Beginning of the month--Collecting rent, etc.

It is now the tenth of October. It has been an eventful 10 days. I have been very busy collecting rent, supervising two moveouts, filing my taxes, and complying with local government.

Time are tough and I'm taking partial payments on more than one unit. I've got vacancies that in units that I've never had problems renting before. People have moved out of the area, and developers have new houses that are renting out at $995/month. I've dropped my prices on units that I've spent thousands upgrading. Victor Valley Waste Reclamation Agency has made massive increases on water and sewer fees. On units that used to have a base cost of $80 every two months, I am now paying almost $215, and that's before water usage.

One of the moveouts is still in progress. The people are too far behind to come close to catching up; I've tried to help them as much as I can, but can no longer do so without jeopardizing the property. There is still stuff to be moved out, cleaning and repairs to be done, and I haven't gotten the keys back, but I'm hopeful. An eviction would take about 4 months, and the people are making a sincere effort to move.

Some other renters moved out. They returned the keys on the 6th and were moving some stuff out of the unit. The lady seemed surprised that I was charging her rent until the 6th. She reasoned, "But we weren't even here for the most part," to which I replied, "..but I couldn't use the unit or come in and clean, and you still had keys.." which elicited an "Ohhhhh...I get it".

Her move out brings me to the following. You know how doorknobs are big germ carriers? Well here are some pictures of one of hers. I always rekey my locks between tenants. I do it myself.

The top picture was actually cleaned a little before I took the picture. The second is with a bit of scouring with a 3M pad. The final is everything put back together. You can see the 3M pad underneath. Maybe if I get a request I'll show you how to rekey a lock. I only use Kwikset or Titan locks. There are reasonably priced and don't break after a year like some of the cheaper locks (Bulldog comes to mind).

Finally got the taxes filed. My wife was great. I'm horribly disorganized as far as paperwork goes. I know I missed a couple thousand dollars in write-offs, but last year was so bad, I'm getting back everything I paid in.

Some good news. My accountant only charged me $775.

I've gotten three separate weed abatement notices in the last couple weeks. One is taken care of, two more to go. This is just the short version.

I'm tired and really don't have anything more to say tonight.