#2 tenant was working afternoons, as suspected. Paid today. #1 tenant had a last-minute chance to go to Niagara Falls, so she's paying tomorrow. Upstairs guy I haven't seen today.
Talked to #2 and everything is going really well over there. I love her, and she loves my house, which is great. I hope that she stays there forever. She even liked my magnets I made with my new phone number. Which I have to admit, were pretty freaking sweet.
We actually started the bathroom. It's all gutted now except the tub surround, which we don't want to do until we absolutely need to. The damage is better than I expected in some places. Installed new shut offs at the sink, which no longer exists, ripped out all the old crappy wall tiles, the stupid huge cabinet and counter top are gone. A good day's work!
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Friday, November 30, 2007
I have decided to focus my energies
Why have I not updated recently? Hey, because my life is incredibly boring! Haha! Well, it is to me, lately.
Anyway, I think I am going to start using this thing more often again, focusing on the fun and exciting life of a landlord. I figure it'd be good, when the shit hits the fan, to remember the good times. Or, at least, to remember the previous shit/fan times and realize that it didn't work out THAT badly. My friends list (not exactly voluminous) may get bored of landlord fun, so feel free to tell me off about it!
This way, I'll probably throw in some real life stuff too, to keep it interesting.
My office stinks of coffee. I got a big old 5% raise today (yay!) and I'll be getting my official engineer stamp later this month. My God. Nearly 6 years I've been doing this job. Now I'll have legal responsibility and all that crap.
Anyway...on the property front. Tomorrow is rent day and not one single tenant has called me yet for my money pick-up time. My #3 tenant is out of town until Monday for a wedding, but he's my brother so I know where to track him down. :) Upstairs chick is paid, but her cousin hasn't. I usually nab him on the porch sometime tomorrow. He pays with a cert. check so he's always good.
I'm pretty happy with my tenants right now. #1 tenant (this is not ranked in order of faves, only by unit # at the triplex by the way) has just moved in at the beginning of November, so this is the first time they have to pay in residence. I hope it goes well, I've had a few twinges about her. She seems okay, and doesn't give me any trouble, but this is usually when they try to push their boundaries.
#2 tenant usually calls me a day or two before rent is due, I'm wondering if she's Christmas-strapped. She has a 2-year-old granddaughter, so she may be waiting on payday. She also may be on afternoons this week. We shall see. I love her so I don't want to push her around, but she better be around before Sunday.
Our own personal bathroom hasn't even fucking been started yet. The toilet is leaking, the shower faucet is trashed, the shower surround is popping off (can't wait to see the water damage there) and the floor has some serious soft spots. We have been putting this off way too long.
I'm hoping my boss pays my Christmas bonus in Home Depot giftcards this year. That bathroom is going to cost us at least $1000 and give me some seriously grey hairs. Who guts their only bathroom and re-does it top to bottom?
Me. Crazy me. That's who. Anyone have a shower I can borrow for a few weeks?
Anyway, I think I am going to start using this thing more often again, focusing on the fun and exciting life of a landlord. I figure it'd be good, when the shit hits the fan, to remember the good times. Or, at least, to remember the previous shit/fan times and realize that it didn't work out THAT badly. My friends list (not exactly voluminous) may get bored of landlord fun, so feel free to tell me off about it!
This way, I'll probably throw in some real life stuff too, to keep it interesting.
My office stinks of coffee. I got a big old 5% raise today (yay!) and I'll be getting my official engineer stamp later this month. My God. Nearly 6 years I've been doing this job. Now I'll have legal responsibility and all that crap.
Anyway...on the property front. Tomorrow is rent day and not one single tenant has called me yet for my money pick-up time. My #3 tenant is out of town until Monday for a wedding, but he's my brother so I know where to track him down. :) Upstairs chick is paid, but her cousin hasn't. I usually nab him on the porch sometime tomorrow. He pays with a cert. check so he's always good.
I'm pretty happy with my tenants right now. #1 tenant (this is not ranked in order of faves, only by unit # at the triplex by the way) has just moved in at the beginning of November, so this is the first time they have to pay in residence. I hope it goes well, I've had a few twinges about her. She seems okay, and doesn't give me any trouble, but this is usually when they try to push their boundaries.
