To owners/managers of rental properties, gargbage disposals are like a hanging fingernail – they are painful to have around and the sooner they are gone the better..
What do I have against gargabe disposals?
1) they just hang below the sink waiting to break down
2) they can smell like a sewer, and
3) they are a hazard to tenants!
There is almost no upside to having garbage disposals. If tenants have leftover food, they just throw it into the trash can.
Having just replaced garbage disposals in two of my rental houses, I can say that there is one good thing that I like about garbage disposals. They are easy to remove.
Removing the Disposal
1. Use the GD remover tool to release the garbage disposal. Remove tubing first. The GD will fall to the ground. Be ready to catch.
2. The one tricky part is that to remove the basket fron the sink opening (that was formerly connected to the GD), there is a retainer ring below the sink that must be pried off with a screwdriver.
Once the garbage disposal is out, replace it with the appropriate pipes.These days,the tubing just connects togther. No need for glue. It’s as easy as putting tinger toys together. Piece of cake.
If you need, help ask the experts at Ace Hardware. That’s what I did.
Upcoming Presentations:
April 18, 2015. Forum Speaker at The Association of Lincoln Presenters 2015 Convention, Vandalia, Illinois.
“Refusal to accept the death of a dream would seem a historical imperative in realizing it.” (Referring to Abraham Lincoln’s long held conviction that he would someday be president.)
–Chris DeRose, Congressman Lincoln
Holy Mackeral! It’s time to prepare the roof for summer.
We can ignore it no longer. It’s time to get up on that roof and get the cooler in working condition (for those of us in the southwest), and to re-coat the entire roof in preparation for the upcoming monsoon season.
the water cooler (a.k.a. “swamp” cooler)
We will eventually turn the home into a rental house, so we must keep the roof in top condition. Later, we need to fix one of our rental house’s roof too.
Water Cooler Issues
This year, the copper tubing broke on my cooler due to cold weather. I used to drain the tubing every year before winter. Then, a friend told me that was a waste of time because it never got cold enough to break the pipes. Now I have one additional broken pipe, and one less friend.
Just kidding. Actually my friend is only serving time in the penalty box — for the next 2 years!
valve attached to new tube
copper tube
Fortunately, it’s an easy fix to change the tubing. Here are the steps:
1.) At Ace Hardware, I bought 8 feet of copper tube at $1.29 per foot,
2.) I cut off the old tube, and
3.) I attached the new tube using couplers, also from the aforementioned Ace Hardware Store.
copper tube cutter
Applying Rubberized Roof Coating
Last weekend we tackled this job at our house.
We used 4-5 gallon buckets of Tucson Rubberized Roof Coating. Each 5 gallons covers about 400 sq. ft.
The procedure was:
1.) One day before, wash off the roof with a high powered water spray,
2.) Stir up the paint with electric drill and large paddle stirring attachment,
3.) Place my two sons on roof with rollers and paint, and stand back as they lather it on like shaving cream.
The Arizona Network of Real Estate invited me to give a presentation to their group about my book “Fix em Up Rent em Out.”
I thought the video might be available to the general public but it looks as though that’s not going to happen.
However, so that no one feels left out, I am going to provide a summary of the key points that I hit during the presentation. As someone who was regularly picked last for teams in gym class, I’m sensitive to people feeling left out. Casting modesty to the wind, I am also including exclusive photos of the event.
So here are:
The 5 Rules on How to Lose Money and Get Your Rental Property Trashed by Tenants (based on an article by Andrew Stefanczyk)
1. Choose the Worst Possible Area
Location will determine the kinds of tenants you will attract, and how much rent you can fairly charge.
Do you want these bearded wonders as tenants?
The best approach is to identify target areas in your city where you would like to focus your purchases. I like to focus on “transition zones” (where there is a mixture of housing types) which are good for investors because we can purchase properties at lower prices, and there is high demand to live in these areas.
2. Put in the very best of things when fixing up an investment property
Use new and expensive sinks, doors, refrigerators, light fixtures, etc. Never shop at stores that recycle construction supplies. Spare no expense.
Of course, the problem is that tenants will not take care of our properties as well as we would,
Habitat Store
so we end up with many broken or worn out items. The better alternative is to shop at used building supply stores, and to purchase good, inexpensive, supplies for our rental houses. One such store is the Habitat for Humanity store.
3. Make sure you have absolutely no experience in make basic repairs
Not knowing how to change electrical outlets, unclog drains & toilets, and replace broken windows will cost quite a bit down the road.
Being as uninformed as possible about who you rent to may be the best way to lose money as a landlord. Do not ask for or check references. Do not call previous landlords and ask questions like, did they pay rent on time? How was the condition of the house or apartment when they left? Did they ever disturb neighbors with loud music or shouting matches? How often would you have to make special trips for repairs? Being as uninformed as possible about whom you rent to will make a huge difference and will increase the chances that you will get tenants that will trash your property and refuse to pay rent.
