It's Raining Cats and Dogs - Part II

January 2017 -

As I said earlier, we told the folks in both 101 and 102 to get rid of their pets.  101 said okay and moved out.  But we didn't hear anything from 102.  We waited and assumed that 102 was going to move out as well, but we didn't hear from him directly.

On January 1 we went into 102 to see if he'd gone.  It was mostly empty - no furniture, but there was still a refrigerator full of food, the washer and dryer, a lawn mower (why?)  and some miscellaneous stuff.  So we asked him, via text message, when he would be getting the rest of his stuff out and clean.  His answer?  "I'm out."

So, here we go again.  But, the good thing is that he was out.

Flashback:  Earlier in the fall, when we were haggling back and forth about the animals, Diego was in 102 changing furnace filters and smoke alarm batteries he was talking to the tenant's kids.  Of course, kids don't know what's secret and what's not, right?

So the kids tell Diego about the dog they used to have - at the apartment.  Apparently they had a dog earlier in the year.  And when they left the apartment they would lock him in the bedroom.  The dog didn't like the bedroom and being separated so he clawed and dug a hole in the carpet by the door which the family covered up with a small rug.

So,  after getting 101 ready, we plunged into 102 - starting with cleaning out the fridge.  Anyone hungry?  There was left over pizza, a huge jar of pickles, some left over casseroles, and more!  What could be better?

We called a guy to haul away the washer and dryer and kept the lawn mower.  We're not sure why he had a lawn mower, however, but it turns out to be a pretty nice lawn mower!

So, we repainted, replaced flooring in every room, light fixtures, water damaged floors in laundry room, and more. Now it looks awesome, of course.  That's just the way we roll.

It ended up taking us about 4 weeks to get that unit done but by February 15 it was ready for tenants. We waited and waited asking our property manager 'what's up?'   She received plenty of inquiries about the unit but the all had dogs!  We  decided to hold out for a pet-free tenant!

It's Raining Cats and Dogs

It's been a while  since we've posted anything - and things were quiet for a while, but we had an amazing sequence of events which, of course, involved pets.  Last summer, 2016, the woman in unit 104 had a cat.  We knew she was moving out in July so we decided to turn a blind eye.  WRONG!

Meanwhile a new guy moved into 101 and promptly got a dog.  Of course, we told him he had to get rid of the dog, which he seemed to do.  At least the dog wasn't there when the Property Manager did a follow up check.

The lady in 104 moved out  - problem solved.  WRONG

Then 102 got a cat. and 103 got a cat.  Why?  Because 104 had a cat, so it must be okay, right?
By this time it's October.  And then we see it, or should I say, "them?"   Cat in the window, litter box in the bathroom - both 102 and 103.   Oh yea - and we also found out that 101 still has a dog.

Here's comes the ultimatum - Get rid of the pets or get out.  They all say okay and we think it's all good.  Then, in November, Diego had an unrelated chat with the people in 103 during which time they told us that their 5 year old daughter doesn't understand why they had to get rid of their cat when the people in 101 and 102 still had their pets.

So, we went back to them and issued the ultimatums again.  Get rid of the pets or get out by December 31.   The guy in 101 says that he'd rather keep his dog than keep his apartment and he would be out by Dec 15.

Flashback - last July we did a major renovation of Unit 101.  New carpet throughout, new paint on every wall and ceiling, scraped the popcorn ceiling.  It was pristine!

Now, here we are, six months later we had to repaint every wall all over again.  There were scratches, dings, gouges and dirt on every single wall.  Far more than we could cover with just a "touch up."

We decided enjoy Christmas and tackle it afterward.  So, by January 15th we had it ready to rent.  A fabulous new tenant - single mom - nurse - quiet - no pets.  Happy sigh.

What about 102, you ask?  I'll tel you next time.

September 2014 - Part II
In early September we told the tenants in 104 that we were going to raise their rent.  They couldn't  pay that much so they were working on finding a new place.  Now, rents in Greeley have gone crazy, occupancy is at an all time high and if we don't keep our rents at market levels, we'll end up with the deadbeat tenants .  Additionally, these rents are what is keeping mom  comfortably in her apartment! 

