I get the feeling I'm gonna do a lot of posting right now. I really have to stop "binge posting", as I'd like to write at least one post every three days. Anyway, last week I was left with the now-tedious task of renting out an apartment at Property X, this time it was for Tony and Ashlin's old place. The upstairs usually rents out quick, and this instance was no different.
Prospective Tenant #1:
Black guy who currently lives with his sister. He inspected everything very carefully, then asked what the apartment was going for. That’s a clear indication that he felt the $525 asking price was too high. He took an application and left, never to return. If he was interested I wouldn’t have rented to him anyway. It wasn’t the black thing this time, but rather he appeared to be high maintenance. High maintenance in a not-so-great neighborhood is usually a recipe for disaster, with at least 3 complaining phone calls a week about godknowswhat. No thanks.
Prospective Tenant #2:
Black single woman with kid. She had four big red flags that I couldn’t overlook. The first is that she’s a single woman. Secondly, she currently lives with her friend, which means no landlord reference. The third issue is that they live on the south side. And finally, she has a 4 year old son. 4 year olds like to run around, and my tenancy with Tony and Ashlin taught me that kids don’t belong in that upstairs apartment. She paid an application fee and left. I didn’t want to take her money knowing that I wouldn’t rent to her, but I remembered something Damon told me. He said that non-profit organizations will sometimes send fake prospective tenants to see if there’s any discrimination going on. So if I charge one person an app fee but not another, there could be problems. So, by law, I’m forced to charge everyone and make more money. Sometimes the law works in my favor.
Prospective Tenant #3
Single black female. She was a security guard who made around $1200 a month. While I’d usually eliminate single females from renting in that area, I would have done it with this one because she was particularly ugly. She paid the application fee and I listed her as a maybe. Her rent is paid for by the college she goes to, and she seemed a bit skeptical that I was a landlord. She asked a lot of questions about the property management company, so I gave her the address (PO Box) and number on the receipt for the app fee. I liked her and all, but I'm still against having single women living in that area.
Prospective Tenant #4
An 18-year-old black couple, brought in by the boy’s mother. Let me say that those two kids were adorable. I mean, really adorable. They had the whole “puppy love” thing going for themselves, and the mother seemed really cool. But nothing they did made me forget the couple’s age, as I had just gotten rid of two 20 year olds in the same apartment. Never again.
Prospective Tenant #5
Danny. Single white male in his late thirties. I don’t like setting up appointments during worktime because I have to sneak out of work and waste gas, but he was worth it. I got there 15 minutes early and he was already there waiting for me. He seemed desperate to move out of his current living situation, as his roommate/landlord and his girlfriend are having a baby. I called the landlord and he gave a good referral, stating that he would have kept him if not for them needing room for the baby. Danny also works at a fish market that I absolutely loved when I first came to Smalltown, and has been there for over 4 years. No car. Keeps to himself. Need I go on?? This guy was a slam dunk, and I was quick to approve him later that day. He paid the holding deposit and that was that.
Prospective Tenant #6
Single white male. Dirty looking and a little rude. Even with this guy’s appearance, he still came in and checked everything out as if he was worth a working apartment. I love it when they do that. He had just broken up with his girlfriend and she kicked him out, so he needed a new place to live. He wasn’t interested but took an application anyway, just to be nice. I wouldn’t have rented to him anyway, but I was hoping for more application fee money.
And with that, Danny (#5) is the new upstairs tenant of Property X. This rent-out process took 36 hours, and I must say that I'm satisfied with the results. He signed the lease yesterday and it’ll be the first time I have a single male living by himself in the upstairs apartment. It doesn’t get more ideal than this, so I think his tenancy should last at LEAST 6 months without a problem. I gave him the option of paying $800 now (security deposit + April’s rent) or $475 (security deposit + prorated rent for March). I let him know that the latter would cost him more, as he would end up paying $200 more overall ($275 sec dep + $200 prorated rent + $525 April’s rent = $1000). He appreciated my honesty. He chose the latter, which kinda bothered me. What’s the big rush if there’s nothing bad going on between himself and the roommate/landlord? Willing to pay $200 more just to leave early? Hmm… I’ll have to keep my eye on him for a while. But both apartments are finally rented out, and that means I can relax for a little while. Whether the Van Sickle family and Danny signal a new era of stability at Property X is anyone’s guess, but it’s been a while since I’ve had hope for it.
