First of all, it has been way too long since I last posted. To say I have been busy would be an understatement. I have a full time job which has been the busiest time of the year for me. On the rental house side of things, a lot of has happened. I am going to do my best to sum up most of those things.
We finished up the rehab on the house. That was a stressful time as keeping the contractor motivated was a chore. Every time I went by the house I saw things that were in my mind supposed to be completed a week or 2 earlier. I delt with attitude from him. Of course I paid him a portion of the money every week or so and waited to pay the remaining balance until the project was complete. What I believe happened was that he didn't have another job lined up, so he drug this one out by working half the day, ect. Needless to say I got pretty involved to motivate him. Dealing with contractors is just part of it and I hope I will be better at it next go around. I also learned what types of work in a house I want to take on.
A few days before the rehab was complete, I put a sign in the yard and an ad on craigslist. I listed the price right at what I thought was a little on the high side, but more that reasonable to expect for the neighborhood. That was a Tuesday. I was getting calls left and right and had about 5 good prospects lined up to see the house on Saturday. By finding "good" prospects, I screened them over the phone. If they met most of my requirements, I offered them a chance to see the inside and get to know them better. I was not interested in meeting every one that called. Saturday rolled around and my wife and I were at the house. Of course we had a no show or 2, but we had a few good ones show up. We also had a "word of mouth" show up. After getting back applications for one family as well as the family from "word of mouth", we felt we had 2 good options to choose from. My wife liked the "word of mouth" candidate a little more and I was leaning towards the family with the appointment. We wrote down a list of pros and cons and still didn't have an answer. The more we thought on it, we both agreed that the lady with 2 daughters that came by on word of mouth was the better option. To be honest here, my wife's initial opinion was right. This is why I value her so much in this business. We both believe we are decent judges of character, but my wife can see some things in people that I may miss. We got every thing signed and a deposit. 1st months rent was on time. We have received a couple of calls from her as a few things did not work correctly when she moved in. We have no problem getting those things right. For example, sliding door was not hinged correctly and the water hose hook up leaks water and causes a puddle in the flower beds. We are more than happy to get these things corrected as they were not right when she moved in and we want to provide her with a house she can call home for a long time.
I hope I don't have have more to post from this house any time soon, except that all is well. It has been a good 1st real estate move for us. We got a good education in the real estate business, have a house that "all in" we have built in equity in the house, and should be cash flowing nicely. There are a lot of people to thank for helping with this project and I need to write some them thank you notes now. We are now on the search for our next real estate investment. Please feel free to leave comments or send me a message.
