09.19.14 Current Applicant – Too Good?
Friday, September 19
My husband is ready to strangle me. First I throw most of our applicants out because they are too weak, then we get a really strong applicant and I’m still not happy!I’m not concerned that this applicant is too good to be true; I’m concerned that they are too good to be happy at this property. ...
09.12.14 Our Current Applicant Pool
Friday, September 12
We are in the throes of unit rehab and tenant selection, with two empty units currently. Thought I’d give a glimpse at the kind of applicants we see in our low income market. The property facts: 2 bedroom renting for $485/month plus utilities. Maximum occupancy is 4 people, approved dogs OK wi...
09.05.14 Book Review: A Framework for Understanding Poverty
Friday, September 05
For August I read A Framework for Understanding Poverty by Ruby PayneThis book is along the same vein as See Poverty… Be the Difference by Donna Beagle, but was geared toward how to teach youth and went into a little more detail. The book has quizzes to see if the quiz taker could survive in pov...
08.29.14 Tales of Exasperating Applicants
Friday, August 29
Putting an ad for an open unit on Craigslist and Facebook is always such an adventure. Bruce and I shake our heads many times over. We had a homeless lady call us repeated during the process. She was en route, driving from California to Washington. She didn't have access to e-mail (so how did s...
08.22.14 Breaking Even on a Less than 2 Month Tenancy
Friday, August 22
The very first tenant we accepted back in 2010 stayed less than a month. We learned a lot by that experience.This month we experienced another short term tenant. At least this time we were less impacted.Back in June our nicest unit became vacant. Our strongest applicant was a family moving fro...
08.15.14 Banner Week - Leaderboard & Block Party
Friday, August 15
This has been a banner week in some ways, and a disappointment in others.Tuesday I realized that I was on the BiggerPockets leaderboard, a feat I had written off as impossible. For months I couldn't get my score above 3, then suddenly I'm over 9. Crazy, but fun.Wednesday our church hosted our t...