However, the better way is to:
A. Use a checklist for tenants. Decide what kind of tenant that you want ahead of time.
C. Check county records to see what illegal activities they’ve been up to.
D. Know the Fair Housing Act. Never select tenants based strictly on “race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or handicap (disability).”
E. To find new tenants, use Craiglist, put up arrow signs, and host an “open house.”
5. Make sure you have not learned about your rights as a landlord
Be completely unfamiliar with the eviction process to guarantee long, drawn out disputes with tenants. Don’t keep up to date financial records or copies of correspondence with tenants. Most states provide online information about tenant and landlord rights so avoid reading these.
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Last Saturday I took my 10-year-old son along with me to repair a window in one of our rental houses. I like to take one of my boys along so they can learn a thing or two about how to repair things, as well as so they can see how I deal with tenants, and, mainly so that we spend some time together and have fun together. I always try to make it fun for them. For example, we went to ACE Hardware to get a new window cut, we looked at the stuff he likes to see, like BB guns and rockets, and, I bought him a bag of Boston Baked Beans.
It was really a big help to have #2 son along. He not only does what I ask him to do, unlike his teenage brother “Mr. Cool Guy”, but he also brings an enthusiastic spirit to the endeavor. One of the first things I have to do is to chip out the old putty from around the window. It’s my least favorite part of the job since it involves a lot of tedious work. After I explain what I am going to do, my son responds. “Can I do it?” I say “okay, go at it,” but I’m thinking, “Well, if you really insist!” What is old hat to me is new and exciting to him.
When we arrived back from ACE with the new window, I accidentally broke the window as I took it out of the back seat of my pick-up. I thought it might discourage my son to head back to ACE again to buy another window, but his response was, “I need a refill on the Boston Baked Beans anyway.” After that the broken glass incident became a running gag with comments like “is it time to break the window again?” and “let’s break the window again and get some more Boston Baked Beans.”
I must admit, it’s not nearly as entertaining when I have to do those little repair jobs all by myself.
With the annual approach of summer rains, now is almost the last chance to make rental house roofs water proof before the watery onslaught. As someone who has a sworn aversion for arriving too early to parties, I subscribe to the time-tested philosophy of “better late than never.”
This morning I applied some black roofing cement on some areas on one of my townhouse roofs. I had located some cracks upon my inspection of it about 2 weeks ago.
The first photo shows the area in question, where I had previously applied a small amount of plastic roofing cement, but today I was going to put on some more and cover a broader area.
The second photo shows the application of the plastic roofing cement. We apply one layer of cement, then put a white membrane on top of that, followed by a second layer of cement. The membrane allows for more cement to be applied.
Below is the “after” photo. You can see that in addition to the corner, we hit a few other cracks with our roofing cement on the sides of theroof. Later, we’ll come back with white roofing paint to cover the black cement.
A good rental house
My wife and I purchased this 2 bed 2 bath townhouse in 1993 and lived in it for 10 years before moving on to a bigger house (to accomodate our growing family), and turning this property into a rental house in 2003.
Its been one of our best rental houses because it is in a “transition” zone (aka “opportunity zones”) where there is heavy demand for housing, and it is easy to care for because it is compact (1100 sq ft with small front and back yards). The townhouse perfect for single people or small families.
The past several months I have been searching for another investment/rental property to purchase, and have so far come up empty. Several times I found one, only to have it sold before I got my bid in. Today, I got my bid in on the above pictured foreclosure house. There are four bids on it and the bank will select one of us sometime this week.
The house is 3 bedroom, 1 bath, 1,400 sq ft, property in a nice neighborhood. The price is $53,000. It needs somewhere between $5,000 – $10,000 work to bring it up to rental condition, e.g., replacing sheet rock, electrical work, roof work, and flooring. It sold for $149,000 in 2006. I should be able to rent it for around $800/month. I’ll purchase with cash, if I get the house.
I would have preferred 2 bathrooms, but the house is in a good location and is otherwise a pretty good deal. I know several people with children who only have one bathroom and it works for them, even though I’m used to two.
Now is the time to take action
If you are just sitting on the fence, now is an opportune time to get into a investment house.
Of course, you must conduct a good inspection of the property either before you make the offer, or during the 7 to 10 day inspection period after your bid is accepted. Usually there are is no history of the property for you to examine, on foreclosures. It’s sold as is.
My main motivation is to that I can fairly inexpensively purchase a rental house, and it will provide me with an unusually large stream of income. I have other rental houses, but this new one will produce much more revenue because most of my income on the other properties goes to pay the mortgage company. Since I’m able to pay cash, this time all the revenue goes to me.
Rentals better than pensions
The great advantage of owning real estate property over having a pension is that your pension is fixed and what you get when you start it, is all you will ever get. For rental houses, the amount you receive from tenants goes up over time, with inflation, and you can never use it up.
The double win
It’s like being able to bet your money in Las Vegas, but then you get all the money that you lost back again when you leave. You get the monthly payments, like a pension. But, if you ever want to sell your investment house, you get the entire amount that you spent back again, and usually a lot more than that.