#2 tenant usually calls me a day or two before rent is due, I'm wondering if she's Christmas-strapped. She has a 2-year-old granddaughter, so she may be waiting on payday. She also may be on afternoons this week. We shall see. I love her so I don't want to push her around, but she better be around before Sunday.
Our own personal bathroom hasn't even fucking been started yet. The toilet is leaking, the shower faucet is trashed, the shower surround is popping off (can't wait to see the water damage there) and the floor has some serious soft spots. We have been putting this off way too long.
I'm hoping my boss pays my Christmas bonus in Home Depot giftcards this year. That bathroom is going to cost us at least $1000 and give me some seriously grey hairs. Who guts their only bathroom and re-does it top to bottom?
Me. Crazy me. That's who. Anyone have a shower I can borrow for a few weeks?
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
OMG? Who are you?
Yeah, I know. I haven't updated in forever. But seriously, folks - my life is not so interesting. I don't do anything except work, play baseball, and do renovations. I am SICK OF RENOVATING.
Haha, not really. I'm sick of renovating on a time crunch, because we are seriously running out of time and not one single thing is finished. Everything is *almost* finished. We need to finish SOMETHING!!
Well, the utility room is finished. Augh - no it's not! It has a new furnace and a brand spankin new water heater, but the electrical panel still needs two new breakers. Bah.
The kitchen is getting it's final coat of paint today, the colour is going on. I'm excited about that. Cabinets are partially built, countertop is ordered, tomorrow we go buy a stove. Fridge is clean.
The living room is our work area as it needed the least amount of effort. Only one short section of wall had to be replaced and the extension added to the heating ductwork. All it needs now is a coat of primer and paint. Too bad there's a big saw and piles of lumber and drywall all over the place!
The bedroom has had half of it's walls replaced, and the walk-in closet is all framed and insulated. Drywall needs to be finished in there. Paint.
The bathroom still needs a shower ceiling. All the busted ceiling tiles have to be replaced (we have them, they're in a pile in the living room). Ack!
Too much to do.
Other than that, my ball team finished 3rd with a record of 14-5-2. Pretty freaking good.
And we're going to the Dominican in January with Mike and Liz and seriously looking forward to it.
Have to go to a wedding on Labour Day weekend. Gah. In Oshawa.
Haha, not really. I'm sick of renovating on a time crunch, because we are seriously running out of time and not one single thing is finished. Everything is *almost* finished. We need to finish SOMETHING!!
Well, the utility room is finished. Augh - no it's not! It has a new furnace and a brand spankin new water heater, but the electrical panel still needs two new breakers. Bah.
The kitchen is getting it's final coat of paint today, the colour is going on. I'm excited about that. Cabinets are partially built, countertop is ordered, tomorrow we go buy a stove. Fridge is clean.
The living room is our work area as it needed the least amount of effort. Only one short section of wall had to be replaced and the extension added to the heating ductwork. All it needs now is a coat of primer and paint. Too bad there's a big saw and piles of lumber and drywall all over the place!
The bedroom has had half of it's walls replaced, and the walk-in closet is all framed and insulated. Drywall needs to be finished in there. Paint.
The bathroom still needs a shower ceiling. All the busted ceiling tiles have to be replaced (we have them, they're in a pile in the living room). Ack!
Too much to do.
Other than that, my ball team finished 3rd with a record of 14-5-2. Pretty freaking good.
And we're going to the Dominican in January with Mike and Liz and seriously looking forward to it.
Have to go to a wedding on Labour Day weekend. Gah. In Oshawa.
Sunday, April 8, 2007
I am the awesomest!
For the past week and a half all I have been hearing is "We HAVE to get that apartment rented. Have to have to have to..." from the budget King. Mind you - he *IS* in charge of the finances and how much we owe and don't have. Ha! This was actually a pretty rotten month to close on a house, considering. We had to front end a year's worth of house insurance on the new property ($1200), April 30 is the quarterly property tax due date ($481 on new house, $760 on our duplex), and the every-tw-months hydro bills are due on the 17th (about $550 for the duplex, probably around $450 for the triplex). Yikes! And only two of four units occupied!