So mid-September Diego was at the apartments mowing lawns when he talked to Rosalinda who was moving out.  What?  Seems that there was an altercation at the apartment the previous night and boyfriend had beat her up, landed in jail, and now she was getting out of Dodge City, asap!  Who could blame her.  But, because she left in such a hurry, she had to leave a lot behind.  Really a lot. 
The apartment was full of furniture, cabinets full of food, pan of rice that had been cooking on the stove.  Additionally it was dirty, dirty, dirty. 

Though carpets would have to be replaced after just 1 year - but Smart Carpets were miracle workers!  We gave furniture to Arc and anyone who wanted it.  Threw a bunch of stuff away.  Wow.
Clean and rent!

September 2014
So it had been a quiet year - no real drama but when it rains it pours.
In May we got news that the girls in 102 were moving out.  Good news.  Why, you ask?  Well they have a dog.  "Really," you say, "Haven't you learned your lesson about allowing dogs?" 
It's not my fault. :) The tenant said that the dog was an assistance dog she needed because of her military disability and at the time I didn't want to confront her about ADA* rules on assistance dog, so I let it slide.


When they said they'd found a house with a yard for the dog I rejoiced.  Oh, and by the way... oops... the dog had torn a small hole in the carpet in the bedroom.  Of course he did!  When we inspected the apartment after they moved out we discovered this was no small hole, and no small patch required.  It was a bonafide HOLE in the carpet about the size of a 9" x 13" cake pan.  And the dog had scratched through the carpet and through the padding all the way to the subfloor. 


After they moved out they started asking when they would get their deposit back.  Our answer?  "What deposit?"  The hole was in the middle of the room, not in the corner, so a patch would look horrible.   We did concede a bit, and only made them pay for the carpet - not installation. 


In case you care, the ADA says that landlord must allow dogs that assist in someone with basic life functions.   For example, they open doors, guide the blind, perform CPR, etc.  The law does not provide any protection for companion dogs (e.g., companionship for anxiety).  The landlord has the right to require documentation to prove the animal meets these qualifications.


Stay tuned... there's a whole new story coming on 104! 

And your little dog too - Part II

Unit 104 was vacant about three weeks.  The tenants left it clean, clean, clean.  However, we did need to do quite a bit of improvement work.

1.  Tore out the vinyl paneling surrounding the bathtub and replaced it with nice 13" tiles.
2.  Replaced the sliding door in the master bedroom with a 6' window. 
3.  Replaced the carpet - throughout! 

Three little bullets items that represented a big chunk of change and ended up taking about 3 weeks to coordinate and install.  (Thanks to Duane H, Gary K, and Paula in the flooring department at Big R). 

A few days later Rosie & Jesus moved in. 

Wednesday, Day 3 - we get word that there's water on the bathroom floor.  So I called Rosie.  It's not coming from the toilet, not coming from the sink, not coming from the shower, she says.  Hmmm.  We replaced the toilet - maybe the gasket between the tank and the bowl isn't tight enough?  I asked her to watch that for a day or so.  Friday - she says she still can't identify where it's coming from, so Dwight says he'll go over on Sunday afternoon.

When he got there he knocked on the door - no answer.  Rang the doorbell - no answer.  He opened the door an announced himself - no answer...well, no human answer. (is this starting to sound like deja vu?)  There was, however, a canine greeter.  A very enthusiastic, friendly pit bull puppy.  Did you hear me?  1 - A pit bull.  2 - a Puppy. 

When he told me I hit the roof!  Their lease says no pets, no dogs.  It even says "no visiting dogs!"  Not only that, I just paid for that carpet 5 days ago and they have a puppy roaming the apartment unrestricted?

Monday morning there was a strongly worded email in our property manager's inbox.  I was so frustrated and told her I wanted them "outta there!"  Seriously - less than a week on brand new carpet, with a brand new lease, they have a dog???

Jana (property manager) called to confront them.  The dog was not theirs, it was just visiting.  Jana reminded them of the lease they'd just signed that included 'no visiting dogs.'  She told them that the landlord wanted to evict them for breaking the lease. 

Rosie called me twice and left me a long voicemail that morning.  "It isn't our dog.  He was just visiting.  I'm sorry."  Blah, blah, blah.  I was not in a compassionate mood and had a really hard time believing she was telling the truth.  Visiting - HA!

