Hubby met with the brother who was cleaning out apartment with the cats. Says it looks pretty good, and he thinks he already has a tenant for it. An older gentleman who works part-time and gets social security. Some interesting finagling here to make this work. He gives tenants a referral bonus of $50 if the person they refer actually works out (is approved and takes the apartment). One of our longer-term tenants will probably get a referral for this one. The other thing he does is that he works with people on the security deposit. The rent for this place is $500, and the security deposit is $700. The guy will pay $800 to move in and then an additional $100 per month toward the security deposit until it is all paid up. By working with the guy, he'll get someone into the apartment right away (and the guy seems real nice), instead of having it sit empty for a month (lost rent). We'll keep the deposit from the place to cover Jan rent (and will use the extra $200 to give to the brother for cleaning). NO LOST RENT AT ALL - Sweet!
Got tax refund money from one tenant! He is now all caught up until the end of Jan (oops that's tomorrow - lol!). We'll see what happens in Feb! Still waiting for money from the second group that was waiting for their refunds.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Waiting for Tax Refunds
Two apartments full of tenants owe us two months rent now (Dec and Jan - Feb is out of the question - lol!). Both claim to be waiting for their tax refunds to come in and then they will get caught up. We will see. Hubby is ready to take time off from his "day job" to start eviction proceedings if necessary. Some of these people should get creative writing jobs - they always have a story for everything!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
A new lease agreement
One of the funniest things that we run into over and over again is people who claim that "their paycheck is messed up" and, of course, "they said not to cash it or they said it will be fixed in the next pay period." Once such instance just occurred. This tenant owes us a few hundred dollars in past rent and the lease on the apartment is due for renewal. Hubby had to write an extra $50 payment into lease for the next few months of rent in order to get the situation caught up. The tenant was extremely grateful. Sometimes you have to work with them to keep a tenant who is reasonably good, but gets a little behind. This family keeps the place really really nice and clean. Well worth trying to keep them in the apartment rather than having it go empty for a month or two!
If you are wondering about the cats, the brother is still feeding and taking care of them. No homes have been found yet, they may end up at the SPCA. This sort of thing bothers me a lot, but there is nothing we can do about it. Both the tenants of this place are in jail and not likely to be released for some time. The brother got them to sign a paper relinquishing the lease and letting him clean out the place. Much faster and easier than an eviction proceeding!
If you are wondering about the cats, the brother is still feeding and taking care of them. No homes have been found yet, they may end up at the SPCA. This sort of thing bothers me a lot, but there is nothing we can do about it. Both the tenants of this place are in jail and not likely to be released for some time. The brother got them to sign a paper relinquishing the lease and letting him clean out the place. Much faster and easier than an eviction proceeding!
Friday, January 20, 2012
PayDay!
While eating dinner last night Hubby mentioned that he had texted one of his tenants who owes him some past rent money. She never replied. I asked why he had decided to text her on a random Thursday. He said "she got paid today". LOL. Now we are keeping track of paydays for everyone! But, truthfully, it helps. Some of our tenants have very very poor money management skills. Staying on top of these things allows him to collect the rents, and also "trains" (a terrible word, I know) the tenants to pay their obligations first, before they blow the money on crazy things. Several of his tenants have started out with this type of bad habit, and have, after months or years, actually learned how to manage their money properly. They've improved their credit, and gotten better jobs. Of course, then they sometimes move out - LOL!
Monday, January 16, 2012
New business partnership is formed
Hubby talked to his main handyman/contractor today. Contractor dude called looking for work, to see if we had any. Probably will hire him for some work around our house, but Hubby also spoke with him about a long-term arrangement. Contractor will work 10 hours, 4 days per week doing whatever we need done on rental properties or properties to flip. He will make $1000 per week from Hubby and then can do side jobs on the fifth day of the week. Works well for both parties, we can keep him as a contractor, rather than a regular employee, and he gets a steady income.
Hubby also found a reference to some renovation software that he is going to track down. Should help with estimating and project planning.
The dream of owning the business and working it full-time is getting closer. A little nerve wracking for me, because I'll be the only one with a regular paycheck, but very exciting too!
Hubby also found a reference to some renovation software that he is going to track down. Should help with estimating and project planning.
The dream of owning the business and working it full-time is getting closer. A little nerve wracking for me, because I'll be the only one with a regular paycheck, but very exciting too!
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Home for one kitten found + unexpected bonus
Hooray, one of the abandoned cats has a home now, and the family is actively looking for a home for the other one. I almost worry more about the cats than the people sometimes!
