Silent night

We got our first snowfall/snow storm this winter. And a big one at that. On top of the 9 or so inches, there was 30-40 mph winds. That makes blowing and drifting snow a big concern. And not just on the highways and roads.

Four of our 13 rental properties are located on large corner lots. (The two single family units are repsonsible for their own snow removal)
The snow blows and creates these hard-high-drifted-covered sidewalks and parking lots. We really do not want to go out and spend a lot of energy and muscele shoveling because within an hour or so, the wind blows the snow all back in.
We waited until 5 pm to load up and head out. It was windy! And it was cold! But that is what long johns and double socks and layered shirts and face masks and scarves and wool mittens are for. Needless to say, I was ready.

I have been shoveling for 21 yrs and most of those times, by myself. Two years ago Creig purchased a large snow blower and a smaller lightweight one AND a trailer to haul them around. How did I/we do it the past 19 years with simply a shovel(s)? I have to admit I was the one saying no to blowers all those years. Being the tight wad I am, I just couldn't justify spending that kind of money. But than, I for one, love to shovel. I love the exercise, being outdoors and just the quiet after it snows. The kids were younger and it was good exercise and work for them. They each had a shovel and from the time they could walk were out bundled up and going with us. And they enjoyed it too. Than as they got older and busy and smarter, they weren't enjoying it so much anymore. Now when they help it is because they need money. Hmmm

Thursday night was exhilerating but by evening's end, Creig and I had a hard time moving. We ain't spring chickens anymore. I have to rest more often and that shovel gets heavier and heavier. This snow was heavy. Melting underneath made for packed and slushy stuff that clung to the shovel.

Three hours later after the last property, with snow stuck to our red wind burned faces, frozen melted snow on our boots and pant legs, frozen toes, and numb fingers we fell into the Jeep and looked at each other. Creig says "Just like old times huh?" And I thought to myself...yeah, just like old times. Out alone working together and actually enjoying it.
That is until we try and walk the next day.

Luck

I cleaned hallways and stairs at my apt buildings. I found five pennies
See a penny, pick it up--all day long you'll have good luck
I think I am good for the rest of the week.

It's in the contract

Over and over again I have people I share stories of my rentals with. You know,so they are aware that owning property isn't only about collecting money and having a big bank account. They hear these stories that sound made up. And almost every time I get, "You should have in the lease that they can't...." or "You should have in the lease that they have to pay if...." Uh huh... WELL in my lease (which by the way is very simple so even the simplest minds can read and understand without all the legal jargon) I have a section that reads PAINTING; Tenant agrees not to do ANY painting. Maybe I am wording it wrong?

Thanks

Sometimes, helping a tenant out does make a difference.

WTF?

I just called someone back that left a message inquiring about a 1 bedroom I had listed in the paper. This is the voice mail recording.

If you gettin this
Than I don't give a shit
An if you don't know what to do--
Figure it the %*#$ out.

Yah, I think I want to rent to her.

Before and After

This is how the kitchen looked after we spent months working on it. It was fun doing something different than the traditional white. The upper cabinets have been here a long time. Very retro. There are light fixtures throughout the building with similiar porcelain bases and color. We opted to paint the bottom wood cabinets to brighten up the tiny kitchen. Cleaning behind the stove and counter has been a long time battle. We are always looking for different back splashes that clean well. This time Creig cut, bent and installed stainless steel panels. Tenants don't seem to understand-or care-that wiping off grease right after it is splattered on the walls, makes for much easier cleanup. I even give them a little speech when they are signing the contract. "oh yeah, I keep my kitchen clean" uh huh.... I just spent a couple months trying to get the new tenant that moved in this one bedroom apt OUT. She lost the job she had when I agreed to let her have it. And even though she told me she would move if she didnt get a job that month, she would find a temp job, give me a hundred bucks and drag her stay out even longer. Too bad while she was unemployed 3 weeks out of the month she didnt take the time to cleanher apt. I ended up taking her to court and filed a money judgement against her. The night before the sheriff was scheduled to come and supervise while I took her to the curb, she was actually moving out. At that time she assured me she would 'sweep up' so I could get it rented out right away. I think she needed a better broom.

