All Forum Posts by: Marc Ramsay

@Michele Stone I did think of that and had my maintenance guy go through a couple of bags but nothing of any use. I'm sure if we went through a bunch more something would show up, but I wasn't going to ask him to do that.

So after waiting for the cops to show up they finally called us back and said since we didn't have a license plate or other identifiable marking from the truck they weren't going to bother with a report. Nice to see my tax dollars hard at work...

I've got a better picture. It's a badger.. :)

@Patrick L. We have had issues like that in the past where the police don't seem too interested in actually finding the bad guys. The only time we've ever had any sort of priority response is when we actually had someone in the process of metal theft and they were there pretty quick and arrested the guy. It seems if they can't actually catch someone in the process then it's just too hard for them.

We used to have a tenant who liked to come home late at night and fire off a few rounds from his .38 just outside the front door. The cops did squat. The guy had 3 warrants out for his arrest, and when we knew he was home we'd phone the cops and say 'Come and get him', but we got crap like 'Do you know his SSN and DOB' from the dispatcher. Really? I need to know the idiot's personal information before you'll come out and arrest him? Apparently he needed to shoot someone before they'd show up.

@David C. I think that is a badger. Should have been a skunk considering the load it carries. I'm going top call the local U-Hauls today and see if any of them remember who rented that particular truck.

Unfortunately the video quality isn't good enough to pick up any numbers on the truck. I do have a call into U-Haul to see if they can help me track it down.

@Nzinga Hart It's a parking lot. I'd have to install a gate, but the logistics are tough as there is no street parking nearby and I have to be able to let guests in easily. It is something I have thought about.

This one unit we have seems to attract the potential tenants that have given my PM some of our favorite lines like: "No, I don't have anything on my background" (3 eviction + Criminal shows up on check), and "Yes, I don't have anything on the criminal side..." (then background check results come in)... oh wait, yeah there was that 'regular assault a few years back'".

Don't know why they don't think we'll find this stuff. The funny part is they pay the $40 application fee we charge knowing we'll do the check.

Yes, all my cameras are 720P (1280 x 800) or 1080P (1920x1080) HD quality.

The driveway camera will be very close to the traffic so picking off faces and license plates will be very easy. I use some HD cameras inside the building and the quality is exceptional.

@Joel Owens Thanks for the additional ideas. I have arranged to file a police report, and the City of Cleveland has a special anti-dumping line at 216 664-DUMP and they send someone out to investigate and try and help catch the perps. I am writing the video to a DVD for them to look at.

I have been hit by the tire dumping as well on 2 of my properties and had to pay $2.50 a tire to get rid of them. It's harder to catch the tire dumpers as there generally isn't any indication as to where they came from.

I have instructed my PM to let the tenants know there are rewards offered for information leading to the identification of anyone dumping garbage or littering on the property. Hopefully that produces a few results as well.

I am pretty sure that once I get the extra security camera in place I will have a much easier time nailing these idiots.

So I get an email from my maintenance guy with a photo of a large pile of garbage that was dumped on my MF property by some scumbag who was too lazy and too cheap to take it to the dump himself.

This isn't the first time this has happened, but this is definitely the biggest mess. I got the whole thing on video but there's not enough detail to make out a license plate number. The car in the photo is with the truck and scouted out the area before the truck arrived.

I am trying to find out if there was a fair or festival or other outdoor event nearby on Thursday as all of the garbage was from that sort of event.

This sort of thing is such a PITA. We have nailed guys dumping before, but this has emphasized my need to get another security camera installed along our driveway to catch good video of all the vehicles driving on and off the property so I can get license plate numbers.

The camera equipment is on order and should be installed next weekend. Hopefully next time we can nail the scuzballs quickly.

Yes, @Zoran M. is correct in his summary of Garfield Heights and Maple Heights. Both are great rental markets with lots of opportunities for good returns especially if you can acquire a property inexpensively ($20K to $30K) and spend $10K to $15K on a rehab and end up with a great rental property. I wouldn't be looking to flip properties in those areas, but buy and hold is great, or creating turn-key properties for other investors could also be a good opportunity. As Zoran mentioned, a good option, which has worked well for another investor I know, is selling the properties off as lease-options to the renters.

I am marketing a portfolio of 21 fully rehabbed properties in Garfield Heights and Maple Heights for another investor. There is a posting under the Marketplace if you are interested.

Good luck!