, the short story is that I failed the inspection. The only good news is that the inspector said that he would be back in the area in a few days and he will be happy to re-inspect it at that time.

Still Busy

There continues to be significant demand for rentals in our area. I'm filling them just about as fast as I can turn them around. Today, I spent most of my time rehabbing a one bedroom apartment in the pink elephant. I steam cleaned the carpet; painted the living room, kitchen, and bathroom; trashed out both bedrooms; and replaced some light bulbs. Still to go - painting both bedrooms and fixing broken doors on a couple of kitchen cabinets.

I also got a quote for a monitored alarm system for the old store front at the pink elephant. Currently, I have a $99 alarm in the store front, which could clearly be easily defeated by a serious criminal. The monitored system that I am having installed will have cell phone technology and will not only call the monitoring center, but also will send a text message to my phone. The system will also have a push button remote for arming and disarming the system, which will allow and instantaneous alarm in the event of a break-in. I have also opted for a smoke detector as part of the system. The total cost is $615 for all the equipment and then $19 per month for the monitoring.

After the alarm system is installed, I will be moving all my supplies to this location. Currently, I have tools, supplies, parts, etc, scattered in two other apartments, which obviously aren't being used as rentals. Moving all my stuff to one location will not only allow it to be protected by an alarm system (and my surveillance cameras), it will alsow allow me to have two additional apartments that can be rented!

Two in a Row

I had an eviction this morning at 9:15 am. Just like last month, the tenant didn't show up for the eviction trial and therefore was evicted. Strangely, exactly like last month, the tenant showed up about 15 minutes late as I was leaving the courtroom! That is EXACTLY why these people ARE tenants - because they simply can't get their act together. They spend the rent money on something other than rent. They can't drag their butt out of bed in the morning even if something urgent (like a court hearing or a job) is on the agenda. They just can't force themselves to be responsible!

After court, I had to call tech support for my surveillance camera system. While I was trying to copy a little criminal incident yesterday from the camera system's DVR to a DVD, the DVR apparently decided that it didn't have a hard drive (even though I paid good money to have a 500 GB hard drive installed in the system). After about 5 minutes, the technician had my system up and running again.

Finally, I installed the door handle and trimmed out the door frame for a door in a new wall that I constructed. This wall turned a 2-bedroom house into a 3-bedroom house.

I haven't decided (or even given much thought to) what I'm going to do tomorrow. I'm sure that there is something to do. One of my priorities tomorrow is to do a little more work on my mountain bike. The back rim appears to be bent from one too many close enounter with a rock or tree root, and I need to take a look at that.

Catching Up

I'm a little behind on my posting again, so I'll use this post to catch up.

Last Thursday and Friday, I caught up on several smaller projects. One was what I thought was a clogged sink drain, but ended up being a clogged main sewer drain in one of my apartment buildings. I ended up having my plumber bring in his big electric snake to clean the main drain. It seems that this particular apartment building needs this drain cleaned about once a year. I also finished up the rehab on one of my one bedroom houses. That entailed steam cleaning the carpet, hanging miniblinds, and a lot of cleaning. Another unit ready to rent.

As I was finishing up collecting the rents on Thursday, I had an interesting situation occur. I was standing on the porch at one of my duplexes talking to one of my tenants. I noticed a scruffy guy that looked like a druggie walk to the duplex next door, which is occupied by a known drug dealer that is being setout (evicted) next Tuesday. Suddenly, I heard some glass break and my tenant pointed to the guy who was breaking the windows. I called the police. By the time the police arrived 15 minutes later, the druggie was gone. However, a couple of minutes later, I saw this idiot casually walking down the street about a block away. I called the police again and this time I followed the guy, continually giving the police his location. About three blocks away, the police finally stopped the guy. He had drugs in his pocket; a big wad of cash; and some items in a bag that appeared to be stolen property. I identified the guy as the criminal who had broken the window and the police arrested him and took him to jail. I'll let the other landlord know who did it, so that she might be able to get restitution when this loser goes to trial.

On Friday, I took 3-day eviction notices to the tenants who had not yet paid - SIX OF THEM! One of these tenants just moved into one of my 1-bedroom apartments last month. When I knocked on his door, it opened. There was nothing in the apartment. No food, no clothes, no furniture - nothing. The key was on the kitchen counter. Therefore, I considered this apartment to be abandoned in the absence of rent. Since I had another applicant looking for a one-bedroom, I changed the locks and signed a lease with the new tenant. That's the kind of turnaround that I really like - change the locks, sign a new lease, and I'm done!

I'm expecting the other tenants to pay by Tuesday with the $50 late fee (the final day of the 3-day notice period). If not, I'll file the evictions on Wednesday.

