catching up

I know I haven't updated in awhile but I've been busy bringing in the next generation of our little dynasty. LOL! Corbin is the baby landlord and he arrived October 17. Yay!

And in the month between the last update and his arrival, I managed to (despite being forced off work by high blood pressure) get both vacancies filled with good tenants. The ship has been on a fairly even keel since then.

So what better thing to do than make an offer on a decrepit property? I mean, what do most people do when they have a 4-week-old infant, are on mat leave, and a month before Christmas? Ha!

It's a GIANT 5-plex we saw about 3 months ago. It's gorgeous and solid and has all the right updates (plumbing, electric, etc). It also has a busted roof, a flooded vacant unit, and 4 of the worst tenants the city has to offer. He bought it 3 years ago for $255K and is trying sell it for $279K. But he hired a property management company (he lives in toronto) and never visited his property to see what they were doing to the place. It is currently one small step above gang hangout and it is amazing how quickly people can wreck a place.

We need vacant possession (I don't want any of those tenants) and we offered $230K. Now we see how desperate he is.

Busy busy busy

Well, things are going well. The evicted tenants actually, well, evacuated. Without being evicted. Awesome! Strongly worded letters and threats of rent subsidy loss go a long way. They also did not damage the place or leave it filthy. It's grimy, needs a good scrubbing, and they left both a pile of trash on the lawn and about 6 million fleas to kill, but all in all I think it was a success. And as Rob says, NO MORE CHARITY CASES.

Alas, S. at Sanford #3, he of the moving-not-moving saga, is moving again. :) He has a chance to play baseball in New Zealand for 10 months, which is totally awesome and I say GO FOR IT. Do NOT pass that sort of shit up.

I have a really good prospect for his apartment, on phone screening. Here's hoping it's a one and done and I can get these things rented out before baby enters at stage right.

D-Day

Well, today is September 3! The rowdy tenants at Spadina #1 are supposed to be out by the end of the day. Do you think they will?

I'm feeling a little more confident about it - yesterday when I drove by there was trash on the lawn for pick-up, so they're at least moving stuff OUT. Hopefully that means that they are also moving THEMSELVES out. I should be getting a call today that they've left the keys (hoping).

Then I get to see the state of affairs. Sigh. Here's hoping it's clean and not broken.

In happier news the new tenants are in and happy at Sanford #1 - A&L. R&A moved out before noon, and A&L got in that afternoon with a mailbox key exchange and me at work! It actually went smoothly! I have never pulled that off before. I do have a pile of crap in the driveway to get rid of, but that's a small price to pay.

Well, it has come to that

I served the second notice to my tenants today - their termination date is set as September 3. Two weeks from today. Sigh. I was hoping it wouldn't come to this but I've received nothing but complaints from EVERYONE. Neighbors, both other tenants in the house, blah blah blah. It sucks. So I give up. I gave them a chance and now they've used it up.

So I'm hoping that they just leave, but I bet they don't. They're just stupid enough to try and fight it. I will have to go tomorrow to get a hearing date from the tribunal if I don't hear from them today. Bah. There goes $170. But at least I still have their deposit so I'll get it back, I suppose. And then holdover rent, because most people being evicted do not pay their rent either. And I'm sure they'll behave like church mice too while we're waiting. ACH! This will not go easily.

I hope I get the unit back in good shape. Before I have this baby. Lots of ifs here aren't there? :D

NO MORE DOWN ON THEIR LUCK YOUNG COUPLES!!!

You learn something new every day!

And last Friday, I learned that it would actually be easier to evict someone for being loud/noisy/disruptive to their neighbors in the building than for non-payment of rent! I guess the tribunal doesn't care as much about the "rich landlord" not getting paid - but they do care about people living comfortably.

I've gotten a couple of complaints regarding my young couple with the new baby (P&A at Spadina #1) - lots of fighting and yelling and slamming doors, etc. Normally I just try to smooth this stuff over with both parties until they work it out. OR i prefer to stay completely UNinvolved.

However, last Thursday night/Friday morning, the police were called to the house for a domestic disturbance. UNACCEPTABLE. My upstairs neighbors were the first to tell me about this, and I wrote up the N5 warning. In reading through it (I've never done this before) I realized that they get a 3-week notice with a 7-day notice to cure. If they get a second complaint in the 7 days I can file a court date. If they get a second N5 warning in the next 6 months, they get a 14-day notice with no notice-to-cure. In other words, you're out. They can dispute charges at the hearing, but the judges don't look kindly on rowdies.

I heard from the cross-ways neighbor that they've been causing some issues with all the neighbors, which I don't like. The guy next door to the North is a bit of a dick, but it's still not acceptable to be hearing this crap about them fighting in the street at 4am, yelling and throwing stuff. So I served the notice.

I got a very scared boy calling me about an hour later. He's panicking! And making lots of excuses. I hope this scares him straight and he keeps his mouth shut from now on. We shall see.

How funny would it be to go to a tribunal hearing 9 months pregnant?

New window being cut, yay!

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Honesty is nice

So, on friday afternoon I get a call from R. At Sanford #1. They broke the window in the front door. The big, solid OLD oak door.

Sigh. But you know what? They could easily (it's a triplex, all tenants use the same door) have clammed up and shrugged their shoulders. Especially since they're moving out in 6 weeks! And it's not like I can just not fix it. That's not how it works.

So anyway, since it was a friday and it isn't visible from the street, I booked the guy to come out today to avoid emergency charges. He was supposed to be here at 4. Then they called and said "after 5". It's 6:20 and he's here! With the wrong piece of glas of course. Meh. I just want it fixed. Here's hoping!

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