If your circumstances are such that it is impossible for you to start investing in real estate today, you can start by just meandering in that direction. You can program your mind to pay attention to anything related to real estate. Cut articles out of the newspaper, buy books at book sales, ask friends and co-workers how they purchased their house, watch for free classes or seminars.
You can be constantly learning and preparing for the day you will purchase your first fix-up property. Virtually anything you need to know is available to you through books, audio recordings, workshops, seminars, public education programs, consultants and training programs.
I meandered for approximately 11 years before purchasing my first investment property. Now I wish I had started sooner, but you can’t begin until you have the desire and the knowledge. Sometimes, desire and knowledge can be acquired simply by observing someone else operating a successful business.
Reason to Not Invest and Reasons to Invest
There are always reasons not to invest in real estate. The most common reason used to be that people thought house prices were too high. Now, the situation has reversed itself and housing prices are at historic lows.
The time is ripe to start meandering in the direction of Fixer Upper Houses.
See What’s Happening in Your Neighborhood
You might want to check out how low houses are selling for in your neighborhood. You might be surprised.
Pitfalls to buying fixer-upper houses, such as broken plumbing systems, worn out electrical wiring, and cracked foundations can be avoided with the help of a professional inspector prior to purchasing a house. Once identified, these conditions can be laid before the seller, who must either fix the problems to the satisfaction of the buyer, or the buyer can pull out of the deal.
Of course, it takes hard work to find a house, make all of the repairs, and learn how to deal with tenants. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. You’ll learn not to take life, or tenant problems, too seriously. Shakespeare said, “A light heart lives long.”
The good news is that you learn valuable technical and people management skills that are useful in many other aspects of your life. You are also rewarded with a feeling of satisfaction in your accomplishments, a stronger sense of financial security, and the peace of mind that accompanies it.
What things do you actually have control over in your life?
When you think about it, there are actually very few things that we can control.
For example, I was forced to give up my dream of boxing. I ruined my hands in the ring. The referee kept stepping on them.
We are required to buy insurance for our cars and houses. The kids must go to school and have supplies and clothes. We choose food, cars and most consumer goods based on the advertisements we see on television. Different levels of government and social pressures decide many things for us, or leave us with limited options to choose from.
And, it doesn’t get any better as time moves on. It seems the older we get, the fewer choices that we have. Men still chase women when they get older, but only downhill.
The One Thing We Control
Napoleon Hill says that we have control over but one thing, the ability to control our own thoughts. This is the most significant and inspiring of all human traits. It is part of our divine nature. This divine tool is the sole way to control your own destiny.
Mind control is the result of self-discipline and habit. You either control it or it controls you. The most effective way to control your mind is by keeping it busy with a definite purpose, supported by a clear plan.
The Ultimate Question
A lot of people I know have read Think and Grow Rich, and they say that they think it is a great book. But, very few know the answer to the following question.
What does Napoleon Hill say that you must do twice daily in order to make your desires become reality?
On page 36 of my copy of Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill says that you should have:
1.) written a concise statement of what you want,
2.) how you plan to get it, and
3.) when you will get it,
then you should read your written statement aloud twice daily, once before retiring at night and once after arising in the morning.
What Does This Have to Do With Real Estate?
In the early 2000’s, I thought my job was going to be cut and I that would be unemployed. I decided I needed a steady second income so I wouldn’t have to rely on my 8:00 to 5:00 job to bring home the bacon .
After I concluded that buying fixer upper houses and renting them out was the best second income for me, I wrote down my desire on a piece of paper and carried it around in my wallet.
I wrote, ” I will find and buy a fixer-upper house in the next 60 days.” In less than a month, I found and bought my first fixer upper house, and that was my start in this business.
That was the first time I experienced the power of this technique. I have had many subsequent successes with the technique as well.
Like most of us. you have ideas and dreams. But, if you go beyond just identifying them and you write them down, and put your passion into them, they are more likely to come true.
Before the show I heard Ron going through the news and he said that ratings were so bad at CBS that Katie Couric was showing up to work in sweat pants, a tank top and a ball cap too.
So, during the interview, I mentioned that one of the advantages of working with rental properties was, like Katie Couric, I can show up to work in sweat pants and a ball cap.
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FIX EM UP RENT EM OUT
Purchase FIX EM UP RENT EM OUT (paperback)Award-Winning Finalist in the Real Estate category of the National Best Books Awards, sponsored by USA Book NewsGreat information for anyone starting out in the fixer-upper business. The author has served his apprenticeship in the trenches.
-- Fixer Jay P. DeCima, Investor and AuthorTerry Sprouse has created a profitable rental business in his spare time. What sets him apart is he took action.-- Bob Zachmeier, Investor, Educator, Author With the wit of Will Rogers, this book provides simple guidelines for restoring homes, and sanity to our crazy lives. --M.D. Matlock, Ph.D., P.E., C.S.E.