Yesterday (Saturday), I went mountain biking with a friend from Church. The course was wet and slippery, which made it quite challenging. We had a great time and got home in time to see the end of the Ohio State game. After the game, I worked on my bike. It has taken quite a beating this summer during all these mountain biking trips. The pedals are bent from hitting roots and rocks; the brakes were out of adjustment (hopefully fixed); and the front derailler isn't quite right. I may need to take the bike to the shop for a tune-up.

Today, in addition to church, I'll be taking another bike ride (concentrating on the hills).

There we are - caught up! I'll try to do better with the posting next week.

Section 8 Inspection - Passed!

Today's primary goal was to pass the yearly Section 8 inspection on one of my 3 bedroom houses. The tenant is a single mother with 5 kids (all very young) and of course children under 6. Having children under age 6 means that the paint must pass the Section 8 inspection, which is always the most difficult aspect of a Section 8 inspection. The way I normally handle things is to check the rental the day before the Section 8 inspection, so that any items that need attention can be fixed. My quick check of the unit yesterday uncovered one broken window; one missing light switch cover; one hole in the wall; some spots where the paint needed attention; and two loose window panes in the basement.

The inspection was scheduled for 2pm - 4pm today, so I went to the house at about 12:30 pm. First, I installed new glass in the broken window. Then, I caulked the loose window panes in the basement. Third on the priority list was to replace the missing switch cover. Next was patching the hole in the wall. Finally, I went around the house and touched up any paint that needed it, concentrating on the window frame areas. I was finished by 1:45 pm and just about that time the Section 8 inspector arrived. He was a little early, but I was ready. The unit passed with flying colors.

After the inspection, I collected several rents and then trashed out the basement of one of our 3 bedroom duplexes. That was enough for one day.

Another Fun Weekend!

We had a great time this weekend. I took Friday and Monday off so that my wife and I could have another 4- day weekend for camping. This time, we went to Ceasar's Creek State Park, near Wilmington, Ohio. Being my first time at this campground, I wasn't sure what to expect. However, I can report that it is an EXCELLENT campground with a beautiful lake, spectacular scenery, and very challenging mountain biking courses. It was a fantastic long weekend with good food, great friends and a lot of action packed fun.

Of particular note was our second day of mountain biking. Ceasar's creek has an elaborate system of mountain biking trails, stretching for many miles. Most of the course is intermediate and advanced in difficulty. On the second day of our mountain biking, we decided to do the entire course. It was a challenging course with a lot of steep climbs and descents. Everything was going fine for the first hour and a half. We had just completed the advanced portion of the course without any significant difficulty (other than my partner taking one fall) and thought that we were about half way back to the campground. As we arrived at the intersection of two trails, we realized that we had somehow gone around the advanced course again and were STILL ON THE ADVANCED COURSE! We were MANY miles from the campground. I was out of water. My partner was almost out of water. We were getting VERY TIRED and obviously lost. Certainly not time to declare an emergency, but still an uncomfortable situation.

Fortunately, while we were contemplating our situation, a lone biker arrived at our location. This was somewhat amazing, as he was the only other biker we saw on the entire course that day! He was a local guy who knew exactly where we were, and he volunteered to ride with us to the intersection of the next trailhead. By the time we finally arrived at the next trail head, we had already been riding for more than 2 hours and had ridden at least 20 miles on very challenging trails. We were both out of water and extremely tired. It was obvious that we couldn't ride the course back to the campground. We decided to exit the course and head back to the campground via some nearby rural roads.

As we made our way onto a country road, there was a man sitting on his porch. We stopped at his house to ask for water. The man was very kind and filled our water bottles with cold water from his refrigerator. I was certainly happy to have some fresh water and that water allowed us to continue back to the campground. By the time we finally arrived, we had been riding for nearly three hours and we were both literally exhausted. We were both close to being physically sick. After eating a light lunch and taking a two hour nap, I started to recover and was feeling better. By the next morning, I was feeling well enough for another 10 mile ride.

This incident teaches a valuable lesson that can be applied to just about every facet of life (including real estate). This lesson is one that I learned in the military; one that I know well; and one that I have applied in almost every other situation. In fact, I am a little embarassed that I didn't apply this lesson to my mountain biking when it was so obviously needed. Of course, the lesson is to be prepared! In the military, they expressed this to me (over and over again) as the Seven P's: Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. In the case of our mountain biking trip, our lack of planning certainly did result in piss poor performance.

So, I have vowed that I will apply the lesson learned by this experience into my future mountain biking trips (including this coming weekend). From now on, I will carry my camelback (additional water), a powerbar or something else to eat; a small first aid kit, and some sort of navigation device (either a compass or a small GPS. I also will re-evaluate the tools that I am carrying. I am already religiously wearing my helmet, but am considering wearing some sort of glasses or sport goggles for eye protection.

This has already been a long post, so I'm not going to opine how this applies to real estate - I think you get the point.

Speaking of real estate, I was back to work today. I spent the day collecting rent; fixing two showers; mowing the yards at two apartment buildings; and inspecting one property in advance of tomorrow's Section 8 inspection.