So, a break from the advice for a post. A few words about practical landlording and the often busy day.
It was a busy day in the life of a landlord today.
I went to the apartment this morning before work to pick up the last rent check that was put in the rent box the night before. All 25 (of 25) rents in the bank by the morning of 3/4/14, which is pretty good. All except my Section 8 tenants portion of the rent, $125 which I will expand on later…
Then, I went to work at my ‘real’ job. I am finding that work gets in the way of a lot of ‘stuff’.
I have an apartment turn that needs to be completed by 3/15/14. A bunch of cleaning and a fresh coat of paint will be completed. I also need to replace the carpet, which was measured today by Home Depot. I wasn’t there for the measure, but I had a lockbox for the measurement company to enter. Of course, I went to Home Depot on Sunday to set up the measurement and paid the $50 measure fee.
Since I needed paint, I went to Sherwin Williams and picked up five gallons of Pro Mar 200, semi-gloss paint, color Interactive Cream, and some masking tape. Sherwin Williams has great masking tape. The Sherwin Williams is next to Applebee’s, and I need to go there after I get the paint, so it works well.
I have an HOA meeting at the end of the month. You never want to go into a meeting with an agenda you are not sure will pass, I always meet with some of the key players in the association to discuss the meeting plan. I had to print out some documents for the meeting before I left for it. We discussed some new parking signs, continuation of the foreclosure we have started with an owner, and some other items. Total time spent was about two hours over a light dinner at Applebee’s between me and two other owners.
After leaving Applebee’s, I head over to my apartments which are about 2 miles from Applebee’s. Earlier today, I received a text from a tenant, the ceiling fixture in the common area lights were burned out. No big deal, but if I was off in the Caribbean, and needed a property manager to replace the bulb, it would have been a bit expensive. If I had a resident doing it, it may have stayed burned out for months.
I dropped off the paint in my vacant unit, and went to the building to change the light bulbs. I have a lockable closet where I keep a 3-step step ladder and some supplies like light bulbs. A 5 minute drive and 5 minutes later, the light bulbs were replaced. At some point, I will switch to LED bulbs, but for now CFLs are the most cost effective. Soon, LED bulbs will come down in price and be $1. After all, if LEDs are the only bulb in town, a commoner will have to buy light bulbs for a common price. Not everyone will be able to spend $10 on a light bulb.
Then, it’s back home to write a letter to my tenant to pay up or get out. The Section 8 tenant’s rent is normally direct deposit, but it missed this month. Something went wrong, but it is not my fault. The tenants tested me that she was with her social worker, getting it worked out. I told her to have the worker call me, no one called. So, a cure/quit notice will be sent to het, and the Section 8 office.
And then, it’s lights out until tomorrow… All in a day’s work. On the bright side, the Stock market was way up today. A months pay in a day! As long as the Market stays up.
Got a busy day story? Share it.