Jana went over there that afternoon to see if the dog was still there.  Although no one was home, and there was no sign of the dog, the neighbors had seen and met the dog the day before and confirmed that it was, indeed, visiting. 

Dwight made me call Rosie that evening.  Ugh.  So, I called.  Rosie spent 10 minutes telling me how they messed up, they were wrong, please give us another chance, blah, blah, blah.  So then I said, "now you need to hear my side!  Jana made it very clear that this apartment is a no-dog-zone!  Including no visiting dogs.  You betrayed me - We were trusting you and you betrayed that trust.  Now, not only have you lost my trust, you let a puppy roam all over that new carpet.  And now the neighbors who saw the dog are going to think that if you have one, it must be okay." 

In the end I gave them another chance.  I felt, however, that it was important for her to understand just how serious we are.  I hope she knows that this was her one and only chance and that dog better not visit again. 

By the way, Dwight found the leak - a very small gap in the caulk in the corner where the shower door rail connects with the tub.  It only leaked when the water hit it directly and even then was pretty small.  Whew. 

"...and your little dog, too!"

Earlier this summer - when we'd finished up 102 (the first vacancy of the summer) we received the good news that a woman named Margaret had signed a lease and was moving in that Tuesday.  Terrific news! 

The apartment was ready except for a shelf in the refrigerator.  At noon on Tuesday I dropped by to install the shelf in the fridge.   I knocked but there was no answer.  So I knocked again and let myself in - announcing myself as I went. 

I saw boxes, evidence that Margaret had started moving her stuff in.  But instead of human voice, or silence, I heard barking in response to my calls.  Not one dog - but two dogs, barking furiously from the kitchen.  And there, in a crate in the kitchen sat two little dogs yapping their little lungs out.  Sigh. 

After putting the shelf in the fridge, I went back to the car to find a paper.  I left a 'welcome' note on Margaret's door that went something like this: 

"Margaret - welcome!  I'm glad to have you here and hope you enjoy your time here, but the dogs absolutely cannot stay.  You must either get rid of the dogs or leave."

After posting the note, I promptly called the Property Manager.  She, being a more compassionate person than I, scurried around and not only found her another place to live that afternoon, but also sent her handi-guy out to help Margaret relocate the boxes she had already moved. 

I don't regret taking such an active stance on the first day.  Early in our landlord experience I was far more 'grey' and more willing to relent, but we've battled the dog owners so many times and literally paid the price, that the issue has become black and white, and shadows of grey have been washed away. 

So, the message is loud and clear.  Tenants are welcomed with open arms, but their little dog is as welcome as Toto in the Wicked Witch of the West's castle. 

You want a good reference from me?

My phone rang two weeks ago - it was Francesca.  You remember Victor and Francesca:  Midnight Moveouts and the owner of Gus, the guinea pig? 

Yep, Francesca called to say that they had found a new place to live, but that our property manager had told their potential new landlord bad things about them. 

I knew immediately what the property manager had said. 
1.  They were behind in their rent
2.  They moved out without giving any notice
The facts speak for themselves, no need to be mean, vindictive, or nasty.  Just the facts. 

Francesca wanted to know if the new landlord could call me.  Frankly, I was a bit speechless for a moment.  She thought that since they'd left the apartment clean, that my memory was also wiped clean and I would give them a good reference. 

I said sure, I'd be happy to talk to that guy - have him give me a call.  I would certainly tell him that they'd left the apartment clean and I had happily given them $100 of their deposit back.  But, I would have to tell him the whole story.  They were behind in their rent and moved out without notice.

We had a very nice conversation and I closed by assuring her I would be happy to talk to her new landlord with the entire story.  That was two weeks ago.  Funny thing - I haven't heard a peep from Francesca or her new landlord! 

Gus - the Guinea Pig

Victor and Francesca were tenants in 102.  They were pretty good tenants, but got behind in their rent a few times.  They were behind again this in June. 

Saturday, July 13 - we found them moving out on Saturday morning.  So, we approach and ask "what's up?" 
"Jana's mean," they tell us.  What?  Jana (our fabulous property manager)  said they had to pay their rent and I guess that's mean. 
So, they're moving out.  But they promise to leave it clean because Franchesca used to work for Merry Maids.  Somehow that supposed to console me.

