Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Into the Quiet

The day I graduated from college, I grabbed James Mitchner's Centennial, plopped myself down on the couch and only moved when absolutely necessary. It took about three weeks to completely decompress, with me only coming up for air to answer the incessant phone calls from a friend of mine who was trying to set me up with a guy "who had a great personality."

Those weeks of decompression were quiet. I cleared out the years of intense projects, papers and college life. I rested, void of distractions, allowing myself to relax and ease into the new season of my life I was entering.

Lately, I have been living that quiet time again. I am entering a different season.

We closed our property management division of our accidental business, which focused all my time and energy for the past 10 years. We still have challenges in Alabama. However, one main lesson I learned from managing homes is the time goes by anyway. No matter if Kirby or Mario are dealing with painters or if I am, the painters will still take the same amount of time. Me being anxious about it (because I am managing the day to day activities), doesn't make these people work any faster, nor does it change the outcome.

I feel like I have written the same story over and over again. The names and homes have changed. In fact, as I am writing this--and I swear I am not making this up--I just got a call from from the brother of a neighbor of my home at ________________ and there is a ______________ problem going on there right now. I don't know exactly how he got my number, because I don't even know who this neighbor is. Did he want to help me, or was he looking for easy money? I now have boots on the ground over there. I gave him Kirby's number and told him to call.

There are other things that I haven't written about, that are still unresolved. Attorney Jon caused a legal nightmare for me that is ongoing. He was a great, wonderful man, but very disorganized. And now I am looking at having to get another attorney to resolve this mess.

Legal Eagle blew me off last year. She said she couldn't meet with me for an hour during my visit to Birmingham because three weeks later she would be going on vacation. Jack left me a mess too, though we parted friends. I haven't heard from him, and after what I saw with the house he and I owned and he was managing, I don't really feel the need to contact him either. I think both of those relationships came to an end because of Attorney Jon's death and subsequent legal mess I have to deal with.

Then there is the woman I never met and never will. She disappeared, leaving behind a toddler my tenant was granted custody of. There are many unanswered questions related to this, including, what is that grave-shaped spot in the back yard of one of my homes that every one is ignoring? It is still being ignored. I am finally ok with that. I hope they find this woman somewhere else. Preferably alive.

I am tired. I need quiet. I need to change, grow and not be involved in Alabama. The quiet I have felt in the past few months has been cathartic. A welcome change from the drama of the every day Mrs. Landlord calls.

In keeping with my quiet, I have been noodling what to do about this blog. I am so grateful I have had an outlet to channel some of the craziness I experienced. And, I am even more grateful that I have had a few friends who came along for the ride. Thank you all.

Regarding this blog, do I take a break as I change seasons? Do I change my focus (a pretty narrow scope if you think about it: managing properties, fixing our undercapitalized issues and baseball)? Do I start a new blog? Or do I just let it slip away into the quiet as well? I don't have an answer right now. But I am thinking at this point, I may just set it aside and see where this new season takes me.

--SW

Oh, what happened to the guy my friend was hell-bent on me dating? I married him a few years later and we started our own adventures.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Random Bama

I am thinking this person is residing in the wrong state. By the way, it does not say "Royalty."

_______________________________________________

I got a text today from someone at 2:47 p.m. (that would be 4:47 p.m. Alabama time on a Friday afternoon) saying, "Mrs. Landlord, I need a plumber. My potty backed up yesterday." I have no idea who the text was from. 

At 2:47 p.m. today, I was busy--in fire drill mode actually--with my nudist seller who is hoping to close on Monday. And, as I am only managing a few homes, and I trust those particular tenants I am managing, I just sent a text back telling them to call a plumber. The outcome would have been the same if I had known if it was Mrs. Sherwood, Ms. Angie or Mrs. Green. I guess I will find out when the bill comes.
_______________________________________________
Marty Sunshine found a few of the lessons we have learned from managing a business in the South to have come in handy. The out-of-state interview he had the other day was for a job in the South. Early on, Marty mentioned he has family "in the area" (if you count Florida as South--which Southerners don't) and we own property in Birmingham. Marty said the man interviewing him suddenly perked up, became a lot more friendly and his drawl immediately got a lot thicker. I guess that was a secret code for something. 
_______________________________________________


And finally, I would like to give a shout-out to Carolsue's daughter. She graduated from law school today and there are a lot of proud people in the South as we speak. Though I have never met her, Carolsue has been keeping me abreast of her adventures since the days she was an undergrad.

