Posted By: Sorta Blonde
Sorta's Rental - 11/25/18 06:29 PM
So it begins. August 21 my long time friends and tenants (in their late 80's)moved back to their home country. Dad wanted to go 'home'. Mom didn't but she always did what she thought a good wife should. The live-in son (62) went back with them, but since he became a US Citizen long ago, he is coming back to live with relatives in Washington State. Miss them a lot. Everything was pretty calm (with minor hiccups) for 30 years!
Then came the REHAB of an 800 sq ft pretty simple house. It's a 20x12 living room, 15x15 kitchen, 12x12 bedroom, 11x11 bedroom, and a small bathroom about 6x8. I lived in my rented house (one of 3 on this property) for 40 years now and have been the Landlord for 20 of those years when the landlord died and his wife sold me the property. Instant Landlord! I knew nothing about it nor did I ever want to be a landlord.
I bought a book on "How to Landlord" and followed it religiously. Learned a lot and in 20 years have improved my skills and found other resources to give me advice. Sooooo why this snafu now? Well, let's begin:
House was empty on August 21 and we immediately (me and my other neighbor/friend/tenant in the back house). I 'pay' him with dinners. Works out pretty well. Took stock of what needed to be done but essentially it needed a complete overhaul even though I'd kept up with the 'repairs' for 20 years. First, drag out tons of left stuff which we ended up putting out on the sidewalk and letting people take it for FREE. That was fun. Everyone had a great time and in one afternoon and overnight, EVERYTHING was gone except a king size mattress. We had the trash company pick that up and then we started in on the empty house.
I hired a cleaning crew to clean all the grease from every surface in the kitchen including all appliances. They got rid of all cobwebs all over, did the windows, vacuumed, etc. Left the place much better than before. Then I pulled out all nails, screws, hooks, staples, and other stuff from walls and ceilings and baseboards. I love doing that. It's a 'treasure hunt'. Also pulled out all OLD wiring and cables from 50 years or more and patched all holes.
Painted the ENTIRE inside, every inch of it. Not kidding. Got bright white and did all walls, ceilings, doors, inside closets, shelves, everything including the wall heater with a coat of 'high heat' paint. After a week it all looked clean and neat except for some streaks which we just didn't have time to fix before the wall to wall carpet guys came. We installed carpet in the living, 2 beds and small hall. Awesome stuff, good price and looked great now with a nice beige Berber carpet. Kitchen already had wood grain ceramic tile on floor and bathroom nice white ceramic tile on floor and around tub.
I did more cleaning on the appliances which still had grease in many areas and ended up eventually throwing out the existing gas range and buying a new (clean) one. Washing machine was in pristine condition and only 3 years old. I bought it from the Tenants for 100 bucks. Good buy. Fridge is a side-by-side 22 cu ft nice nice nice.
So then to the outside to patch stucco, trim trees, get rid of most of the Tumbleweed, and rearrange the MANY plants the Mom left. Most of them went onto the nice covered patio outside the kitchen door. It always cool and breezy and quiet and a great place to sit and relax. It's the best feature of the house. Friend also built a nice 6x8 metal storage shed in the yard and I installed new mini-blinds all around. Looked great. I put up some lace (not girly) curtains to make it look more homey and it was ready to rent.
Advertised it for a week on the internet sites (3 of them) and got nothing. Finally put a sign out front and got TONS of lookers. I was busy all day showing the place. Handed out many applications and only got TWO back both of which turned out badly. One perfect single guy changed his mind and the other lady couldn't provide any identification and had a very strange background and story. I must have talked to over 200 people, exchanged emails with about 50 (only one of whom ever showed up for the appointments). I finally put the ad on Craig's List and got a few more 'responses' AND my ad got stolen and copied and changed and listed on several sites I never knew. The scammers lowered to price to a ridiculous level and many people came by expecting to rent a 2 bed, one bath house for $500. Geez! Hate scammers. Dunno how many of the people who saw those ads actually sent this guy money. I actually answered the fake ad and chatted with him. Nice guy, well spoken, good English skills and very willing to let you move right in after sending him money cards or a money order. This of course was sight unseen. So many people fall for stuff like this. Ugh!