P.S.: I used a part of his holding deposit to put polyurethane on the floors. I was gonna save it for another time, but I saw no reason to put it off. Materials cost around $50 and Pelcom Nick charged another $50 for labor. Looking back, I should have done it myself since it’s very easy to do. But… well… I’m lazy, and I don’t like doing manual labor. There. I said it:
Prospective Tenant #1:
Black guy who currently lives with his sister. He inspected everything very carefully, then asked what the apartment was going for. That’s a clear indication that he felt the $525 asking price was too high. He took an application and left, never to return. If he was interested I wouldn’t have rented to him anyway. It wasn’t the black thing this time, but rather he appeared to be high maintenance. High maintenance in a not-so-great neighborhood is usually a recipe for disaster, with at least 3 complaining phone calls a week about godknowswhat. No thanks.
Prospective Tenant #2:
Black single woman with kid. She had four big red flags that I couldn’t overlook. The first is that she’s a single woman. Secondly, she currently lives with her friend, which means no landlord reference. The third issue is that they live on the south side. And finally, she has a 4 year old son. 4 year olds like to run around, and my tenancy with Tony and Ashlin taught me that kids don’t belong in that upstairs apartment. She paid an application fee and left. I didn’t want to take her money knowing that I wouldn’t rent to her, but I remembered something Damon told me. He said that non-profit organizations will sometimes send fake prospective tenants to see if there’s any discrimination going on. So if I charge one person an app fee but not another, there could be problems. So, by law, I’m forced to charge everyone and make more money. Sometimes the law works in my favor.
Prospective Tenant #3
Single black female. She was a security guard who made around $1200 a month. While I’d usually eliminate single females from renting in that area, I would have done it with this one because she was particularly ugly. She paid the application fee and I listed her as a maybe. Her rent is paid for by the college she goes to, and she seemed a bit skeptical that I was a landlord. She asked a lot of questions about the property management company, so I gave her the address (PO Box) and number on the receipt for the app fee. I liked her and all, but I'm still against having single women living in that area.
Prospective Tenant #4
An 18-year-old black couple, brought in by the boy’s mother. Let me say that those two kids were adorable. I mean, really adorable. They had the whole “puppy love” thing going for themselves, and the mother seemed really cool. But nothing they did made me forget the couple’s age, as I had just gotten rid of two 20 year olds in the same apartment. Never again.
Prospective Tenant #5
Danny. Single white male in his late thirties. I don’t like setting up appointments during worktime because I have to sneak out of work and waste gas, but he was worth it. I got there 15 minutes early and he was already there waiting for me. He seemed desperate to move out of his current living situation, as his roommate/landlord and his girlfriend are having a baby. I called the landlord and he gave a good referral, stating that he would have kept him if not for them needing room for the baby. Danny also works at a fish market that I absolutely loved when I first came to Smalltown, and has been there for over 4 years. No car. Keeps to himself. Need I go on?? This guy was a slam dunk, and I was quick to approve him later that day. He paid the holding deposit and that was that.
Prospective Tenant #6
Single white male. Dirty looking and a little rude. Even with this guy’s appearance, he still came in and checked everything out as if he was worth a working apartment. I love it when they do that. He had just broken up with his girlfriend and she kicked him out, so he needed a new place to live. He wasn’t interested but took an application anyway, just to be nice. I wouldn’t have rented to him anyway, but I was hoping for more application fee money.
And with that, Danny (#5) is the new upstairs tenant of Property X. This rent-out process took 36 hours, and I must say that I'm satisfied with the results. He signed the lease yesterday and it’ll be the first time I have a single male living by himself in the upstairs apartment. It doesn’t get more ideal than this, so I think his tenancy should last at LEAST 6 months without a problem. I gave him the option of paying $800 now (security deposit + April’s rent) or $475 (security deposit + prorated rent for March). I let him know that the latter would cost him more, as he would end up paying $200 more overall ($275 sec dep + $200 prorated rent + $525 April’s rent = $1000). He appreciated my honesty. He chose the latter, which kinda bothered me. What’s the big rush if there’s nothing bad going on between himself and the roommate/landlord? Willing to pay $200 more just to leave early? Hmm… I’ll have to keep my eye on him for a while. But both apartments are finally rented out, and that means I can relax for a little while. Whether the Van Sickle family and Danny signal a new era of stability at Property X is anyone’s guess, but it’s been a while since I’ve had hope for it.
P.S.: I used a part of his holding deposit to put polyurethane on the floors. I was gonna save it for another time, but I saw no reason to put it off. Materials cost around $50 and Pelcom Nick charged another $50 for labor. Looking back, I should have done it myself since it’s very easy to do. But… well… I’m lazy, and I don’t like doing manual labor. There. I said it:
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| Most people do polyurethane the right way... sanding first and then poly afterwards |
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| But I really don't care |
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| It looks nice and the floor is protected. As long as tenants like the end result (and he did), I'm happy. |
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