Hubby got one tenant who is 2 months late with rent to sign a paper saying they will be caught up by the end of Jan. Has a job now, so he is cautiously optimistic.
Rent from 4 out of 7 already received, missing 2 and one apartment being cleaned. Not bad for this point in the month! One tenant who paid in Jan is still behind from earlier months, but she will probably get caught up. Her lease renews in Feb and it all has to be paid before we'll sign a new lease.
One of the things you never thing of is the oddball, unexpected bonuses. We have extra storage space in 2 of the 3 building. Came up because I am rearranging some furniture and we have some shelves and a desk that we don't need. Can park in a building until we need again or decide to get rid of them!
Hubby got one tenant who is 2 months late with rent to sign a paper saying they will be caught up by the end of Jan. Has a job now, so he is cautiously optimistic.
Rent from 4 out of 7 already received, missing 2 and one apartment being cleaned. Not bad for this point in the month! One tenant who paid in Jan is still behind from earlier months, but she will probably get caught up. Her lease renews in Feb and it all has to be paid before we'll sign a new lease.
One of the things you never thing of is the oddball, unexpected bonuses. We have extra storage space in 2 of the 3 building. Came up because I am rearranging some furniture and we have some shelves and a desk that we don't need. Can park in a building until we need again or decide to get rid of them!
Saturday, January 14, 2012
3 out of 6 tenants in jail!
Well, we got back from vacation and within the first week learned that 2 more tenants had been arrested! Not sure what happened to one (probably shoplifting or other theft), but the 2nd was arrested during a 4 a.m. raid for dealing heroin out of the apartment!
It turns out the police do NOT notify you when they are about to break into your property. Hubby found out about all of this only because the other tenants in the building told him when he went looking for rents. Of course, hubby took himself down to the police station to figure out what was going on, and they were actually more than willing to tell him. The arresting office actually call our house a day or to later to work on "community relations". Warned us that this happen "a lot" and we should "get used to it." <sigh>
Now BOTH tenants from this apartment are in jail (gee - I wonder what the boyfriend was doing that got him arrested). The place is a mess, and they left 2 cats in the apartment, along with very little catfood and a toxic waste dump for a litterbox. Lucky the woman's brother was on the scene and was trying to figure out what to do. Hubby took one of our old litter boxes and cat litter and food down there (it was a Sunday, no idea if the SPCA would be open, and certainly the cats were not at fault here!). Working with the brother to figure out how to clean the apartment. Will probably pay the brother to get rid of everything, already paying him to take care of the cats until homes can be found! Trying to figure out the eviction proceedings in this situation (the court staff are not always fully helpful, may just move them out without going through the full court procedures).
Oh, and on good news front, the boyfriend of the other jailbird has decided to take over her apartment. This tenant left a young child behind when she was put in jail. Her mom is taking care of the baby, and boyfriend says he was paying the rent on the apartment for her anyway. Did I mention this was the only apartment that gives us rent without the late penalty every month (in this building, anyway, we actually have some wonderful and reliable tenants in other buildings). Needless to say, he is in!
It turns out the police do NOT notify you when they are about to break into your property. Hubby found out about all of this only because the other tenants in the building told him when he went looking for rents. Of course, hubby took himself down to the police station to figure out what was going on, and they were actually more than willing to tell him. The arresting office actually call our house a day or to later to work on "community relations". Warned us that this happen "a lot" and we should "get used to it." <sigh>
Now BOTH tenants from this apartment are in jail (gee - I wonder what the boyfriend was doing that got him arrested). The place is a mess, and they left 2 cats in the apartment, along with very little catfood and a toxic waste dump for a litterbox. Lucky the woman's brother was on the scene and was trying to figure out what to do. Hubby took one of our old litter boxes and cat litter and food down there (it was a Sunday, no idea if the SPCA would be open, and certainly the cats were not at fault here!). Working with the brother to figure out how to clean the apartment. Will probably pay the brother to get rid of everything, already paying him to take care of the cats until homes can be found! Trying to figure out the eviction proceedings in this situation (the court staff are not always fully helpful, may just move them out without going through the full court procedures).
Oh, and on good news front, the boyfriend of the other jailbird has decided to take over her apartment. This tenant left a young child behind when she was put in jail. Her mom is taking care of the baby, and boyfriend says he was paying the rent on the apartment for her anyway. Did I mention this was the only apartment that gives us rent without the late penalty every month (in this building, anyway, we actually have some wonderful and reliable tenants in other buildings). Needless to say, he is in!
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