I finally rented the house to a nice mom (90) and daughter (64). They were PERFECT, UNTIL....
The son of the Mom found out Mom was being moved (by her caretaker daughter) out of the mobile home of 28 years into my place and he and his 'posse' came over and attacked me on my front porch. Not physically, but threats, etc. One gleefully held up her phone and announced in a childish voice, "I just recorded everything you said!" Like I really cared? They saw their 'inheritance' going out the window or to the other daughter and wanted me to lock the house so Mom couldn't move in, or just take Mom off the rental agreement, or give back all the Deposit money, etc. I followed the law and after considering having this group bothering me, decided to let them convince Mom and the caretaker daughter sign off the lease and I refunded the Security (per law), but got to keep the first month's rent. I made sure it was all done legally and signed sealed and delivered with witnesses, etc. Sad to see this duo go but nothing lost but time and energy.
Relisted the house, put out my signs, did a ton more walk-throughs, gave out more applications and finally got a 45 year old mom with 2 grown kids who wanted to move in. She's being relocated from a plot of houses which are being torn down to build low income apartments with all the amenities. She was very anxious to get the place and despite my need to find the 'perfect' tenants, I rented to her and the 2 sons. I got the move in monies directly from the corporation which is displacing her. SHE will get a lump sum payout in the next few weeks of a huge amount which will be enough to pay the rent for 2 years IF she doesn't blow it all in a week. No constraints on the money. It's hers to spend as she wishes. I'm crossing my fingers on this one. Lots of strange stuff going on since I allowed her to 'start' moving in a little before the Dec. 1, actual date. Things have become really annoying and as of today, I'm just watching and waiting for the next 'surprise' from her.
Coming up on the next installment: No dogs allowed, but she has a SNAKE. Eeeeeek! Met her daughter but not the sons who will be living HERE. She wants to paint the entire inside tan, AND change all the baseboards. Bathroom sink is leaking and kitchen sink is clogged as of Thanksgiving (had all her family over).
Stay tuned for exciting events!
Then came the REHAB of an 800 sq ft pretty simple house. It's a 20x12 living room, 15x15 kitchen, 12x12 bedroom, 11x11 bedroom, and a small bathroom about 6x8. I lived in my rented house (one of 3 on this property) for 40 years now and have been the Landlord for 20 of those years when the landlord died and his wife sold me the property. Instant Landlord! I knew nothing about it nor did I ever want to be a landlord.
I bought a book on "How to Landlord" and followed it religiously. Learned a lot and in 20 years have improved my skills and found other resources to give me advice. Sooooo why this snafu now? Well, let's begin:
House was empty on August 21 and we immediately (me and my other neighbor/friend/tenant in the back house). I 'pay' him with dinners. Works out pretty well. Took stock of what needed to be done but essentially it needed a complete overhaul even though I'd kept up with the 'repairs' for 20 years. First, drag out tons of left stuff which we ended up putting out on the sidewalk and letting people take it for FREE. That was fun. Everyone had a great time and in one afternoon and overnight, EVERYTHING was gone except a king size mattress. We had the trash company pick that up and then we started in on the empty house.
I hired a cleaning crew to clean all the grease from every surface in the kitchen including all appliances. They got rid of all cobwebs all over, did the windows, vacuumed, etc. Left the place much better than before. Then I pulled out all nails, screws, hooks, staples, and other stuff from walls and ceilings and baseboards. I love doing that. It's a 'treasure hunt'. Also pulled out all OLD wiring and cables from 50 years or more and patched all holes.