This is what the shiny kitchen cabinets looked like. You can imagine the condition of the rest of the place

Busy with summer

Must be summer because I have gotten even busier than normal. I decided to take the time and visit this blog. I guess it has been awhile and it has taken me too much time to figure out all the changes with Blogger. I was getting so frustrated I was going to just forget it. Doesn't help that I have been sitting for three hours trying to catch up on my accounting I am two months behind on. Who wants to take the time sitting and looking at numbers-trying to balance this and record that and remember how much and who from and blah blah blah. Numbers/math have never been my friend. But after all these years you would think I would be a whiz at it now. Obviously not. Landlording has not been pleasant the last couple months. It was time for some spring cleaning. After getting 'screwed' by a long time tenant, I knew I had to change. No more working with anyone. After one month and no money, they gotta go. We went as far as offering this lady to come over with a truck AND people to help her load up her things and take them wherever she wanted them to go. It would have saved her from renting a UHaul (and I 'thought she would be out quicker. That was over a month ago. She told me on the phone in no uncertain terms that "NO ONE IS COMING OVER HERE WITH ANY TRUCK". You can be the next day I went straight to the court house and filed an eviction against her. I am done "understanding her situation". So, including her, I have given the boot to four tenants. All deadbeats. All LOVED me and would never leave on bad terms since I have been so "good to them". Hmmmph. What kind of Karma is that? I better get back to my books

And the sun shines

He wasn't sitting on the steps when I went into the building. But there he sat in the sun when I came out. He greeted me like a long lost friend, like he had been just there waiting for me. I gave him a big smile and asked how he was doing. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it, and said "Wonderful" His eyes twinkled as I found out more how he was progressing. He had to tell me of his fishing tales and getting his motorcycle out of storage and riding around letting the wind blow through his hair. (He knew I would chuckle at that image. Black men do not have hair the wind can blow through)
Than he got very serious but kept the twinkle in his eyes or was that tears? He thanked me over and over for believing in him. For trusting his word. He couldn't have made living where he had been.

See, Larry was a homeless man living under the bridge. He had been in the men's shelter for the maximum amount of time allowed.

He was battling with cancer.

Someone met him at a the food bank and called me to see if I had any apts. He fit nicely into an efficiency I had in the big blue house. That was two years ago.

Larry continues to work through his treatments.
Always smiling, never complaining.

And he has the warmest smile.

Epidemic

Know the old saying, "happens in threes"? Three people you know pass away, three birthdays all in the same week?

That happens at the rentals. For a period of time I will have a string of refrigerators that need servicing or replacing. It usually costs on an average of 200 for repairs. If we buy new one, figure 400+.
Sometimes it is one oven after the next that goes out.
And I can't forget the investation of bugs. Four bed bug apts in the last couple months. Used to be roaches brought in by someone which are far easier and cheaper to irradicate. These bed bugs could put anyone in financial ruin.

Recently for me, it has been illegal activity that has abounded in three different apt buildings.

Let me give a summary.

Tenant 'A' gets arrested for 3 counts of theft, 'friends' staying in apt while he is in jail are partying and using-I get the cops over there, kick them out, change the locks
Tenant 'B' down the hall come to find out supplied those drugs and has been dealing in my building. Found this out only when someone came looking for him while I was cleaning one of the empty apts. The buyer couldn't remember which apt the "tall dude with the big cadillac" lived. He asked me if I would sell him some. (Needless to say, 'B' got a 30 day notice after that)
Tenant 'C' let a brother move in when he got released from jail and while 'C' was working during the day, brother was playing. And play he did. I threatened to evict 'C' if he didnt get rid of his brother. 'D' across the hall let someone crash in her apt, take it over and got in constant conflicts with 'C'. She carved up his door with a knife, threatened him repeatedly. Cops were called out numerous times. Oh yeah, 'D's intruding roommate brought in bed bugs with her. Called the cops over there too and had her removed. 'C''s brother finally got arrested for parole violation and drug possession.
But that isn't the end of 'C'. Now he has two ladies staying at his place (oh excuse me. They dont live there, they are just visiting him) I was notified that as soon as it gets dark, gentlemen come and pay a visit. A very short visit. And numerous times the gentleman might try and force his way into apts below not knowing the correct address. As soon as I was made aware of this problem, I gave 'C' a 30 day notice. That only increased the activity starting in the late afternoon into the evening.
'B' and 'C' are now bad mouthing me about all the terrible things I do and don't do as a landlord to anyone that will listen. 'B' even called the fire dept about violations in the building he lives at. The Inspector could find no violations.
Let's see, which tenant is next....
'E'! Hippy on government assistance. Doesnt have to pay a dime of his own rent. Spent the nights smoking with his hippy buddies. Served him with a 7/7 and of course his activity did not stop during those seven days. Told him to get out. He must have had a temper tantrum because he really tore up the apt. I lost my tenant upstairs because of him. And of course this tenant didnt tell me himself he moved out. I had to find it out two weeks into the month.