Oh yea, they also promised to pay us their back rent. 

Monday, July 15 - I check the apartment.
Dirty, cluttered, big TV in living room, furniture in both bedrooms with clothes!
The carpet in the hall was all clawed up by the puppy they had closed up in the bathroom!
Oh yea - and Gus, the guinea pig in the kitchen.  Sigh.

I ran to Safeway and picked up a guinea pig snack stick to hold him over, praying they were going to come back for him. 

I checked in on Gus every day with fingers crossed, hoping he'd be gone.  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Oh brother.  How am I going to get rid of Gus?  Thursday, Friday - nothing.  Saturday Victor and Franchesca show up!  "Yea," I'm thinking.  They took all the furniture, but when they left, Gus was still in the kitchen. 

Sunday, they show up again and I tell them I'll give them $100 of their deposit back if they come back and clean AND if they get the guinea pig.  I figure that it's going to cost me $100 to clean!

Three days later they call me to collect.  It's clean - really clean!  Merry Maids clean!  And, best of all, Gus is gone. 

Will we get our back rent?  I'm sure of it  - when guinea pigs fly!

Back to Back to Back Vacancies

So we turned over the keys to the Hillside House on May 15 and really finished up on June 1.  But back at the 4-plex things started ramping up.

A little history.  Remember the 6 month renovation of 102 back in 2012?  The tenants who moved in were problematic (understatement!).  There were 5 people living in a 2 bedroom townhouse.  The dad was big, imposing, and not a nice guy. He antagonized the neighbor and his friends had gang ties.

By May 1, the cops had been there one-too-many times and we invited Jose and Clarissa to leave.  We told them that they could move out by the end of May, or we could start eviction process.  Although they asked for some extra time they agreed to leave and moved out by the end of June.  Fine, whatever - just leave!!!

So here we go...
June - We're busy with family stuff out of state, knowing in the background that Jose and Clarissa should be out by the end of the month.

July 4 - 102 is vacant and  the work begins.  Cue the cleaning crew. Remember the peel and stick tiles we installed in May 2011?  They still look pretty good!  And, as I hoped, I was able to remove and replace individually replaced tiles.  Use a hair drier to soften the adhesive (not the hot air gun!), and 2" scraper to help get underneath.  My only caution in using these tiles is to be aware that the tiles that are in the direct sunlight they do shrink a bit and the seams open up.  Those are the tiles I had to replace!

July 13 - Tenants in 103 are moving out - without notice.   Why?  The Property manager was being mean to them...The reality is they were behind in their rent (again) and we weren't giving them any more time.  So they started moving out.  Key word: started.  This story is worth a blog post all by itself...stay tuned. 

August 1 - Tenants in 104 moved out.  (At least we knew about this one!) Lots to do in 104, but it is scheduled renovation, not tenant damage!  The repair on 104 gets its own blog post, too!

So here we are, the end of August. Unit 102 is rented to 2 grad students.  103 is finished but vacant.   104 done with tenants on the horizon.

Move in date

May 15, 2013

After eight months of seemingly non-stop work at the Hillside house, our God-sent tenants started moving in. Can you say "hallelujah?"  They are young professional women who are absolutely a joy and God’s gift! 

We took the basement back to the concrete walls and then built a fabulous bathroom, media room, 2 bedrooms, a laundry area and have the potential for a great kitchenette downstairs.   The kitchen and bathroom upstairs were also gutted and rebuilt completely.  We replaced every inch of electrical wire in the house, including the circuits.  Likewise, there is not even a single inch of the original copper plumbing. 

We did hire a couple of guys to do some of the jobs or we would never have finished!  As it was, we  still spent every weekend and several hours each week from October – May at that house and it looks great but I was exhausted physically and emotionally by the end of May.  The last few weeks I was kind of dragging my feet but the end was in sight!  Diego, on the other hand, is like the Energizer Bunny!  

However, don’t be fooled!  Just because the inside is done, doesn’t mean the job is done!  Now, the outside beckons.

Yea! A we have a toilet - well kinda.

