All Forum Posts by: Matt Higgins

@Victor S.

I honestly think this is an isolated incident, one lost mouse. That being said-night one, a ton of traps, and no mice :(

We live in a walkout rambled. Two younger kids so it’s possible the garage entry door doesn’t get shut all the way all the time. There’s a foot of snow out there and 6 plus inches coming today so I don’t know if the full examination of the foundation will get done.

I can throw away any dead mouse we get in a trap, I can put on some gloves, and man up. I’d feel bad calling an exterminator, what would the neighbors think?

I’m throwing every type of trap they had at it. I appreciate all the advice. I used this gel substance that is suppose to be better than peanut butter, but now I’m thinking I should have set a couple with the real thing. We will give it a couple nights and if nothing is in the traps change the status of the case from missing mouse to dead mouse?

@Scott Mac that looks like a 1971 classic.  Sorry that the rat messed up willards date. 

@Dennis M. Lululemon maybe, dress no

still no kill.......just checked the traps 

@Sylvia B.. I think you should consider starting up a summer camp.  I would take my kids down to Douglas county for a week if we could all come back as brave as you.

I don’t even think the neighbor kids would have went after that thing.  I could be wrong, they swam in to grab a dead squirrel out of their above ground pool.  If they did it would have been worth more that the $20 they got for that small Gardner snake 

Thanks @James Mc Ree

Ya kind of just getting my wife going a little.  I knew she would read this.  She loves the BP.  Her fear of the mouse in the house is legit though and I’m hoping this is an isolated incident.  I haven’t seen any sign of a mouse in this house.  My last house had a spot in the garage they could get through.  I would hit it with expansion foam every summer and they would eat through it every winter.  
The best part about owning the property management is not having to deal with the small complaints like a mouse.  Bedbugs are a whole other issue.  I know far more about bed bugs than I ever wanted to.

Sorry @Matt M.

at least 2 minutes later and you’re Done:) my wife won’t sleep tonight 

@Scott Mac cat is not an option.  We like to travel and that sour cat poop smell makes me ill.  

My father in law just let me know that I have to diligently check the traps bc a dead mouse in the house will stink.  The thing about setting 30 traps is I’ll have try and figure out where they’re at......

@John Woodrich ........there’s been a few nights of beer drinking in my life where I wished I could just switch my status to “account closed” and disappear the next day

Great answer to her question though, do you think it’s worth getting contractors license considering my situation?

I had a realtor tell me to cash out a retirement fund to purchase a home in 2007 because I would get a far better return from real estate than I would in the stock market.  So I paid the penalty & taxes and put money I didn’t even need into the down payment on a new house.  I’ll take the blame for my stupidity but I was 23 and she was 50.  She should have known better.  Anyway, fast forward 15 years and I’ve had the same renter living in that paid off 200k home for 9 years.  The realtor ended up filing bankruptcy during the recession, went through a divorce, and never got back.  I almost purchased her home though a short sale, but decided I didn’t want to be involved with anything she had going on.  

We all make our own financial decisions.  As as a real estate broker I will tell you that they do not teach any classes on tax strategy.  The answer is suppose to be, “consult a financial advisor”.  Keep in mind that most people live in a house 7 years and not the term of the loan so even if you think you will own the place for ever the odds are that you will not.

I will tell you this, I bought that first home on a 15 year loan, and my first 5 rental properties with cash, and now I love that 30 year fixed money when I can get it. That risk muscle is something that has to be built. We keep a close eye on our debt to equity ratio, have a number of our properties free and clear, but an investment with great cash flow isn't that risky. That 30 year money on a SFH is pretty good financing and you're paying the origination fees anyway. Especially if you use the xtra money to grow your portfolio.

Never seen signs of a mouse in the house, but we just moved in a year ago and the previous owner had traps in the basement. We do have a stream close to the house and get a surprising amount of wild life for being in the city.  I will give you an update tomorrow morning.  Not too optimistic as I hunted voles at our last house for 7 years with out getting one.  I did trap a few mice and paid a neighbor kid to kill a Gardner snake.   

So there we are on this beautiful Saturday morning enjoying some family time. I mean it’s year 2020 family fun, 2 kids playing their iPads with their headphones on lying on the kitchen floor, @karenhiggins reading what I can only guess is a romance novel, and I’m drinking water trying to shake a Friday night of beer and video games. Then all of a sudden chaos breaks out as a mouse stumbles all over the kitchen right in front of us. The kids scream, Karen runs, and I go to look for the broom, but by the time I had my weapon the mouse had hid somewhere in our master bedroom.

I threw $30 at the problem and bought 2 of everything at Menards. Used gloves to set the old school traps because I don’t want the wild animals being tipped off by the smell of my city hands. I baited all the traps with some “mouse food” gel. I had a lot of this gel so I put it all over the sticky pads that are strategically placed throughout the house and garage. I got a repellent spray and I sprayed down all the baseboards. She wouldn’t let me spray down the pantry because it would poison the kids. Seriously though, if food is accessible isn’t that the problem? But, clearly I know nothing. I got the big bag of poison where the mice are suppose to walk into the trap. Then I said “what the hell” and went rogue by just leaving some of the poison bricks laying loose in the utility room.

Just wondering if I missed a step? I passed on the sonar sound thing because I thought we had one at home, but I can’t find it. Is it necessary? Worried that if I can’t produce at least one dead mouse by tomorrow I will be moving into a rental. We do a pretty good job and have nothing available at the moment so we would have to move in to a flip. She refuses to let my crew work on “our own home” again so that would be a conflict of interest.

I thought it was a little odd that a mouse would stumble around a Kitchin during broad daylight in front of 4 people so I google

“seeing a mouse in home during daylight”

Google says

Mice are nocturnal creatures, so they are most active between dusk and dawn. They don't usually like bright lights, but a mouse may sometimes be seen during the day, especially if its nest has been disturbed or it is seeking food. Seeing mice in the day also can indicate a large infestation in a home

Jesus, thanks google........anyway any advice?