Long Distance Landlording

I'm practicing my long distance landlording skills while I'm on the road this week with my wife. She has a business conference for her business and I'm taking a little mini-vacation just to relax as she attends her conference. Unfortunately, the weather in the midwest is HORRIBLE! Today started with about 5 inches of snow and now we're receiving freezing rain. That's cutting down on my fun a little, but I'll still have a very relaxing few days.

Just for fun, I thought I would provide a running commentary of my long distance landlording experience as the week progresses. My trip essentially started on Sunday as I left to attend the Ohio State vs. Michigan State basketball game at the Ohio State University in Columbus. I didn't receive a single call from a tenant on Sunday, so my little adventure started uneventfully. My wife and I actually left for her conference yesterday and just like Sunday, I didn't receive a single call from a tenant.

My first long distance landlording call came this afternoon when I received a call from one of my tenants, who lives in half of a duplex. The tenant was calling to report that her water heater wasn't working. This is a gas water heater and they don't fail very often. As I started questioning her about the water heater, she asked if I would look at the gas furnace while I was there. She said that there was something wrong with the furnace. Now that could be a serious problem that would warrant me calling a HVAC company for an emergency repair, especially with the current lows in the single digits! However, I was now getting very suspicious. It might be possible for a water heater to go bad or a gas furnace to go bad, but for both to happen simultaneously sounds mighty fishy. I asked if the temperature in the apartment was like 15 degrees, as that's the outside air temperature today. She said no, that she had been using electric heaters for a while. I can tell you for a fact that when the furnace fails, tenants do NOT go out and buy electric heaters and use them for "a while" before calling the landlord. GOTTCHA! At that point, the puzzle was solved. I asked her if her gas had been shut off. She admitted that she was behind on her gas bill, but denied but that it was shut off. OF COURSE IT WAS! I told the tenant that I would look at it Friday when I get home. Stupidity on the part of the tenant does not constitute an emergency on my part! All that I'm going to find on Friday is that the gas is shut off, but then again, she already knows that. If I had a dollar for everytime a tenant has pulled this crap...

That's the extent of my long distance landlording experience to date. However, there are still two more full days that I'll be gone until I return home. I'll keep you posted on any further incidents. With Ohio getting freezing rain today, there could easily be more problems!

Due to the weather today, I didn't do much. I went to Barnes and Noble and bought a new book to read. My choice was "The Great Contraction, 1929-1933" and is obviously about the great depression. I'll let you know what I think of it.

In addition, as I was out scouting the area, I found a Batteries Plus and bought a new laptop battery. I'm hoping this one will charge. I bought the last one off the internet and it wouldn't charge.

Tomorrow, I'm planning to go to the movies while my wife is at her conference. I'm thinking of seeing Gran Torino - have you seen it? What did you think?