Cold Tenants!

My day started with a call from one of the tenants. He reported that his furnace had gone out and that they were "freezing". I made that my first stop this morning and I took a look at the furnace, even though I am not a furnace expert. I checked that all the wires were intact; that the overtemperature switch was working; and everything else I could think to check. I discovered that the furnace motor was not working, although the motor switch seemed to be ok. Therefore, since I wasn't sure exactly what was wrong, I called my HVAC guy and he agreed to meet me at the property later in the morning.

Stop number two was at one of my 2 bedroom apartments - to show it to an applicant. The woman liked the apartment and said she would take it, but I never believe it until I receive the money.

Stop number three was at one of my 2 bedroom houses to show it to an applicant. This woman liked the house and also said that she would take it. I had already screened this woman and her husband about a week ago, but without money, it's far from a done deal.

My fourth stop was at a duplex that had frozen water lines in the basement during the last 5 degree day. I installed those insulating sleeves on all of the water lines and we'll see how it does during the next cold weather this weekend.

Stop number 5 was at one of my 3 bedroom houses to show it to another applicant. This couple liked the house and said they will have the money by Saturday. Again, we'll see!

Stop number 6 was back at the house with the furnace problem. I met the HVAC guy and he quickly diagnosed the problem as a bad furnace motor (which is what I thought). Fortunately, he had one on the truck and within an hour, he had it installed and the furnace was once again working.

On a humerous note, the tenants in the apartment were wearing heavy winter coats and talking about how cold they were. According to the thermostat, the temperature never got below 63 degrees F! When I told them that my wife and I keep our house at 67 degrees all the time, they said that they keep their apartment at 75 to 80 degrees because of their pet lizards! These are Section 8 tenants whose rent is 100% paid by Section 8!

My final stop of the day was back at the 2 bedroom apartment that I showed eariler in the day. Another couple wanted to look at it. They liked it and said they will take it. So, I've got two people that say they will take the same apartment. Personally, I'm just hoping that one of them will follow through!