BUT. The problem with renting is that the cardinal rule is to list in the paper around the 15th of the month or you're wasting your ad fee. NOBODY responds to ads at any other time of the month, oddly. Since we closed on March 16, I figured on listing April 15, and May 1 would be a lost cause, have move-in to the first floor 1-bedroom on June 1. But at least I'd get a last month's deposit. I put it on the free websites and have shown it a few times, but mostly to lookie-loos..had a couple of people interested, but it didn't pan out.
Today, however, I rented the damn thing! SOLD! To the sister-in-law of my upstairs tenant. She loved the place. And she wants to move in May 1st. Amazing! I gave her a bit of a discount on the price but it was just to the low end of our threshold. I listed at $700 and figured on $650, which is what I got.
So excited. Well, relieved actually. And I came through on my part, as Rob said, with flying colours. We're a good team. He gets the bills paid and I get the cash flow. Damn!
BUT. The problem with renting is that the cardinal rule is to list in the paper around the 15th of the month or you're wasting your ad fee. NOBODY responds to ads at any other time of the month, oddly. Since we closed on March 16, I figured on listing April 15, and May 1 would be a lost cause, have move-in to the first floor 1-bedroom on June 1. But at least I'd get a last month's deposit. I put it on the free websites and have shown it a few times, but mostly to lookie-loos..had a couple of people interested, but it didn't pan out.
Today, however, I rented the damn thing! SOLD! To the sister-in-law of my upstairs tenant. She loved the place. And she wants to move in May 1st. Amazing! I gave her a bit of a discount on the price but it was just to the low end of our threshold. I listed at $700 and figured on $650, which is what I got.
So excited. Well, relieved actually. And I came through on my part, as Rob said, with flying colours. We're a good team. He gets the bills paid and I get the cash flow. Damn!
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Update
I'm a terrible updater, eh? Ha. Too busy.
What's up in my life lately? The upstairs tenant moved in to the new house, loves it (of course). Her kids are great, she's super polite, and I hope they stay for a long, long time. It looks like they will, though. They think this is the nicest apartment they have ever seen! Her sister and brother-in-law were actually asking if we had anything else like it. :)
Downstairs is not flying off the shelf, but I haven't done any serious tenant-looking yet. It goes in the paper next weeek-ish so that should be okay. Really, we should get those last few things finished rather than saying to prospectives "This will be done before you move in...". Unfortunately, I need their deposit to do the work! :) My brother and his girlfriend are looking for a place right now, and they're sorta interested. Which would make things easy/difficult. I think it's more than they should be paying, but they really like it. I'm trying to steer him towards something almost as nice, but cheaper. I don't want to bankrupt my baby brother!
Besides the landlording, I'm finally relaxing a teensy bit. Work is insane, and I am SO looking forward to the long weekend. SO MUCH. You have no idea.
What's up in my life lately? The upstairs tenant moved in to the new house, loves it (of course). Her kids are great, she's super polite, and I hope they stay for a long, long time. It looks like they will, though. They think this is the nicest apartment they have ever seen! Her sister and brother-in-law were actually asking if we had anything else like it. :)
Downstairs is not flying off the shelf, but I haven't done any serious tenant-looking yet. It goes in the paper next weeek-ish so that should be okay. Really, we should get those last few things finished rather than saying to prospectives "This will be done before you move in...". Unfortunately, I need their deposit to do the work! :) My brother and his girlfriend are looking for a place right now, and they're sorta interested. Which would make things easy/difficult. I think it's more than they should be paying, but they really like it. I'm trying to steer him towards something almost as nice, but cheaper. I don't want to bankrupt my baby brother!
Besides the landlording, I'm finally relaxing a teensy bit. Work is insane, and I am SO looking forward to the long weekend. SO MUCH. You have no idea.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Party!
So after we took possession we set right to work. First thing - figure out what we need to do.
The painting they did was horrible. So we have to finish that. Mom and Sister put a second coat on the foyer and Apartment #2's kitchen cabinets. They also did a good cleaning.
I Shop-vacced the fireplace in Apt 2, and went down to the basement to discover my prize! They had junked, but left (thank God! Probably due to its weight) the fireplace insert. It's glorious. A vintage, probably original cast iron grate, weighs about 75 pounds. And it's not painted! Apt #2 is about ready to go.
