Living with low expectations?

Janx · Feb 20, 2014

Scott DeWar said:
Wow, where do I start . . . . .

First I would like to mention that My boss from my electrician work owns some rentals and this:

is the prevalent mindset from what I have experienced.

some of the grimiest things simply have to be simply replaced. like those switch plates. if they are metal, then try running them through the dishwasher.

I am sorry you have to go through this. Many time I would go and do a repair for him and the occupant would expect something to be repaired that they broke with the attitude of "Well he is making ALL this money off me" when first of all the occupant was on section 8 and not paying any more then 50 dollars per month, second he was actually barely making any profit off the venture after all the repairs he has to do.

To cross link this topic, this lack of understanding about money and costs is similar to the "Getting paid for GMing" thread where I've broken down how to compute the basic rate you'd need to charge.

People just don't think about what things cost. How much of that $2500/month is sabrinacat getting as profit? How much is paying off the existing mortgage and repairs/maintenance?

sabrinathecat · Feb 20, 2014

Fortunately, I have a standing rule: only one major debt (anything over $10K) at any time. This has saved me from disaster, when other family members have... ...ended up in less than stellar situations.
One mortgage and multiple rental properties means my mortgage will be gone this year.
That just leaves property taxes, utilities, and repair expenses.
So, this year, I'm effectively getting nothing in the way of profit from this unit.
Next year, however, unless something goes wrong, modest profit comes into play.

Of course, one of the things I do is constantly find new minor improvements, or tackle things like replacing fences--maintenance, but only something you have to do once every 10-30 years (barring accidents or major storms).

You have to figure any time someone moves out, at least 1 month's rent is gone. If the place is bad, two or three.
I've told the horror story of the 2-bedroom that ran $35K to fix.
I could go into my own little economics interpretation, but really, most of it is so basic...

Scott DeWar · Feb 20, 2014

sabrinathecat said:
Fortunately, I have a standing rule: only one major debt (anything over $10K) at any time. This has saved me from disaster, when other family members have... ...ended up in less than stellar situations.
One mortgage and multiple rental properties means my mortgage will be gone this year.
That just leaves property taxes, utilities, and repair expenses.
So, this year, I'm effectively getting nothing in the way of profit from this unit.
Next year, however, unless something goes wrong, modest profit comes into play.

you are smart

sabrinathecat said:
I've told the horror story of the 2-bedroom that ran $35K to fix.
I could go into my own little economics interpretation, but really, most of it is so basic...

ACH!
Thirty Five T-H-O-U-S-A-N-D ?!?!

sabrinathecat · Feb 21, 2014

Scott DeWar said:
you are smart
ACH!
Thirty Five T-H-O-U-S-A-N-D ?!?!

Not really. In fact there are times I am spectacularly dumb and foolish.

Yep, $35k.
These people had carved phone numbers into walls (because they can't keep track of pencils?) and when I booted them out, started training their dog to use the heat vents as fire extinguishers. Pretty much had to gut the place, nearly down to the studs. New appliances, new kitchen, new bathroom, new flooring. Repairs to garage. Took 2.5 months of solid work. Oh, new windows too. Oh, and they never paid their rent for the 2 months they were fighting the eviction. Needless to say, their deposit was a joke. These were not people I picked--I inherited them when I bought the place.
Nice part was that once my divorce started, I could move right into that unit. Been there ever since.

Scott DeWar · Feb 21, 2014

ready made emergency lodging.

sabrinathecat · Feb 22, 2014

Today was a non-progress day. Lots of running around, not getting much done. Oh well. Some prep work for tomorrow morning I guess. Still disappointing and frustrating.

Up to $2.79 in loose change left scattered about the place--not a record (that was over $10), but I'm not done yet, and still a decent showing.

Scott DeWar · Feb 22, 2014

But not any where near what they did in damage.

sabrinathecat · Feb 23, 2014

Scott DeWar said:
But not any where near what they did in damage.

No, it's pocket change. But I find the tenants who had the most trouble paying rent also have the most change scattered in their apartments. You can argue poor money management skills or what have you. The net result is an amusing footnote to me, but not much more.

Scorpio616 · Feb 25, 2014

sabrinathecat said:
Is it "I don't have a problem with this."?

For me, yeah. I can tolerate a LOT of mess, to levels that would make many recoil in disgust. The neat freaks can bandy about terms like unhygenic, squalor, hoarder, but in my book, unless it is smelling or drawing vermin, it probably doesn't 'bug' me.

Still it's uncool to do that to someone else's stuff.

sabrinathecat · Feb 25, 2014

Let's be clear on one distinction. There's clutter, there's grime, and there's filth.
Clutter is lots of stuff. I live in a clutter of lego and books (and D&D minis). I still clean, but maybe not often enough.
Grime is when oil and dust build up over time, usually around food.
Filth is grime gone nasty, where it is attracting vermin and silverfish.

This time, it was somewhere between grime and filth (OK, the range hood was definitely filth). Cleaning up after crazy cat lady 5 years ago was grime, filth, and clutter.

And the guy did finally show up last night (at 6pm) to pick up the rest of his stuff. Huzzah.

Living with low expectations?

Janx

Hero

sabrinathecat

Explorer

Scott DeWar

Prof. Emeritus-Supernatural Events/Countermeasure

sabrinathecat

Explorer

Scott DeWar

Prof. Emeritus-Supernatural Events/Countermeasure

sabrinathecat

Explorer

Scott DeWar

Prof. Emeritus-Supernatural Events/Countermeasure

sabrinathecat

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Scorpio616

First Post

sabrinathecat

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