So, Congrats Lawyer Girl! It would be really awesome if you specialize in real estate.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Waterford

Not to jinx anything here, but Daisy tells me the home in Waterford may, possibly, maybe be rented. IF I am willing to take care of a few itsy-bitsy issues. First, the carpet in the bedrooms needs to be replaced. I had heard that before from Kirby a few years ago and chose to ignore it. So, now I am guessing it is probably 100 percent true.

I am hesitant to send James, the Hell's-Angel-Turned-Carpet installer out there. It is 40 miles from his home and last time I sent him there, he dumped the used carpet on the side of the home. I suspect that is how he keeps his prices extremely low.

Also, apparently there is an infestation of fleas at this vacant home. So, there needs to be a low-grade thermal nuclear weapon dropped on the spot which may, possibly, maybe eliminate the issue. Maybe.

The tenants are apparently a "sweet couple" with "cute kids." They say they have no pets (uh-huh) and are "clean" people. They also want to move in June 1. They also want to paint the royal-blue bedroom on their own dime. That works for me. Perhaps the fleas will be dead by then. 

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Danville

As a pro-active stand on his possible impending lay-off, Marty Sunshine had an initial interview today with a company out of state*. This job interests him, but it was just a first interview and currently there is no reason to get too excited about it.

However, because change freaks me out, last night I did my general recon of this potential location. I looked into some of the basics: the cost of living, crime and how far away the Costco was from the city which we could be potentially living in (three hours). I also checked into home schooling laws for that state. Actually, just like Phineas and Ferb, this job is in a "Tri-State Area", so I have my choice of home school laws. The state in question had a Web site dedicated to the their home school laws, and just to make things interesting, the site was riddled with type-os. 

What I don't know just yet (and it may not matter if he doesn't get past the first interview) is where to live over there. Trying to figure out where the most desirable rental area happens to be, I pulled up the local school district. The thought is that the better areas had better schools. Apparently in this city, that is not the case. Not only were they not boasting their fabulous test scores, they weren't boasting much about anything. Instead, the district posted an "action plan," explaining what they were going to do in the up-and-coming school year to improve their lot in life. I am thinking there is a reason the population has expanded into the tri-state area.

So, I am still not freaking out about three (and soon to be four) vacant homes. I have no energy.


*In all fairness, he has three interviews this week. The other two positions are local-ish. One decided against because the commute was 70 miles a day.

Monday, May 13, 2013

I May Start Freaking Out Tomorrow

Experience tells me I really should be freaking out right about now. But currently I am not.

Grayson Valley is still not rented. I am told it is partially because I am not allowing for pets. Which I am not. I have brand-new flooring in this place. I have an emotional attachment to my new flooring. I told Kirby this and he just politely laughed and muttered something about me being the one to make the decisions.

The house in Waterford came vacant at the end of last month. The tenants moved out because the air conditioning wasn't working right--though it has been fixed (and don't ask me why it wasn't working once again. The house is 10 years old!). And the second reason is there were termites. The house was also treated for termites immediately. I am not convinced there were termites, but I have no reason not to believe the three people who said otherwise. Kirby gave me the punch list of what needed to be fixed for this house. There are a lot of small maintenance items and that surprises me. Don't you think the tenants would have been able to take a screw driver to a door and tighten the hinge themselves in order to make the door close properly? After all, the husband is a mechanic. He probably owns a screwdriver or two.

Hysteria Lane--the home Mario manages--is also coming vacant at the end of this month. The tenant asked for a ridiculous reduction in rent as an enticement to stay. I countered back and suggested she move into Waterford. And, just to make things more tidy, the tenant at Waterford could move into Hysteria. Apparently nobody took me seriously. Mario's people sent me an "action plan" as a way of saying, "yep, we are on this." The action plan cleverly includes staying in touch with the tenant while they are in the process of moving out, conducting a final walk-through and advertising the home for rent. Frankly, they lost me at "staying in touch with the tenant while they are in the process of moving out." When one is in the process of moving, they don't really have time to stay in touch.

Mrs. Roebuck also moved out last week. A long-long time tenant, this home is now vacant. Kirby gets this one this week. In some ways it is easier to turn over a home where a tenant has been living there for a year, than one where a tenant has been living there since the dawn of time. Not looking forward to that punch list.

And then, mix in the impending fact Mr. Partner and Marty Sunshine's company has jumped on the lay-off bandwagon and neither of them expect to be employed there past the summer and you can see where I am coming from. However, I am not hysterical. I am totally zen. Or, I am an ostrich.

Wednesday, May 01, 2013

Mayday

As of today I have three vacant homes. I hear I have another one coming open June 1. I am not necessarily complaining. Nor am I panicking just yet. Maybe in another week or two I will do that.

What I would really prefer is just have tenants.