Apt #1 is already rented, and the horrid room is in there. It needs wallpaper and ugly-ass border stripped, and it needs to be primed and repainted. We have enough white paint to cover the red. And we have a various assortment of blue paints to make up a nice shade of calm blue for the room. It is going to be a boy's bedroom, so all is good. That's what we're doing tonight.
We also have to fix the kitchen light switch. That might get delayed until after move-in...you can turn the light on and off, but it's a switch ON the fixture. You have to climb on a chair to do it. Mike is going to help me wire a new wall switch. And the railing on the second floor deck is not exactly safe. Ha. None of the spindels are attached at the bottom. Locks need to be changed. Stove for Apt #1 has been purchased and will be delivered on March 31. Two breakers are oversized and MUST be changed. Apt #2's bathroom needs towel rods, toilet paper holder, and a floor vent.
Don't even ask me about the basement apartment. That's a total re-do. :) At least we planned on that.
Then we had a kick-ass drunkfest BBQ for our friends and family, and our real estate agent and her husband. She really busted her butt for us, and she's 3 weeks from giving birth! We just had burgers and hotdogs, and people brought camp chairs to sit in. It was a blast and we didn't get home until 4am. Yay!
Then on Monday Rob went and spent the whole day in ER for a kidney stone! Yay! Way to mess up our plans, Fate! Ah well. At least he passed it, and is only a bit sore now. Not that he's doing any work. Boy has soccer tryouts for under 16 today, so Mom and Sister and I and Mike are doing the wallpaper mess tonight. Yay.
Before and after pictures to come!
The painting they did was horrible. So we have to finish that. Mom and Sister put a second coat on the foyer and Apartment #2's kitchen cabinets. They also did a good cleaning.
I Shop-vacced the fireplace in Apt 2, and went down to the basement to discover my prize! They had junked, but left (thank God! Probably due to its weight) the fireplace insert. It's glorious. A vintage, probably original cast iron grate, weighs about 75 pounds. And it's not painted! Apt #2 is about ready to go.
Apt #1 is already rented, and the horrid room is in there. It needs wallpaper and ugly-ass border stripped, and it needs to be primed and repainted. We have enough white paint to cover the red. And we have a various assortment of blue paints to make up a nice shade of calm blue for the room. It is going to be a boy's bedroom, so all is good. That's what we're doing tonight.
We also have to fix the kitchen light switch. That might get delayed until after move-in...you can turn the light on and off, but it's a switch ON the fixture. You have to climb on a chair to do it. Mike is going to help me wire a new wall switch. And the railing on the second floor deck is not exactly safe. Ha. None of the spindels are attached at the bottom. Locks need to be changed. Stove for Apt #1 has been purchased and will be delivered on March 31. Two breakers are oversized and MUST be changed. Apt #2's bathroom needs towel rods, toilet paper holder, and a floor vent.
Don't even ask me about the basement apartment. That's a total re-do. :) At least we planned on that.
Then we had a kick-ass drunkfest BBQ for our friends and family, and our real estate agent and her husband. She really busted her butt for us, and she's 3 weeks from giving birth! We just had burgers and hotdogs, and people brought camp chairs to sit in. It was a blast and we didn't get home until 4am. Yay!
Then on Monday Rob went and spent the whole day in ER for a kidney stone! Yay! Way to mess up our plans, Fate! Ah well. At least he passed it, and is only a bit sore now. Not that he's doing any work. Boy has soccer tryouts for under 16 today, so Mom and Sister and I and Mike are doing the wallpaper mess tonight. Yay.
Before and after pictures to come!
Busy busy busy
Yes, I haven't updated in ages. But, really, everything has either been same old same old, or incredibly frustrating!
So, anyway - we closed on the house on Friday! Not without a great deal of drama, mind you. We had our "substantial completion" inspection on February 21, where nothing (of course) was anywhere near completed. In the contract of sale, they were to finish painting to our satisfaction, and replace a wall they were in the process of tearing down. Not so much, really. Oh, and clean all the crap out of the basement. There was a lot of crap. At the end of our inspection, we left a laundry list. Because, well, finishing painting also involves replacing switchplates and cabinet hardware, in my opinion.
