House was a bust

Meh, it was a dive, just like I was worried. If I could just buy the garage, though...that would be nice. The basement was unliveable, and there was evidence of two kinds of leaks - one the difficult to fix general wet basement type, and the second the also difficult to fix and even scarier cracked sewage stack! No evidence of crack, but dripping down the sides.

The first floor apartment had a great living room and bedroom (gorgeous) but the kitchen was badly in need of an upgrade and the bathroom was disgusting. Who puts drop ceiling tiles in a bathroom? They're only slightly less gross than carpet in a bathroom.

The second floor was pretty nice, and the third floor was as nice as a third floor teeny 1-bed can be. All utilities paid by owner. Full fire escape in decent condition, legal access/egress to every unit. If I had a bunch of money to burn, it would make a good long-term investment. I'd offer $150K and see what happens. Rob is not interested at ALL - he wants something we can put tenants into with minimal fuss as soon as possible. I can understand that. There's still a lot out there.

I have a few more on my short list. Some people are just ridiculous in their asking prices though. A triplex in Hamilton will be hard-pressed to garner you $2300 a month in rental income - and that only if you include utilities! You gotta figure on $150/mo for insurance, $200/mo for heating, $250/mo for hydro and water, $200/mo for taxes. That leaves you with only $1500 a month to pay the mortgage. A $200K mortgage right now (so about $210K purchase price with 5% down) will cost you about $1300 a month. So, before you've done any maintenance, advertising, or had a single vacancy, you're only pocketing $200 per month. $600 a year (edited to fix: $2400 per year). One furnace and poof! That's all gone. Hell - two turnovers with cleaning and painting and it's mostly gone! It's really a long-term investment, not a short-term cash gain.

So, why the hell would there be good solid triplexes with $2000 monthly rents listed for over $250,000? Do these people think we're nuts? Or are they marketing to the Toronto buyers who just don't care because the same house in their backyard would cost $600,000 and they figure they'll make it work with a small deficit? Good luck. I have no interest in carrying a deficit when things are at their BEST.

On another topic....

We're going to look at another house on Sunday! Here it is:



It's listed for $209,900. It revenues about $31,000 a year in rents. A legal triplex used as a fourplex (the name of the game is cram 'em in! Our houses so far are a legal single used as a duplex, and a legal duplex used as a triplex - may as well continue the pattern!) so it easily covers itself and makes a bit of spare change at that price. It's in a really good neighborhood, but not the best house on the block. It's also a good rental neighborhood, right next to the bus routes going in four different directions, walking distance from Timmy's AND McDonalds AND a grocery store. It has a solid block garage facing backwards into the alley - either additional rent or storage for us.

Also, my real estate agent is a godsend who actually checks stuff out for us thoroughly. It has been on the market since April (are they getting desperate yet?), and they only bought it last July - for $175,000!!! So unless they've made some significant renovations, which their listing does NOT talk about, we are going to hugely low-ball them. Obviously they've tried the investment game and don't like it, or are failing miserably at it...so they want out.

Here's to being a shark!

Phew! Rented

The evictee's unit is rented again. Mostly. I need to get a deposit from the girl on Sunday, but she wants it and wants to move in by June 15. So that's even better than I expected. Yay!

All done.

Yay, kiddo is out! So, from the first of April until now - that's not too bad. It went more smoothly than I could have hoped. He's actually been "gone" for a week or two, but didn't get that he had to return my keys for it to really be done. I ended up calling his mom and leaving a detailed message so that maybe she could give him a kick in the ass. She called this morning and told me they'd gotten the rest of his stuff and left the keys last night. So (phew) I don't have to call the sherriff.

This gives me time to clean it up, and get it rented for June. That would be nice. The basement kids might even want it, for that matter. That would be even nicer. For some reason the basement is easier to rent.

Apparently he's moved back in with his dad and lost his job. He should have just called me and told me - now he's got an eviction on his record. Dummy.

Well, that was anticlimactic

Eviction hearing was today! I had no idea what to expect so I booked the day off work. The way it works is that everyone's hearing is at 9:30, then they go one by one when you get in there. There were 10 hearings in my meeting room this morning.

Not one tenant showed up.

So basically, it was the landlord presenting the evidence, and the board member saying "I will issue an order for termination and it will be mailed to you today."

So I win, by default. Not that I wouldn't have won anyway. I was out of there by 10:00 and went to work. Now I guess I just wait for the mail to arrive. Which seems weird to me.

HAHAHAHAHA

So my phone rings this morning, with the regular everyday person ringtone (yes, I have a ringtone for my tenants and a ringtone for my husband). It's the first of the month, so usually my phone is singing George Thoroughgood at me (the tenants' ringtone) about rent. It is a woman on the phone, and the following conversation ensues:

Strange Woman: "Hi, I heard you have a place available for rent?"
Me: "Errr, no not right now, where did you hear that?"
SW: "Um, I thought you did."
Me: "Ahh, nope. But I may soon," (thinking about eviction guy here), "When do you need it?"
SW: "Well, it's an emergency and I need to move now."
Me: "Where did you hear I have a vacant unit?"
SW: "A friend."
Me: "Well, your friend is wrong."
SW: "Ummmm....Will moved out."

DING DING DING DING!!! I knew it.

Me: "Well, Will hasn't talked to me about that, and Will actually owes me $1500."
SW: "Oh, really?"
Me: "Yes, and we actually have an eviction hearing next Tuesday for him. So, I can't exactly re-rent the place to you right now, unless Will magically called me, paid what he owes, gave me his keys, and proved that he was moved out."
SW: "So there's really no chance I can move in today?"

Duhhh.

The LTB (Landlord Tenant Board), when I called them with this stumper, says I should go through with the hearing so that I can get a money judgement even though he's moved out. I am compelled to agree with them. Then I hire a collector and they will hound this kid until his dying day. And I'm glad.

Seriously - on the first of April, when he couldn't pay, he could have called me and arranged something. On the third, when I served him a late rent notice, he could have called me and arranged something. On the 16th when I called him he could have handed me his keys and walked away (I have a months' rent deposit). On the 18th when I served him notice of his eviction hearing he could have called me and only owed me $150 and walked away (court filing fees - it was still within the month that I had a deposit for, no court will award me a proper notice fee). No - he leaves it until 5 days before his hearing, on the first of the month, so that he now owes me $800 and leaves me in a lurch for another month.

Personal responsibility, kids. Get some.

He's still there

My deadbeat tenant is still there. Had my little inspection this morning - the place is "clean" but cluttered, and all his things are still there. And my notice of inspection was ripped off the door. I guess he's mad? Not sure why - pretty sure you're supposed to pay rent.

I don't know how someone can just ignore that. I've been nothing but polite. Not once has he returned my phone calls. Just one month ago he was a nice kid who made sure he paid his rent on time - even called me to leave it in the mailbox when he was short due to bank machine limits. What happened?

Now I file for eviction tomorrow. There goes $150. I mean - he'll owe it to me, but my chances of getting it are slim to none. Sigh.