We have been battling bats at my house for the last week or so.  Thanks to Critter Control, most of them were caught, but he missed two of them.  My Dad and I captured those two last night but  we waited patiently for our Wade, Critter Control  Associate to come pick them up. 

Of course, he was late.  Meanwhile I went to get  lunch and they got my order wrong.  Back at the house, lunch was interrupted because Wade had arrived.

"Oh come on, don't you want to see the bats?" he asked as he held them up by their wings.  Their little heads move around a lot and they seem to change expressions, especially when you make them mad.

"No,  I don't want to see them, thanks anyway. Just get them out of here."

At 1 PM I went over to a friend's house to help her with her website.  My laptop almost crashed.  Her daughter volunteered to help and ended up bringing in reinforcements, which was a young man who is a computer expert.  So far, they haven't figured it out and I'm sick I might lose all my files.  I even offered to pay them.

Later, I had a 5 PM appointment to show one of our duplexes.  No one is ever on time to see one, so I thought I had a few minutes for the bad traffic.  Nope.  I arrived to find an upset couple who asked me if I knew anything about that unit being broken into.

Wwhat?
A heavy footprint on the newly painted white door and damaged door frame killed that deal.

On to the ant problem in 3915.  "I'm so stressed," the tenant told me. "

Stressed? Is she  kidding?

Got home to find an email from another tenant who just wants to find another place.  Uh oh. And that wasn't the only one.  Another one is moving too.  That one had an electrical problem the night before when a storm blew down a power line.  I had to hold  their hands all the way through it because frankly, I think a lot of them need to move into assisted living right after college.

His room mate had called me wanting me to fix the electricity.  I told him to call NES, the electric company.

"But I don't have their number," he whinned.

"I'm driving and I don't have their number either."  (I hate getting cell phone calls in the car.  It really makes me nervous, especially when they're from tenants.)

"Okay, I'll take care of it just as soon as I get home."

Mercy.  Can't they do anything for themselves?

NES told us we had to turn the breakers off.  I tried to get back in contact with the tenant.  Too late, he was headed to work, and it would be all night before he got back home.  So I had to go all the way back out there and turn them off myself, only I couldn't see without my glasses in the dark.  I had to ask another tenant to help me.

Then there was the police car that had just driven up.  They had gotten the report about the downed live line and she was checking it out.  Intimidating.

Finally, I was back home but was awakened by the phone at 11 PM.

"Uh, can I turn the breakers back on? "  It was the other room mate.

"Is the power line back up outside,"

"I don't know."

"Could you look?"

How hard is that?

Yep, if the line is up, it's okay, I reassured him.  Finally.  Everything was taken care of.  Maybe I wouldn't be hearing from them for a few days anyway.

Next call from him was  this morning when he informed us he's moving.

I wonder if he'll get the same service we give at his new place.  Or better service, perhaps?  Better put NES phone number in your cellphone, fella.

Now I'm at my computer in my office because it's my only computer now and I just  got rid of  bat #12   all by myself and it's not flying around the room any more.  It actually went out the window, thank goodness.  And I didn't have to call Wade.  Hope that's the last one.

So I guess I should think things are looking up, maybe?

Poop pickup just got high tech, thanks to dog DNA and a fed up condo homeowners association.

It's happening at Scarlet Place Condos in Baltimore.   Although it may appear a little far fetched there do seem to be some nuggets of sense within the midst of the stupidity.

So what's it all about?

Scarlett Place will require all dog owners to hand over their dogs' DNA.  If poop is not scooped properly, the offending pet and his owner can be identified.   Then it's bill time.

Hmmm.

That might have worked where we have some of our condos in Nashville. Recently, the tennis courts had to be resurfaced because some dog owners were allowing their furry friends to use the area as a public dog restroom.

Poop pickup DNA

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Denver Condos and Townhomes : Denver Condos Should Do This…

I know several Denver Condos complexes that should consider this step. From www.NBCWashington.com: DNA Could Solve Doggie-Doo Caper Using all the dog swabs, BioPet would create a doggie database of sorts for the complex.

Reston Condos for Sale | Dog Owner Rules for Condos | Reston VA …

Home Owner's Associations, Townhouse Clusters and Condo living does mean more rules. Get the scoop up front to save from being disappointed later.

Free real estate forms and almost free real estate documents are available from CREonline.com.