Painted the ENTIRE inside, every inch of it. Not kidding. Got bright white and did all walls, ceilings, doors, inside closets, shelves, everything including the wall heater with a coat of 'high heat' paint. After a week it all looked clean and neat except for some streaks which we just didn't have time to fix before the wall to wall carpet guys came. We installed carpet in the living, 2 beds and small hall. Awesome stuff, good price and looked great now with a nice beige Berber carpet. Kitchen already had wood grain ceramic tile on floor and bathroom nice white ceramic tile on floor and around tub.
I did more cleaning on the appliances which still had grease in many areas and ended up eventually throwing out the existing gas range and buying a new (clean) one. Washing machine was in pristine condition and only 3 years old. I bought it from the Tenants for 100 bucks. Good buy. Fridge is a side-by-side 22 cu ft nice nice nice.
So then to the outside to patch stucco, trim trees, get rid of most of the Tumbleweed, and rearrange the MANY plants the Mom left. Most of them went onto the nice covered patio outside the kitchen door. It always cool and breezy and quiet and a great place to sit and relax. It's the best feature of the house. Friend also built a nice 6x8 metal storage shed in the yard and I installed new mini-blinds all around. Looked great. I put up some lace (not girly) curtains to make it look more homey and it was ready to rent.
Advertised it for a week on the internet sites (3 of them) and got nothing. Finally put a sign out front and got TONS of lookers. I was busy all day showing the place. Handed out many applications and only got TWO back both of which turned out badly. One perfect single guy changed his mind and the other lady couldn't provide any identification and had a very strange background and story. I must have talked to over 200 people, exchanged emails with about 50 (only one of whom ever showed up for the appointments). I finally put the ad on Craig's List and got a few more 'responses' AND my ad got stolen and copied and changed and listed on several sites I never knew. The scammers lowered to price to a ridiculous level and many people came by expecting to rent a 2 bed, one bath house for $500. Geez! Hate scammers. Dunno how many of the people who saw those ads actually sent this guy money. I actually answered the fake ad and chatted with him. Nice guy, well spoken, good English skills and very willing to let you move right in after sending him money cards or a money order. This of course was sight unseen. So many people fall for stuff like this. Ugh!
I finally rented the house to a nice mom (90) and daughter (64). They were PERFECT, UNTIL....
The son of the Mom found out Mom was being moved (by her caretaker daughter) out of the mobile home of 28 years into my place and he and his 'posse' came over and attacked me on my front porch. Not physically, but threats, etc. One gleefully held up her phone and announced in a childish voice, "I just recorded everything you said!" Like I really cared? They saw their 'inheritance' going out the window or to the other daughter and wanted me to lock the house so Mom couldn't move in, or just take Mom off the rental agreement, or give back all the Deposit money, etc. I followed the law and after considering having this group bothering me, decided to let them convince Mom and the caretaker daughter sign off the lease and I refunded the Security (per law), but got to keep the first month's rent. I made sure it was all done legally and signed sealed and delivered with witnesses, etc. Sad to see this duo go but nothing lost but time and energy.
Relisted the house, put out my signs, did a ton more walk-throughs, gave out more applications and finally got a 45 year old mom with 2 grown kids who wanted to move in. She's being relocated from a plot of houses which are being torn down to build low income apartments with all the amenities. She was very anxious to get the place and despite my need to find the 'perfect' tenants, I rented to her and the 2 sons. I got the move in monies directly from the corporation which is displacing her. SHE will get a lump sum payout in the next few weeks of a huge amount which will be enough to pay the rent for 2 years IF she doesn't blow it all in a week. No constraints on the money. It's hers to spend as she wishes. I'm crossing my fingers on this one. Lots of strange stuff going on since I allowed her to 'start' moving in a little before the Dec. 1, actual date. Things have become really annoying and as of today, I'm just watching and waiting for the next 'surprise' from her.
Coming up on the next installment: No dogs allowed, but she has a SNAKE. Eeeeeek! Met her daughter but not the sons who will be living HERE. She wants to paint the entire inside tan, AND change all the baseboards. Bathroom sink is leaking and kitchen sink is clogged as of Thanksgiving (had all her family over).
Stay tuned for exciting events!