Big daddy

This isn't really a new picture but it's cute! This was from August I think.

Well I ended last time talking about basement construction so I'll pick up there. The original drywall guy ended up quiting his buisness altogether and did not finish the job he was doing for me. So I have hired a third drywall contractor and he is finishing up Wed or Thur. I may end up doing a little better on price even though I've been through three contractors. The plumbers should also be here tommorow to put on the shut off valves and I'll be able to put in faucets and so forth. The granite guy came and installed new granite countertops on the bar, basement vanity and master bath vanity. It all looks very nice. Everything is coming together nicely even though not really on schedule.

The CCH golf tournament is this weekend so the weather should turn cold and rainy. My dad is coming up to play for the 4th year and we'll have our work cut out for us. The field is much larger and neither dad or I have played much this year (I haven't played at all). Our streak of winning one of the side competitions every year is at stake.

So I had to evict a tennent. This was an interesting experience and I will share with you the story. The first house I bought and rented had to be the one I learned everything on. I learned a lot about inspecting before you buy. I learned about heating and air. I learned about being a nice guy.

I was doing some of the finishing work one afternoon when I recieve a call about renting the house. The man on the line said he was in the neighborhood and was looking to move into a place right away. I stated that he was welcome to come on down and check the place out. He said he would be right there. He arrived a few minutes later. He seemed nice. He began telling me about his current situation. He stated that his current landlord had not been fixing things in their house and it was uninhabitable. He reported that his family was staying in hotels just to have a decent place to stay. He went through this story and explained that he needed to move into a place ASAP. I pointed out that there were a few uncompleted jobs in the house. He promptly volunteered to complete them if he could move in right away. He stated that he wouldn't have the money for the rent and deposit until the next week when his wife got her disability check. I agreed to let him and his family move in with the expectations that he would finish some work around the house and pay me within the week. I went by the next week and he stated that his wife's check had been mailed to their old address and was being forwarded to the new address. He stated that this would only take a couple days. I went back the next week and again he blamed some miscommunications with the postal service on his lack of funds. He stated that he was working though and would be paid soon. This went on for over a month as he racked up late fees and another months rent. I visited probably 20 times during this period, receiving every excuse in the book for not having the money. Then I received the utility bill. They had told me that the bill had been switched to their name and being the trusting person I am I did not check this out. They had not changed the bill and I was stuck paying another $200 for that. By this time I was warning them of eviction and serving them all sorts of papers and such. They would not move out until I filed legal action against them. So I had to hire a lawyer (which is not cheap) to get them evicted. I took the house over on Sept. 2 and it was trashed. There were clothes everywhere, trash all over the place, cat feces on every surface and rotting food in most rooms. In addition, the brand new range I bought and the brand new central air unit were stolen. Yes someone actually took that big air conditioner unit that sits outside your house as well as the coil inside the house. I hired a neighbor to clean out the house, had the HVAC guys back to replace the air conditioner and I'm getting ready for the final clean up before putting in back up for rent. All in all, this little mistake has cost me about $5k. But many lessons have been learned. I knew all of this would happen at some point, I didn't expect it all to happen at once, to my first property. Oh, I forgot to mention that all the interior doors were broken off their hinges, and a window, mirror, and two kitchen drawers were broken.

Other than that things with the buisness are going well. I have 3 houses now and hopefully they will all be occupied soon (one is at this time). The newest house is nearing completion and I have been receiving a lot of calls on it. I will put the sign up for the aforementioned house once that one is rented. I only have one sign so I can only do one at a time!

I do have to add one bright spot to the above tennant escapade. The last day, as the female tennant was moving some of her stuff out of the house, I approached her to discuss her situation. She appologized for everything and stated that she would like to make it up somehow. I told her that there was only one thing that I wanted her to do to get square with me, take her family to church. She began crying and I explained that I must offer grace because God had shown me much more grace. She stated that she would do this. So if she follows through, at least there will be a hope for salvation of souls, which will be a far greater treasure than the $5,000 it cost me.

Praise God.