The forms cover option agreement, landlord tenant forms, rental lease agreements, eviction notices, purchase agreements among many others.

Here's an important warning from Creonline.com.  Make sure you have an attorney in your area review the forms before you use them.  That's because real estate is very local, and laws vary from area to area.

However, it is an excellent resource and you can pick up a lot of really good forms that you'll need.  Here's the link.  Real estate forms

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Tenant parking problems can really become a serious nuisance for landlords.  That is, if you don't get control over it in the beginning.

For our second installment in our Landlord Problem Solving Tip Sheet, we've including parking.  This is a problem that can grow to unbelievable frustration if allowed to fester.

Tenant parking problem #1 :Tenants fighting over parking spaces.

If your space is tight, you will need to register each car owned by your tenants.  Assign them a parking space so they know where they are supposed to park.

This will also help you keep out deadbeats who may move in with your tenants.  If you don't allow sub-renting you certainly shouldn't have a bunch of new people moving in under your radar.  This is dangerous and they will take up other people's parking spots.  And they can potentially cause worse problems.

Tenant Parking Problem #2: The old guzzler  that won't run

I know what you're thinking.  Your tenants are too  upscale.  It won't happen to you.

Wrong.  We used to think that too, until it did happen- twice.  Right now we've got one old Honda with three flat tires sitting in front of one of our townhouse duplexes.  Nope, it doesn't beautify the neighborhood.

Tenants will have a much greater incentive to get that junk car gone if you remind them they won't be getting their deposit back if it stays.  It is amazing how creative your tenants can get when motivated.

Tenant Parking Problem #3: The Stolen Car

Yep, this has happened to us too, I'm embarrassed to report.

A rather nice Chevrolet was parked in front of one of our units and we had not registered it.  It stayed there throughout the lease of the tenant living in that unit.  That tenant never complained about it, so we assumed it belonged to him.

Never assume.  When we finally called the police we found out it has been stolen.  The theives has left it there, but it was still in very good shape and unharmed.

All this brings me back to the conclusion that proper vehicle registration will solve all of these problems.  When a car is parked in the same spot for too long, you will be able to ask questions and get answers.

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Air conditioner maintenance is simple and it will pay off in spades as you avoid all those calls from angry tenants when their cold air cuts off.

What is the simple tip that can help you cut expensive costs and harassing calls?

Change the air filters often.

It's that easy.

Depending upon your brand of filter, you may need to change every 30 days, 60, or 90 days.  Some filters will last longer than others.  But by changing the filters often you can take a lot of stress off your air conditioner units.  That will keep them going and they won't break down as often.

My parents used to be in retail and one of the malls where we had a store actually had 30 day filter change in the lease.  It kept the air conditioner healthier and solved a lot of problems.   We've been practicing this simple tip with our tenant air conditioners and it has really cut down on our calls.

(Don't tell Tony, our air conditioner man).

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These are the images we take of our properties that are either for sale or for rent.  We're putting many of those images on the Internet and the quality of those images could make be a huge difference.

That's  according to Wallet Pop.

They have a very revealing post about the damage bad photography can do to prevent  a property sale.

In the case of many of us landlords, it can also prevent us from renting.

In fact, they've tracked down some of the worst property photographs and some of them are beyond bad.  (You can see them in their post)

But their advice is to get good photographs, even if you have to hire the work done.  They use Beverly Hills realtors as an example of how to do it right, because as we know, they do everything well to move those big babies.

Check out Real Estate Images-Making or Breaking a Sale

Patricia Cornwell, the writer credited with getting many of us interested in forensics, probably should have been doing a little more investigating of her own investments.

She claims the people who were supposed to be in charge of her real estate are responsible for her loss of $40 million.

On the surface of it that seems like a lot of money.

But what went wrong, or better yet, what exactly happened?

Read Patricia Cornwell's lawsuit against real estate managers

Here's a warning.  We keep reading these stories and if you're thinking about turning your properties over to managers as I am now considering, you'd better do your due diligence or else your money could end up in the morgue.

But perhaps Ms. Cornwell could have been a hard money lender.

Here's an interesting article about what hard money lending is and how it can benefit both those with money and those who are anxious to borrow it.

Hard Money Tips 

It involves non-smoking tenants who claim their air is being polluted by their next door smoking neighbor.

This is in a newer condo development and each unit's air is blocked off from neighboring units, so their case could be considered somewhat flimsy.

