Eeellchhhh...

Tonight I had one of the most disgusting and discouraging evenings in my life so far.

My wife and I own three rental properties in our area. They’re not the nicest homes around, nor are they even in a good part of town. We had to start somewhere, and this was what I chose for us. It’s been a real struggle to get and keep them rented. One house has yet to pass a building inspection. I mean to say I have been working on it so long that it’s getting ridiculous and I just want it to end. Another is finally rented, and it appears that this tenant is going to work out. The third is the one I worked on this evening, and thus the object of my disgust.

This house was recently vacated by a woman who was very irresponsible and apparently had no regard for the consequences of not paying people who provide service to her, people like the electric company, the water company, the phone company, and, namely, me: her landlord.

I had to evict her after many months of negotiating and pleading on her part. She always had some kind of great excuse. She was sick and missed work that week, or her daughter (who was 20 and had a baby of her own) needed help with her bills, etc. Blah, blah, blah. She lasted so long in my house because I have a soft spot for people. I also tend to give people the benefit of the doubt. I am very trusting… well, I used to be; I feel that I am growing some shrewdness muscles (I hope, or I’m not going to last long in this business).

I say all this to lead up to my nasty evening in this house. I began the process of cleaning the house and found that the floor in the kitchen and utility room (adjacent to the kitchen) were wet. I knew they were wet, because of a problem with the washing machine drain that I actually fixed a long time ago. I just didn’t realize how wet the floors were. I peeled up the vinyl tile (that I installed myself – I was very proud) to find not only a wet, nasty, moldy sub-floor, but a hive of roaches and termites. Yes… ROACHES AND TERMITES.

My heart sank through the floor (wasn’t difficult, the floor was soft). Not only do I have to replace the floors, but I have to pay to have a pest service come in and rid me of these nasty creatures, and hope they do it quickly and thoroughly.

As I write this, I am still haunted by the sight in those rooms tonight. I am amazed and befuddled how people could live like that. They had to know there was a problem; why didn’t they ask me to fix it? I would have! I don’t want my investment to destroy itself. My aim is to provide nice houses that people can afford to live in. I’d also like to make a profit. Am I asking too much?

Oh well. What do I do? I pick up and go on. Call the bug people. Fix the floor. Make it nice again.




And change my inspection habits in my homes.

CS