Better Times Tomorrow

Many people are having trouble paying their bills.  Heck, I have trouble with my bills now and then.  I ask myself, What is going to happen to all of us?  I prefer to think about solutions to problems; than the less productive poor-me scenero.......so I've decided it's a time to evaluate what is really important.  Ask ourselves the question, "Is this a want or need?" and be truthful in the answer.  We very possibly can get by on less.
Currently in my business, I have seen several generations in one family move in with each other to share expense.  Locally the government has come up with a couple of new programs to help people pay there housing, electric bills, and to find a job.  I have been recommending tenants to contact the Illinois Valley Office in our area.  People are getting help with rent, electric,  help with finding a job, AND a promise to continue helping as long as they stay in the program.  There is hope/light at the end of the tunnel as long as the funds hold out.  I chose not to borrow worry from tomorrow......but to look at one day at a time with the expectation of better times tomorrow.

Gettin' By

This economy is affecting everyone.  Just how are people going to 'get by'?   What can be done to make the money go further.   I have a few suggestions and some of them I am doing myself.

1. E-mail Christmas Greetings instead of mailing them.
2. Cash in all of the change you have laying around the house.
3. Sell your broken gold earrings and other gold jewelry that you no longer wear or is broken.
4. Eat at home more.  Brown bag  your lunch.
5. Make family gatherings potluck to spread out the expense.
6. Rent movies instead of going to theatres.
7. Color your own hair instead of going to the beauty shop.
8. Turn your thermostat down in the house.
9. Plan trips to town for when you have several things to do.
10. Pay cash for everything so....no credit card surprises.

My mother always enjoyed  "gettin' by" and accepted it as a personal challenge to stretch the dollar and feed the family at the same time.  The time of instant gratification may be over for some of us and the time for self-discipline is here and now.  Accept the challenge and you will 'get by'.

On the Soap Box

I can't help it today I am on the Soap Box.  What's wrong you might ask?  Well I will just tell you.  I want tougher consequences for the tenants that do not pay their rent, destroy the house, and then leave.

This is what I think should happen to them:

1. Automatically be  thrown in jail at the time of the hearing if they don't pay up.
2. Forced to sell their personal possessions ((their big screen tv - (I do not have one)) to pay the rent.
3. Cut their fingers off so that they will not get into someone else's pocket.
4. Sell the kids.

Seriously, tenants barely get a slap on the hand.  When they are taking money out of my pocket by not paying and by destroying my property.  How can rents possibly be kept low when the overhead in this business is unnecessarily increased?

As soon as I figure out how to compose a letter, I am going to write my congressman and suggest a new law!!!

Please, Ruth do not kick me and my Kids out.

Opened my mail this morning.  The letter started with, Please Ruth do not kick me and my kids out.  The letter goes on to state what the problem is and how they plan to rectify it.   Now how do you respond to a letter like that one week before Thanksgiving?  I have feelings!  I'm not an ogre!   I'll call the bank and tell them the reason I am not paying them this month.  Wait!  Bank does not care.  All they care about is that they get their payment on time.  They don't care about me let alone a tenant that has fallen on bad times.  What to do?  I do feel sorry for them.  But, what about my problems caused by their problems?  I have bills to pay.  I have a business to run.  I know,  I'll refer them to a couple of agencies that help out in situations like this.  I'll pray for them. I'll encourage them.  I'll work with them, but at the end of the day; I may still have to evict them.  I can not allow their situation to take me down with them.

Sometimes landlording is just darn hard!

Stuff Happens!

I have been thinking about some of the situations that happened in my world just because I have property.  Let see there was:

1. The fifteen year old that gave birth in the toilet.  Dad learned she was pregnant when he heard her screaming from the bathroom.
2. Entered a house and found a couple on the pull out couch.  With wife of the man sitting in a chair across from the couch.....watching I guess.
3. The X-boyfriend of the granddaughter of my tenant came onto my property uninvited and picked a fight with current boyfriend.  X-boyfriend got pretty well beat up and then sued me.
4. Tenant came in to pay the rent and when she got to the office told me the payment had blown out the window on the way over.
5. Noticed that my employee had a brand new shed that he had built himself.  The siding looked exactly like the siding I had used on the last remodel job.

I could go on and on!

Do You Have a Plan?

I sold a house Contract for Deed to a young couple early in my career of acquiring properties.  They watched me a buy one house after another.  To them it looked like I was getting rich and it looked so easy from the outside looking in.  After about a year or so, I sold them 5 houses CFD that were ready to be occupied.  They immediately rented them to their friends and family members.  They were raking in the money.  So they bought a new truck and a larger house.  They talked some other people into selling them their properties CFD.  They both quit their jobs.  Then the rent  stopped coming in.  They had a couple of tenants trash their house.  The long and short of it; they were in foreclosure in less than 5 years after they started.  Unfortunately this happens frequently.  What went wrong?

1. Spent the money before they  had it.
2. Did not set money aside for emergency situations.
3. Moved to fast.
4. Improper screening of tenants.
5. Shouldn't have both quit their jobs
6. Borrowed too much money.
7. Poor management. 

It could have been a thousand little things that all came to a head at once.  I think  Grandpa used to say something like this, "he who fails to plan.......plans to fail".

They should have listened to Grandpa!

Typical Day

Today was a typical day for me probably not much different than your typical day.  But since I am telling the story this is my day. 

1. Took in some rent money.
2. Took a few calls of people looking for a rental.
3. Took a few calls regarding maintenance issues.
4. Took a call on one of the properties I manage.
5. Checked on the maintenance men  projects.
6. Entered some data in the computer.
7. Paid some bills.
8. Made a drop at the bank.
9. Walked to the post office.
10. Took a moment to enjoy the sunshine
11. Stepped inside a new business in town; to wish them well.
12. Interviewed a potential Contract for Deed buyer.

That's about it.