Utilities -

If I had to sum up the last week in one word, it would be 'utilities.'  The folks from Air Extreme (heating/AC guys)  got furnace fixed, gas lines ready for inspection.  City inspector approved the gas lines.  Atmos came out to put the gas meter back on and reconnect the gas so we have heat in the house and are ready for those cold days to come!  YEA!!!!  So far the only thing keeping us warm was the 1000 trips up and down the stairs (see below!).

City's water meter guy came on Thursday and swapped out the meter and then turned the water back on.   Although many of the pipes are split, we now have one faucet in the basement with which we can fill up a bucket with water.  And with that bucket of water we can flush a toilet!  This alone will save quick trips around the corner to Carl's Jr. 

Saturday, Oct 20, 2012, was a quick clean up day.   We hired a high school student to help us carry out all the demo'd basement walls.  The three of us carried everything in the basement upstairs, packed the dumpster with drywall, packed the pickup with paneling and a made a big pile of scrap wood in the garage.  When I say packed, I mean carefully layered, each piece laying flat with as little airspace between pieces as possible.  A bit OCD?  No - I'm just too cheap to pay for a 1/2 empty dumpster!  (See $$ alert below)  We also pulled nails and knocked out the drywall in the basement staircase. 

Finally, we talked to a contractor about installing egress windows in the basement and doing all the work in the basement.   

$$ alert -
We had 2 cubic yard dumpster delivered. Cost? $60/load - emptied on-call
Diego took a 1 1/2 cubic yard pickup load to the Larimer County Landfill and it only cost him $10.69. What is wrong with this picture? Of course he was already in Loveland, so there wasn't the issue of driving over there AND the extra time it take to get there.   The dumpster is definitely a necessity but it sure is a money-saver when we can take a load over ourselves! 

What's up next? 
1. Call electrician to rewire the house (with the 1956 original wiring fairly exposed, now is the time rewire!)

2. Give a key to the contractor so he can get started in basement while we're gone.  We'll be out of town for the next two weekends, so we're trying not to lose momentum. 

3. Keep an eye out on Craigslist for used kitchen cabinets.  By the way, I used the Virtual Room Designer on the Lowe's website to redesign the kitchen.  Love it!  (the software, that is!). 

Reciprocating saws and brute force!

Renovation - Day 2

Recriprocating saw and brute force.

Deconstruction:  We got a late start today since church took priority!  More de-construction.  I don't say demolition, since that implies total wreckage.  We've learned that plunging in with a sledge hammer isn't always the best approach.  Of course, that doesn't mean there isn't demolition!  Crowbars and a recriprocating saw were the 2 most used tools of the day.   We still have 2 more rooms to clear out.

Neighbors:  We met the neighbors on both sides today.  Sounds like a really stable neighborhood - the lady next on the south has lived there for 23 years and with the exception of our house and one across the street, they're all owner occupied for years!  That's encouraging.  We also got some of the gossip -

Water:  Diego inserted a faucet right above the shut-off valve for the house.  He'll do an air pressure-test and if that's good, then we'll as the City to turn the water back on.  We still need to replumb the house, but this will at least give us one source of water and the ability to manually "flush" the toilet. 

Electricity:  On Friday Diego noticed that some outlets worked, but other didn't.  My husband, the Hardy-boy detective, discovered that we only had one leg of electricity coming into the house.  Translation?  Apparently there are 2 legs/wires of electricity that comes in from the street.  Each leg has 110 volts for a total of 220 volts.  We called Xcel and they sent someone within 20 minutes.   The power comes into the house through some tree branches.  The branches were weighing on the wires and effectively broke one of the wires.  A definite fire hazard, according to Robert,  my favorite electrician-friend. 

A dive into the pool!

We've taken the plunge again and bought a house intended to be a rental.  It's a HUD home, had been foreclosed and vacant for a long time - so we knew at the outset that this would be a crazy ride.

The ride began in earnest this week. Here's the list:

1.  We can't turn the water on because the pipes have been frozen and blew out in numerous places.  Additionally, the existing plumbing is corroded and in some places the pipes are touching either heating ducts or other metal surfaces, causing them to corrode and leak. Many of the joints weren't soldered well and are literally breaking apart in our hands.

We'll have to completely re-plumb the house.  Meanwhile that means we can't wash our hands or answer nature's calls while we're there.  Good thing Carl's Jr. is only a block away!

