Hmm. You know, I purposely avoided writing a post for a few days now. I really hate writing the posts that show failure, but I don't really have a choice. The whole purpose of this blog is to take an honest look at how I do things and see what patterns can be discovered and improved upon. Well, I found a “pattern” on Sunday and it wasn't good.
On Sunday I got a call from Property X's Mallory. She said that she had a friend over late Saturday night. At around 4 in the morning, the friend goes downstairs to have a smoke. He gets into some kind of confrontation with Tisha's son and ended up being sprayed with mace. The friend ran back up stairs and the effect hurt her eyes as well. I... I had this big smile on my face. There's something about the sufferings of tenants I don't like that gives me a nice feeling. As she continued to babble on, I had this weird feeling that I couldn't shake. I had no idea where it came from, but a thought popped into my head: Is this all my fault? Has all the issues I've had at Property X since I started managing it been my fault and not the tenants?
I live by the “My Fault” philosophy, where I believe that anything bad that happens to me is somehow my fault. I applied that to just about everything, but I never thought about applying it to Property X. I always blamed things on the tenants or the shitty neighborhood. So I quickly got off the phone with Mallory and started going through my posts on this blog, especially the Property X post. I then un-deleted my old 6 Year Millionaire blog and combed through most of the 552 posts. I spent at least 2 hours going through posts, looking for any patterns I could find. In the end, I believe the problem with Property X are the tenants. I'm not sure why, but I always seem to pick the wrong tenant for that place. I think there's something in my subconscious that picks the wrong tenant.
Had I done the background checks I usually do, I would have realized that Tisha's old landlord never called me back for the landlord referral. I called on Monday but got the voicemail. There has to be a reason for that. Tisha's landlord must have known that she's bat-shit crazy. But I let the fact that she makes so much money cloud my judgment. As far as Mallory goes, I shouldn't have rented to her either. She doesn't fit into that neighborhood and is a target for being a single white female living alone. She's used to having no blinds on her windows, and I've been hearing reports that she drinks a lot. Can't fault her for that considering what's been going on, but she's just not the right person for that area.
Getting the right tenant doesn't mean they have to make the $75,000 a year that Tisha makes. Being able to afford the apartment is only one of the many things I need to look for. It's a combo of being able to afford the place, being able to fit in with the neighborhood, checking the internet for eviction cases, and getting that oh-so-important “good vibe” that experience gives me. And I know this. But my judgment gets faulty when it comes to Property X, and I've been suffering with the results ever since. It's like I make excuses in my mind for why I need to hurry up and get a tenant (neighborhood sucks). Because the property isn't mine, that could be another reason why I subconsciously skirt around my usual prospective tenant checklist.
Mallory asked me if I had any other properties available that she could move into, and I told her no. Even if I did have it, I don't want to deal with her anymore. She said she's looking for another place to live, and I pretended to give a damn. I just want her gone. The sooner she's out, the sooner I can redeem myself and get the right people in those apartments. It's such a shame that I didn't discover this sooner... my real estate journey could have been so much easier.
P.S.: I really need to spend more time re-reading this blog like I did with the old one. There's so much to learn about myself from each post, especially the ones on my old blog. And it certainly serves my time better than looking for the best online midget porn.
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