Book Review: The End of the Suburbs by Leigh Gallagher
Sunday, April 19
Some people love the suburbs, some hate them, and some haven’t thought much about it one way or another. This book makes you think about it. We personally have lived in the city, we have loved in the suburbs, we have spent most of our marriage intentionally living in “old suburbs” close in, and...
Another Month in Our Landlording Life
Saturday, April 11
Bruce always says to leave tenants alone, that it costs us money when we interact with them. It’s certainly true that things surface when we talk to tenants, but I’m still a proponent of staying involved. The RototRooter bill as a result of asking a tenant how things were going amounted to $245...
Good Friday Volunteerism
Friday, April 03
"Hunger doesn't just happen at Thanksgiving and Christmas. I really want to do Easter food baskets this year." - Felicia, President of the neighborhood associationMy role in making Felicia's dream a reality: Approached co-workers to donate food itemsTrip to Costco (hour drive) for a cart full of...
Evaluating Current Rent Against Market Rent
Saturday, March 28
In the five years we’ve been landlording, market rents have not changed in our area. When most people re-rent their units, the rent price doesn’t change; only the deposit amount changes to what the market will currently bear.I think that may be changing. Last week there was only one vacant unit...
2014 Taxes - DONE!
Friday, March 20
I had planned on blogging more about market rents this evening, but Bruce and I just finished our 2014 taxes.Last year we had to pay a sizeable amount, mostly due to our poor planning. This year we are getting back a small amount. We aim to pay just a little bit each year; getting and planning ...
Mining Craigslist for Market Data
Friday, March 13
For years now I have had a date with Craigslist every Thursday night. I pull up the local housing ads and look for everything posted for our target neighborhood.What I saw this week: 1 bedroom house, in a better area than our 1 BR duplex, for $240/month more than our units. Unit has been on Cra...