Remember when you hear people in prison being interviewed, they were all framed. If the record shows that they will be bad tenants, they WILL be bad tenants.
Apparently, the jails are full of innocent people…must be the inferior judicial system that the US has!
Keith
Ok I get it now. The innocent people are in jail and the guilty are renting from us… I see.
MIKE
I still would really like to see that lease of yours. I like it more with each story.
Jeff
Hi Mike,
I love your attitude. What if you had believed the tennant’s story about his mother and then pass by and saw the TV and the car? wouldn’t you feel like a fool. He could have resold the tv and given the money to his mom. Enough about their sorry story. I dont want to hear it, the world is full of sorry stories. We are in this business to make money not to feel sorry for people. If you feel sorry for everyone who come up with a story, you will never eat or survive in this world.
Thing is you almost always know when they are telling a lie because the story gets longer and more absurd. They rented an apartnment knowing they have to pay, they cannot live outside.
THANKS FOR THE STORIES AND SHARING YOUR EXPERIENCES.
Regardin grace periods- we no longer have a grace period. We used to do 5 days but most people would pay on that day. So now, rent is due on the first and considered late the 2nd day. We give out 3 day notices immediately unless the tenant has contacted us with detail of when they will pay. If it amounts to more than a couple days, we give the notice anyway and tell them it is for OUR prtection.
Our late fees are now $75. We are tired of “loaning” our tenants money so they can “buy their kids clothes”, repair their cars", or “take vacations”. They can borrow from someone else. They SHOULD relize a place to live is more important than vacations.
The greatest thing we did on a tenant who gave notice to move was- She gave us her rent check and we went to her bank to find out she was $100 short, what a sham. Well, we told the bank teller who knew our tentant that we didn’t want her to inccur a late fee so we would deposit $100 in her account. That would then make the check cashable. Deposit $100 to cash a check for $700!! BOY was she shocked to hear what we did :o By the way, she now had plenty of security deposit to pay for minor repairs AND the $100 we deposited in her account ;D. Had she gotten away with her little scam, there wouldn’t have even been enough deposit for the rent. This was a tenant already living there when we bought the building and the deposits were only $500.
Through the years we have learned that you CANNOT be “friends” with your tenants. It is the bad tenants that give nice landlords (that’s me) a bad name for making us hard and cold to anyone. OH, one more thing to remember, any great tenant can become a bad tenant overnight if they lost their job. Most don’t even have 1 months worth of rent. Afterall, they have to have cars nicer than mine and vacations every holiday.
Well, I could go on and on but think I’ll stop here :-X
Nice post Mike.
Funny, I was on my way to my local Home Depot this morning…and something striking caught my eye.
I passed by this moderately sized apartment complex…and glanced up at it’s roof area. There were like (12) satellite dish antennas up there.
Mike…I applaud you for stickin’ to your guns. What you’re up against here is the basic consumerism glut that so many people trap their lifestyles within.
Thanks again for the post.
-Mike
BTW…that vehicle I was driving around in this morning…it’s a ‘92 Dodge Caravan. I’m shootin’ to get 250,000 miles out of it. It’s working on it’s 2nd engine, 3rd transmission, 2nd gas tank, 2nd exhaust system. The lower part of the passenger side door panel has got some really good rust action going on. I could easily buy something new, but I choose not to. I’ve got a 2nd backup Caravan if this one really craps out, and a nice large stepvan for the big stuff. All used stuff that I got for next to nothing. When I see a Hummer or some other ridiculous automobile I look up and have a chuckle with Sam Walton.
Why do you guys do this? I read Diane’s blog about her lifestyle and Allagash talk about your vans etc. That is Diane’s thing to live frugally, and that is fine aguess. I have two Jeep Grand Cherokees 2000 and 2002. I don’t deal with all the headaches of this business to live like I am poor. I make money so that my lifestyle will be nice. Having a lot of money and not spending it is fine as long as you are not envious of those that have it. That is being miserly. I could drive a Hummer or Mercedes or something, but I don’t want them. I don’t care if someone else does. Whe I do want one I will get one. If you want a Hummer you need to go and get one, if not, what are you on about it for? I am frugal with my business, but I live the life of a rock star because that is why I do this. You make money so that you can live…not just to have money. You may say this car drives just like that fancy one. I say go to the dealer and drive the fancy one, you will instantly find out that the new technology in cars is a LOT better than the 1992 technology. I don’t drive a van because it has no style, I can get stuff in my Jeep and still look good when I drive my family to church in it. I am just not into the Sanford and Sons lifestyle.
Sorry Bluemoon…
I just don’t have time today to refute why I choose the Sanford and Son automobile.
That’s the honest truth. I’ve got too many other priorities today than to get misdirected explaining my choices.
If you don’t like my rusty vehicle, that’s fine.
-Mike
It is not my vehicle, I don’t have to like it. YOU are the one that doens’t like your vehicle. That is why you are envious of the other vehicles.
My point is you are driving it because you want to drive it. It is NOT a virtue, it is a choice. It is like an ugly wife, you can have one or a pretty one. Its all in the lifestyle you chose to live.
Beauty is only skin deep – ugly is to the bone (or in this case to the frame)!
Keith
Sorry…I’m not interested in your ugly comments.
I only choose to have diplomatic conversation.
Thank you for your understanding,
-Mike
I don’t know you or your wife, I don’t know if she is pretty or not. My point is that it is a lifestyle thing, if you are happy with your lifestyle that is fine. If we chose pretty cars or ugly cars, pretty wives or ugly wives, we are not bad, we are not right or wrong.
We all share one thing though, we all love ugly houses.
There ya go…I’ll toast to that.
:bigthumbup:
-Mike