Still, they are pursuing, claiming even a small amount of smoke is reaching them and they don't like it.

Their claim further states the second hand smoke is dangerous and gets into their clothes and they don't like the smell.

Personally, as a landlord, I think these tenants are going way too far on this issue.

I guess I'm from the old school.  My motto has been- if you don't like it, move.

(If you don't like the store, doctor, etc, find another which will work better for you.  You can't  expect everyone to do everything just the way you want-unless you're a billionaire.)

Nowadays people want their little worlds to be perfect, according to their own standards.

But this brings up a bigger issue for us.  Will we be forced to ban all smoking from our units?  Will we have to discriminate against smokers?

This is one more way the government can really get involved with our landlording.  Heaven knows, the government is already involved in much of our services we provide to our tenants. 

When is enough, enough?

Will smoking be banned in rentals?

Should I Opt for Appliances Insurance?

This is an article about one of the biggest problems we face as buy and hold real estate investors.

What happens when our appliances break down?

How will we replace them?

The article brings up a sticky point about  warranties vs.  saving accounts. 

You may probably be wondering if you should add some appliances insurance to your monthly mortgage payments. This is understandable when you consider that if your heating and conditioning equipment breaks, this can bite a large chunk out of your savings which you may probably have reserved for other things like mortgage payments, property taxes or regular  insurance.

 Actually, the real challenge is not so much whether to get an appliances insurance or not, but rather, which of the two to go for; a savings account or an insurance.

The Pros and Cons

Fortunately, there are no hard rules to the whole thing. You can either decide for the savings account, if you feel up to it or go for the insurance, if you feel this sounds better.

Some people reason that since modern appliances are built to last, it makes little sense to pay monthly or yearly premiums to cover them.

However, it is also good to look at the other side of the coin; most appliances break down during their warranty period. This ‘infant mortality’, as it is commonly called will usually be covered by the appliance guarantee or the store from where it was bought. But as it nears the end of its life span and eventually outlives its warranty it will increasingly fail more.

Thus, some people have opted to have appliances insurance to avoid paying for routine maintenance and repairs and instead save that dollar for other needs. While this may prove to be less cheaper than doing the regular repairs, it also has the advantage of one not having to worry about repairing and replacements.

Appliances insurance will usually cover all the repairs and maintenance issues. Sometimes, when several uninsured appliances break down at once, it can prove almost impossible to replace them all at once.

However, with insurance, all you have to do is make a call and explain your problem and sit back and wait to either get the equipment fixed or replaced, all without paying a dime. In such situations, it is usually way cheaper to have the insurance company cover the expenses.

Read the Fine Print

Companies have varying policies when it comes to appliances insurance. Some will demand an annual premium fee while others a monthly fee. Some companies will do repairs when the need arises while others will come to fix and replace appliances within certain time periods.

Depending on your need, it is thus important to carefully read the contract in its entirety. In this way, you will be able to make an informed decision.

Note: Another thing we recommend is to read Consumer Reports religiously.

We have bought everything from cars to vacuum cleaners to appliances after reading their ratings, and they are usually very close on the mark, which will save a lot of money in the long run.

That's better than having an occupied unit with a deadbeat.

Here's how we got rid of one of them without doing the credit check which would have cost us at least $25.

He was a very nice young man with the nicest manners I have seen in a long time.

He was personable and made an excellent first impression.

"Where do you work?" I asked.

"Well, I really don't have a job…" he told me. "I'm having trouble finding a job."

(Zonk.  You're out, my dear.)

He went on to explain he was working not one, but  two waiter jobs while he looked for a real job because he was a business major.

Those jobs were iffy at best because one of the restaurants was very small.

Here's what I told him…

"Our rule of thumb is that your rent really shouldn't exceed one third of your income at the most.  We prefer that it is only one fourth of your monthly income."

That was the end of that meeting and he left.

Here's today's quick landlord tip…

Be matter of fact with them and up front.  Show confidence.

Tell them you have standards (example, "we recommend your rent not exceed one third or one fourth of your income.")

They'll know you're on top of things. 

When you add that you'll do a credit check, they'll really get the message that you're on top of things.

Don't ever get discouraged when you get several deadbeats in a row.   That can be normal. 

Remember: It's a whole lot easier to get rid of them up front than it is to get them out later- when they won't pay you your rent.