2.  There is no heat -The gas/furnace guy hasn't made it over to the house yet, but this we know:
2a  the furnace won't turn on - why?? Diego has tracked down wires and fuses, but it still doesn't come on. 
2b  The gas lines leak. 

3.  The basement is 'finished' but horrible!  So we had a dumpster delivered and started tearing the basement out today.  We filled up the dumpster, but not by dumping!  We carefully packed the dumpster so that there is no empty space - really, the stuff in the dumpster looks like a completed Tetris game:  paneling, ceiling tiles, shower base, more paneling, some drywall, a few wall studs (we separated most of those out!). 

Whoever 'finished' the basement loved construction adhesive.  The light switch in the bathroom wasn't even nailed it - it was glued.  On the other hand - they also were screw happy.  They used scraps of drywall on the ceiling and used 2" drywall screws every 3"

The basement bathroom is a plumbing nightmare - so we tore out everything except the toilet.  Ultimately, we'll have to jackhammer up the concrete floor and move the pipes. 

A Little Maintenance goes a Long Way

President's day may have been a day off of paid work, but a day of work nonetheless.  We told the tenants that we would be there on Monday afternoon to replace the furnace filters and check smoke detectors. 

Minutes before leaving the house I got an email from Jana that unit 104 had no heat and she'd already called McCreery for a service call.  I quickly cancelled them and we headed over. 

Diego started looking at the furnace.  Nothing looked wrong immediately and, as he had a bundle of wires in his hand, he said "we may just have to have McCreery look at this.   If it were my house I'd just track it down.  It's probably just a loose wire ... kind of like this one."  Sure enough just as he said that, one of the wires just fell out of it's place into his hand.

He pushed it back in, firmly, and we were back in business.  I don't even want to think about how much McCreery would have charged us for that call.  Not only would there be the service call, but I'm just guessing that they would have found something to replace, rather than just plug in the loose wire. 

That's my guy - what a gem. 

Crisis averted, we moved on to each of the other apartments.  The furnace filters were nasty dirty.  We also checked for leaky faucets, looked at the grout/caulk, and just generally checked the condition of the units.  We encouraged to see how good each unit looked - clean, in good shape, overall.  Whew! 

A Tale of Eviction

Jr. has been late on his rent nearly every month since he's lived in our building (1.5 years).  He catches up once in a while, but in January 2012 I told the property manager that I was done!  If he didn't catch up  and pay all of February rent to proceed with eviction.  February 1st came and went with no money so Jana put the three day eviction notice on his door.  But he didn't move out, or pay - so a court date was set and he showed up in court to tell his story, sure that the judge would see it his way. His story?  He spent all his money on other things and he was stunned that the judge ruled against him.  So, now not only does he owe use $842 in back rent, but now he owes $500 in attorney fees. 

Flash forward to last weekend.  Diego was at the apartments and Jr. approached him to tell him that
1.  he wants to pay us
2.  he doesn't want to move
3.  he doesn't want to deal with Jana - only with us.
4.  we should give him a chance to catch up and pay

Good grief!  Jana says kick 'em out.  I said kick 'em out.  My mom, who actually owns the apartments, said kick 'em out.  Diego said give them a chance.  Sigh.  So we set up meeting with Jr., Jana and me for this afternoon. 

After much discussion I agreed to let him stay on the condition that he
1.  Pay as much as possible now
2.  Pay all of March rent on or before March 9
3.  Pay all the rent every month.
4.  If anything happens to call Jana.  Anything!  And he has to still work with Jana - I am not going to be his contact.  

So he paid $840 in CASH today and promises to pay another $550 by March 9.   Good grief - couldn't had have done this two weeks ago?  And we are left holding the bag for the $500 attorney's fees.  Yes, technically we have a judgment against him to pay the attorney fees, but in the interest of moving forward, and getting any money at all, we'll pay the attorney fees and move on.  The reality is that even if we pay the attorney fees, there is still more money in Mom's pocket than if he moved out and paid nothing. 

The biggest consolation is that the eviction judgment against him is good for six months, so that in three months when this all falls apart, we can still move forward without additional court costs for eviction. 

I'm not sure what the lesson to be learned here is, but we are trying very hard to be merciful.  The thing that frustrated me most?  He didn't even say thank you. 