So, final inspection last Wednesday. For those of you who have not sold a house, final inspection takes place after the seller has given up a copy of the keys to their lawyer, but before the buyer takes possession. Basically, you should be packed and ready to move, or already moved. It usually is one or two days before closing day.
Yeah. We showed up on Wednesday, closing is Friday. Nothing is done. Guy isn't even PACKED. No painting finished. No clean-up in basement. Oh - wall is replaced. Badly.
We call the lawyer, say "What now?" Lawyer says, negotiate a price decrease. Set agent to work. Ha! We FINALLY hear from them Thursday night, and it's this - "We're finishing the work. We'll be done by 6 tomorrow."
FREAK OUT!!! Keys must be exchanged, money signed over, before 5pm on closing day. Technically, you aren't even supposed to be there past midnight the night before. Frantic calls go out, no response from selling agent. No response Friday morning either. We start to panic. Have plans for the weekend! Tenants moving in April 1, need to complete work! If they delay closing past 5pm, we won't be able to close until Monday!
Call lawyer again. Lawyer sends cease and desist letter to seller's lawyer. Basically, contact us for meeting before we take possession or we WILL delay.
They call, frantic. Will sue if we delay. HAHAHAHAHA!! Apparently, now it's *OUR* fault they've delayed everything. I finally saw the place at 2pm on Friday, and said "STOP PAINTING!" The colour is awful, the work is terrible. At least the basement junk is gone.
Seller begs and pleads and mistakenly tells me he HAS to close because otherwise his other purchase will fall through because -TADA- he has no bridge financing.
I don't want bad karma, so I agree to sign off. I then get the keys from my lawyer, thereby releasing his money to him, and sit in my parked car for 2.5 hours watching them move out of MY house. The fiancee even dared tosay "You don't have to sit there and stare at us you know!" Yes. I do. You're trespassing and I *could* call the police.
To Be Continued...
So, anyway - we closed on the house on Friday! Not without a great deal of drama, mind you. We had our "substantial completion" inspection on February 21, where nothing (of course) was anywhere near completed. In the contract of sale, they were to finish painting to our satisfaction, and replace a wall they were in the process of tearing down. Not so much, really. Oh, and clean all the crap out of the basement. There was a lot of crap. At the end of our inspection, we left a laundry list. Because, well, finishing painting also involves replacing switchplates and cabinet hardware, in my opinion.
So, final inspection last Wednesday. For those of you who have not sold a house, final inspection takes place after the seller has given up a copy of the keys to their lawyer, but before the buyer takes possession. Basically, you should be packed and ready to move, or already moved. It usually is one or two days before closing day.
Yeah. We showed up on Wednesday, closing is Friday. Nothing is done. Guy isn't even PACKED. No painting finished. No clean-up in basement. Oh - wall is replaced. Badly.
We call the lawyer, say "What now?" Lawyer says, negotiate a price decrease. Set agent to work. Ha! We FINALLY hear from them Thursday night, and it's this - "We're finishing the work. We'll be done by 6 tomorrow."
FREAK OUT!!! Keys must be exchanged, money signed over, before 5pm on closing day. Technically, you aren't even supposed to be there past midnight the night before. Frantic calls go out, no response from selling agent. No response Friday morning either. We start to panic. Have plans for the weekend! Tenants moving in April 1, need to complete work! If they delay closing past 5pm, we won't be able to close until Monday!
Call lawyer again. Lawyer sends cease and desist letter to seller's lawyer. Basically, contact us for meeting before we take possession or we WILL delay.
They call, frantic. Will sue if we delay. HAHAHAHAHA!! Apparently, now it's *OUR* fault they've delayed everything. I finally saw the place at 2pm on Friday, and said "STOP PAINTING!" The colour is awful, the work is terrible. At least the basement junk is gone.
Seller begs and pleads and mistakenly tells me he HAS to close because otherwise his other purchase will fall through because -TADA- he has no bridge financing.
I don't want bad karma, so I agree to sign off. I then get the keys from my lawyer, thereby releasing his money to him, and sit in my parked car for 2.5 hours watching them move out of MY house. The fiancee even dared tosay "You don't have to sit there and stare at us you know!" Yes. I do. You're trespassing and I *could* call the police.
To Be Continued...
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