Has been a very stressful few weeks. I have been doing this now for over 20 yrs. The first time I really seriously thought, can I do this any more? Economy is not getting any better. More and more are getting entitlements. When it really gets bad, what will we do? We cant afford to leave apts empty. How would we pay the bills? My insurance company just raised the premiums on three of our properties by %50. It costs me &500 each time I have to get rid of bed bugs. And do I really ever get rid of them? My property taxes went up, the electric and gas are going up at the end of summer, I had a tenant who didnt inform us that the water in her toilet wouldnt shut off. The bill that is usually 110, was 593. The tenant doesnt feel obligated to have to pay any of it.
I wondered, how can we keep this up. How can I keep dealing with this? After spending 45 minutes at the police station about the prositution going on in 'C's apt. I sat out in the car and just cried my eyes out. If it is this bad in small town Iowa, I can only imagine what it is like in a bigger city.

I feel worn down and defeated.

Let there be light

"HEY! My light is out in my kitchen. It needs a bulb"

You want me to put a bulb in it?

"It needs a bulb"

So, put a bulb in it.

"I dont have any bulbs"

Well, I dont have any.

"Yeah but I dont have any bulbs and I cant see in the kitchen"

I guess you're going to have to go get some bulbs and put one in.....

(Gives you an idea of what kind of week it has been.)

To do nothing to get everything

Ok, so the application process went something like this

Birthdate? 5/19/90
Source of income? “I get $698 a month disability”
How long have you been on disability? “3 yrs”
Oh my goodness, you’re so young to be disabled. What happened?
“I have trouble with math”
Ahh, say what?
“yeah I had trouble with math in school”
Okkkkk
...
Making payments on anything? “Car loan $250 mo”
Have you ever had utilities in your name? “Yes”
Do you have an outstanding account? “What does that mean?”
Do you owe anything on that account? “Yes, but not much..just maybe 500.”
You can’t get utilities turned on anywhere until you pay off that bill.
“Oh that isn’t any problem; the company said they would take out payments directly off my card each month”
All in one payment or in installments?
“What does that mean?”
Will they take the entire amount of 500 out at once or will they take out smaller payments over a period of time?
“Over a few months”
Okkkkkk so,
If you are only making 700 a month, how can you afford to pay 400 in rent, utilities of at least 100 a month, a car payment of 250, 50 a month for back utilities and at least another 100 for gas and electric here? AND still be able to take care of your baby?
“Oh I get food stamps and operation threshold will pay my utilities if I can’t.”
Ahhh, say what?
“Yeah up to three times a year, they will pay my utility bill if I can’t.”
Okkkkk

Let me do the math for you.
400(rent) 250(car payment) 100(utilities) 50(past due utilities)=800 and that is 100 more than what you 'earn' a month. That doesn’t include gas for your car (“my stepmom said she would pay for that”) cable (“my bf is gonna pay for that…but he isn’t living with me” Does he work? “ No.”)
Uh huhhhhhh
What about a phone? “Oh I get free obama phone each month.”
Obama phone??? “Yeah if you are on foodstamps or disability, you get a new phone with 250 free min every month”

~~~by now I am getting mildly upset~~~

What about rent and deposit to move in? “Oh *insert agency* is paying for rent and deposit”
Do you have to pay it back? “No, I’m on disability it’s free”
So basically you don’t have to do anything really to get everything for nothing? She laughed and said, yeah, like she was proud.
The father said, what does it matter to you? It is money in your pocket.

And to that I replied….I think I am in the wrong business.

I see this too often and more frequent in the last couple years. Scares me to see so many young people becoming totally dependent on someone other then themselves.

Vacation?

My goodness..I haven't posted anything here for quite some time. Wish I could say I have been on vacation. Sigh. Trying to think of the last time we had a vacation. I mean an official vacation. The kind we would travel for more than an hour to a destination far enough away that we wouldn't be able to answer any calls. Let someone in an apt that lost their key, or feel I needed to be cleaning something somewhere. Maybe a place that had some sun for more than an hour a day. Lord forbid a place I would have to go to a restaurant and not have to cook the meals myself. Take my camera with and shoot landscape that I haven't seen day after day for a month. Maybe too, find some nurseries that have and unusual sun plaque to add to my garden. Sounds absolutely wonderful.
But, for now, I am not traveling. I am changing locks, cleaning floors, dealing with pests and drug dealing thugs and chasing after rent owed me from LAST month and going to court and..and.
Maybe in the spring.....