Post Script:
Shortly before our 4:00 meeting Jana received a phone call from another property manager who was doing a reference check on Jr.  He was trying to rent a condo for $750 per month.  Jana's reference put a quick stop to that!  It's just amazing to me, however, that the guy who can't stay current paying $550 per month is trying ot rent a place that costs $750 per month? 

Bedbugs (ugh)

We got the good news this week from one of our tenants that their apartment has bedbugs.  It's our fault, of course, since the apartment had bedbugs when she moved in.  She, of course, expected us to call the exterminator immediately and purge her apartment because it was, of course, our fault.  Never mind that she has five kids who come and go and bring in all their little friends along with second-had furniture. 

Although we take bedbugs pretty seriously, I just couldn't imagine that there were bedbugs when she moved in and here's why: 
1.  She moved in last August 1 - and she's just now noticing the infestation? 
2.  The unit had been vacant for over a year prior and we spent a lot of time there since it had been in such rough shape.  Over all those hours, days and weeks, no one ever saw any evidence.
3.  We painted every wall, ceiling, pulled up all the carpets, and replaced both the carpet and the vinyl flooring throughout the entire place - again, no evidence - ever.

What to do?  Our blessed property manager consulted with an attorney who confirmed for us that it is the responsibility of the party who 'brought them in' and sent the tenant a letter to that effect.  It was a nice letter, but basically said it's her responsibility.


After we got the estimate from the pest control guy I had a moment of  - what shall I call it?  Compassion, fear, self-preservation?  I sure don't want the adjoining units to join the pest party!  We agreed to split the cost as long as she paid $50 immediately and at least $25 a month to pay for it.  To which she immediately agreed.

The October (one-day) Blizzard

On October 26, 2011 northern Colorado got dumped on!  Really dumped on.  We had about 12" on our back porch.  Although we'd had a fabulous and gorgeous autumn, all the leaves were still on the trees and the weightof the snow damaged about 20% of the trees in town.  Our rental house was no exception!  It is bordered by 70 year old elm trees. The little locust trees completely snappped and they're goners!  The old elm trees were damaged but luckily noen fell on either the house or the one next door!  We'll be doing tree-survery next spring!

Additionally, we got two calls from one tenant in three days!  Two stove burners not working, furnace won't turn off,  toilet leaking, water leaking in laundry room.  Diagnosis:  clean the do-hickies on the burners, replace the water supply line on the toilet, fidget with the spring in the thermostat, and replace the pressure relief valve on the hot water heater.  Of course, this was easy for my fabulous husband.  It would have cost us an arm and leg if we'd called a plumber, a furnace guy, and an appliance repairman.  God bless my handy husband!

Diary of a Dead Deck and a Dying Water Heater

In mid-July we finished preparing the last vacant apartment.  Jana rented it a week later and it's been all good there.  Just once a week mowing the lawn, basically.  Oh yea, and a dead refrigerator this week!

So, we're done, right?  Not so fast Tonto!  You forget that we still have my Mom's house as a rental.

Death of a Deck
We knew the back deck was creaky and unstable.  We knew that at least one of the posts didn't even touch the ground.  But we did not know that only hope and good thoughts were holding that thing up!  We started dismantling the deck on Saturday, Sept 2. 

Nail by nail we started taking the deck planks off.  Then, when we pulled the last plank away from the joists nearest the house the entire frame of the deck, joists, header, and all, just tumbled to the ground.  Really?!  I think the deck planks were holding the deck together with friction.  It turns out that the header didn't even attach to the house!  There were no footers under any posts.  Some posts just landed on the dirt or a sidewalk.  One post missed the ground by about six inches! 

Saturday we tore the deck apart. Sunday we hauled the wood out to the back pasture where old tree branches and scrap wood goes to die. 

Water Heater Crisis
Monday, Labor Day, we were distracted from the deck.  We knew the water heater had been leaking a tiny bit for months.  Now it was REALLY leaking.  So off to buy and install a new hot water heater. 

Back to the deck
Saturday, Sept 10 we turn attention back to the deck.  After stringing lines, measuring, doing the 3-4-5 thing to make sure we were "square" with the house, we finally located where to dig post holes.  Dig, dig, dig. Dig, dig, dig.  Dig, dig, SPURT!  What the heck?  Yes, we hit a sprinkler line.  We also found the sprinkler line when digging the second hole. 

