December 2017 Property Earnings

Property X

Apt 1- Black Family: $700

Apt 2 - Consuela: $600L

Total Rents Received: $1300

Repair Costs: $145 (Alfonso Maintenance Fee, Tax lien paid off, Certified Deed Copy, Tax payment receipt copy)

Total Profit for Anita in December 2017: $1,155

     Property X was good this month, as it was last month. The only expenses paid were obtaining copies of tax stuff for my mom. Consuela has been late with her rent payment every single month, and I'm seriously considering throwing her out once this winter ends. Her entire tenancy is kinda weird because she's hardly ever at the apartment, spending most of her time at her mom's house. In a neighborhood like that, I don't want it known that her apartment is barely lived in because it's a clear signal that says "rob this place."

(I put an L next to Consuela's rent amount, indicating she was late. I don't bother writing the late fee because I usually keep it instead of adding it into the total. Anita gets her money from the rent, and I get my money for dealing with irresponsibility.)

Property 1

Apt 1 – Dharma and Family: $525

Apt 2 - Belle and Sebastian: $875

Total Rents Received: $1400

Mortgage: $833

National Grid: $181.41

Repair Expenses: $133.12 (wood plank, liquid nails, water heater pilot assembly kit, thermocouple)

Total Profit: $252.47

     The water heater went out for the Nepali tenants, which also meant I had no hot water. Having seen Alfonso replace the thermocouple in several hot water tanks, I figured I could do it myself. Unfortunately, the newer water heaters have the thermocouple almost welded in, so you can't replace the thermocouple without replacing the entire pilot assembly. A quick $10 fix became a completely unnecessary $80. I'll never understand why it's legal for a company to make it more complicated to fix a product without improving the product's overall quality!

     While I was on the floor fixing the water heater with Alfonso, I looked up and saw a hole in the basement ceiling that I had never seen before:

The hole doesn't look very big, especially from this angle, but bats are like mice. They can squeeze through the smallest areas, especially when that hole has a shitload of basement heat coming from it during the winter.

     Could it be? All those years dealing with bats in the basement, could they all have been coming from this hole? It would make sense, considering that the hole is in the same area as the heating ducts. Since none of the tenants have seen bats in their apartments, the bats have to be coming from a place that connect directly from the attic to the basement... right where that hole is. So I put a wooden plank there and I'll wait to see what happens. The other night I felt some wind at the top of my head while taking a piss, but it was most likely from the heating ducts.

I wanted to screw in the plank but it was impossible to get a drill between those pipes, so I had to use Liquid Nails. It would be fucking great to have a bat-free basement apartment for the first time ever.

Property 2

Apt 1 - Nicholas 2: $750

Apt 2 – Edward and Gabby: $785 ($35 LATE FEE)

Total Rents Received: $1,535

Mortgage: $754

Repair Expenses: $26.79 (lockset, gutter pipe bracket, screws, replicate keys)

Total Profit: $746

      It surprised me that Edward paid late in December. I sent him a text from my business phone, and it was one of those "Automated Do Not Reply" messages letting him know he was late. I love it because it requires no conversation. The very next morning he paid his rent plus the late fee, and that was that. I'll have to start using this DNR text from now on, because it really does the job of notifying without argument.

     

     Edward called about the gutter drain coming loose at the beginning of December, so I went over there to fix it:

The bottom piece fell off because the screws rusted out

I had to screw the bracket onto the house, and then the broken piece to the bracket. This actually works out much better, as the situation gets fixed without having to deal with the rusted screw holes. I actually bought toggle bolts, thinking I could use them. I'm still learning...

Gutter pipe fixed, and with no call to Handyman Alfonso! Took about 15 minutes and cost about $7 for the bracket and the screws

    
     Edward called about the stiff lockset for the backdoor entrance, so I went over there and fixed that too (WD-40). Then he called to complain that someone has been stealing his Amazon packages from the porch. That I could not fix, but I found it interesting. Edward said that Nicholas II also complained to him that he's had packages stolen as well. If that were true, why would Nicholas II complain to Edward and not to me? To be very honest, I think Nicholas is stealing Edward's packages and then removing suspicions by claiming he's a victim as well. In a neighborhood as good as Property 2's, it makes no sense that it's not an inside issue. Nevertheless, I can't prove anything so I just told Edward to take the normal precautions and keep me posted. For me, it serves him right with his late paying ass.

Property 3

Apt 1 - Chucky: $435

Apt 2 – Toby: $660

Apt 3 – Rory: $585

Apt 4 - Taniqua and Eugene: $550

Total Rents Received: $2,230

Mortgage: $887

Repair Expenses: $145.80 (oven repair for Eugene and Taniqua)

National Grid: $333.54

Total Profit: $863.66

     Once again, Eugene and Taniqua surprised me by paying rent at the deadline. They had been calling about fixing their oven which I really didn't want to do. Usually I replace the stove when someone moves out, so I hoped they would miss the deadline so that I could throw them out without fixing a oven that I'd have to replace anyway. Whatever. Once the rent was paid, I had no choice but to get their oven fixed. I'm still skeptical that they can keep up their new on-time payments, so we'll see what happens in January.

Property 4

Tenant Latisha: $900

Repair Expenses: $0

Total Profit: $900

     I like that I never have anything to say about this place. Latisha did wait until the last hour of the last day to pay rent, which is unlike her. But she paid on time, and Latisha is making me feel a little better about this bad property purchase.


Total Profits For December 2017: $2,762.13


      This month was good profit. It ended a crappy year on a high note, and now we come to January. The last two winters we've had maybe two subzero days. A month into this winter and we've already had four, so I can already tell this is gonna be a bad winter. I'm expecting very high National Grid bills, as well as Property 4's property tax bill. Even with all this, I should generate a decent profit for January.