No worries, we thought.  Keep digging.  Dig, dig, dig, ping!  What?  Yep - hit the sewer line out to the septic tank.  Good grief!  Later when we were tracking down which sprinkler zone pipe we hit, we found out that we cut through two different lines.  Definitely a Murphy's law day.

Wanted: new tenants

Today marked the absolute donenatudeness* of our last vacant apartment.  The flooring guys installed carpet throughout the apartment on Thursday.  Today we did the final vacuum, installed a final few phone jack covers, and put drawer slides in the stove drawer so it opens and closes easily.  All in all, this apartment is sweet.

Now we need a tenant.  Our property manager showed it this week to the perfect tenants.  They liked the apartment and they seemed perfect.  Perfect, that is, until they said they had an 80 pound dog.  Screeeech.  The brakes locked up on that conversation.  No, no, no.  A small dog maybe - 5, 10, 15 pounds, maybe.  But 80?  To quote the Wizard's guard in the Emerald City, "Not no way. Not no how!"

Is there anyone left who doesn't own a big dog????

*Donenatudeness:  From the root word, donenatude.  Meant as a reference to something that is finished, or complete. 

Independence Day - almost

It's almost Independence Day, and I'm not talking about July 4th.   If you've been following this blog at all, you know we've been working on 102 forever.  It is our last vacant unit - and it's been vacant since last June.  Our Independence Day will be the day we take the lock box off 102 and declare that it is done.

The tenants moved out last June (2010) without notice owing us a boatload of money - surprise!  It was a mess.  There was food in the cupboards, trash everywhere, a mattress and other "furniture" left behind, feces on the bathroom floor, and the carpet was Nasty, with a capital "N." 

So, facing this mammoth task, we focused our efforts and money on other vacant units that we could turn around faster.  It sat vacant month after month after month.  Finally, in March we turned out attention to 102.  When Courtney moved out in April we were briefly distracted by refreshing her apartment. 

But, basically we've spent every weekend in 102.  Here's the drill Saturday morning - arrive at 9:00 a.m. and work til 5:00 or 6:00.  Sunday work from 2:00 - 5:00.  That's about 22 total 'man hours' per weekend. 

Here's what we've done:

Downstairs bathroom:

• CLEAN the downstairs BATHROOM.  That was job #1.  Bleeech.
• Replace medicine cabinet
• Replace light bar

Tear out carpets (all of them).
Scrape the popcorn stuff off living room ceiling and refinish and paint
Paint (God bless Tino who painted the apartment in exchange for rent that month)
Replace outlets throughout the apartment.  They were all loose and cords would actually just fall out.
Kitchen:

• Replace back door with new steel door (all the glass panes were broken out and door was falling apart). 
• Replace broken window (we did that last June when they first moved out)
• Replace floor in laundry room (not floor covering..the floor clear down to the joists.  It was rotten, rotten, rotten.)
• Replace hot water heater,
• Lay new kitchen floor.  We're experimenting with self stick floor tiles.  I think I'm gonna like them!  They have a nice weight and we'll be able to replace one at a time when they get gouged.
• Clean cabinets (inside and out) and replace hardware
• Clean nasty refrigerator, find and replace door shelf brackets.
• Replace kitchen blinds.  (Bali makes some very nice vinyl blinds that are super easy to install!)
• Replace dining room light fixture

Upstairs bath: 

• Remove grout from tub tile, and re-grout.  Easy to say, hours and hours to do!
• Replace upstairs bathroom floor.
• Paint vanity.
• Replace wallboard behind toilet. 
• Replace medicine cabinet.
• Replace outlet - yes, honestly, the outlet was fried!

Replace smoke detector and CO2 detector.
Replace light fixtures in almost every room
Remove bi-fold closet doors, scrub down, and re-install. 
Remove sliding patio door in master bedroom and replace with 6' window. 
Fix the rotten floor along the base of the patio door.

Buy new carpet for both bedrooms, hallway, stairs, and living room.  615 square feet. 
The guy is coming to measure on Tuesday.  Hopefully we can get the carpet installed yet this week. 
I'm exhausted!  Going to bed for about a month!