Another month of Constant Work
If I had any one thing to tell someone about running a building, it would be to tell them about how much work this really is.
It is one thing to be able to assess, plan, and envision the units in your building as being great spaces with great tenants. It is another much less glamorous thing to actually turn that into reality.
In my last post I mentioned that I had a couple sign a lease for the second floor unit, "pre-conversion". That was a great thing as it meant that I would not have to go through the whole apartment showing/scheduling/screening process via Craig's List. It did however mean that I had a real deadline to complete all the things necessary for them to move in done in 4 weekends. I did it, it consumed every waking moment, and I am tired.
I mentioned that the previous tenants trashed the place before they left. Essentially every surface needed to be touched, washed, scrubbed, painted. I am so surprised that anyone would choose to live that way. A little bit messy is one thing, but windows so laden with grime that the water runs black is another.
Every light fixture, save for the chandelier in the dining room, had to be replaced. They were so coated with sticky goo that I didn't even want to touch them. Gotta wonder how they got that way. Same for the kitchen appliances, which all just went out for the junk hauler.
The front rooms and woodwork look great, thanks to Rufino Painting. Raul, the owner of the business, has done allot of work for me over the years, and these guys do it right. I never need to wonder what kind of job will be done when they are involved. Even when more than just painting is involved - drywalling, plumbing, whatever, if Raul doesn't have someone on his crew that can do it, he knows someone who can. So when the new tenants weren't thrilled about my plan to paint all the woodwork white, Raul and the crew went over the woodwork with a poly product that had a very dark pigment mixed in. The results are great! Even using this technique was not enough to save a few doors that had seen so much damage that they had to be painted.
The biggest chunk of work involved the kitchen, as usual. Kitchens have allot going on - electrical, plumbing, gas, cabinetry, lighting. So I spent allot of time in there, with demolition, removal of old cabinetry, drywalling the wet wall, etc. The wet wall saw the most work, as it had taken allot of water damage over the years. At the spot where the wall met the floor, it was completely open to the pipes. As you can imaging, "things" were crawling up into the apartment from this spot. So... tear it all out, install new blueboard, use lots of expanding foam, and create a tight seal around every opening. I hope this is effective.
So yesterday was really the final big workday, addressing all those little loose ends - like reversing the opening direction of the fridge, getting the dishwasher operational, installing the remote on the ceiling fan, hanging shelves, etc etc.
All good because they actually spent their first night there yesterday ! I still have a short punch list of things to do, but they have a fully functioning kitchen and home.
And for the first time, my investment is fully self-funding. Rent fully covers PITI, meaning no more out of pocket for me. Deep breath.
It is one thing to be able to assess, plan, and envision the units in your building as being great spaces with great tenants. It is another much less glamorous thing to actually turn that into reality.
In my last post I mentioned that I had a couple sign a lease for the second floor unit, "pre-conversion". That was a great thing as it meant that I would not have to go through the whole apartment showing/scheduling/screening process via Craig's List. It did however mean that I had a real deadline to complete all the things necessary for them to move in done in 4 weekends. I did it, it consumed every waking moment, and I am tired.
I mentioned that the previous tenants trashed the place before they left. Essentially every surface needed to be touched, washed, scrubbed, painted. I am so surprised that anyone would choose to live that way. A little bit messy is one thing, but windows so laden with grime that the water runs black is another.
Every light fixture, save for the chandelier in the dining room, had to be replaced. They were so coated with sticky goo that I didn't even want to touch them. Gotta wonder how they got that way. Same for the kitchen appliances, which all just went out for the junk hauler.
The front rooms and woodwork look great, thanks to Rufino Painting. Raul, the owner of the business, has done allot of work for me over the years, and these guys do it right. I never need to wonder what kind of job will be done when they are involved. Even when more than just painting is involved - drywalling, plumbing, whatever, if Raul doesn't have someone on his crew that can do it, he knows someone who can. So when the new tenants weren't thrilled about my plan to paint all the woodwork white, Raul and the crew went over the woodwork with a poly product that had a very dark pigment mixed in. The results are great! Even using this technique was not enough to save a few doors that had seen so much damage that they had to be painted.
The biggest chunk of work involved the kitchen, as usual. Kitchens have allot going on - electrical, plumbing, gas, cabinetry, lighting. So I spent allot of time in there, with demolition, removal of old cabinetry, drywalling the wet wall, etc. The wet wall saw the most work, as it had taken allot of water damage over the years. At the spot where the wall met the floor, it was completely open to the pipes. As you can imaging, "things" were crawling up into the apartment from this spot. So... tear it all out, install new blueboard, use lots of expanding foam, and create a tight seal around every opening. I hope this is effective.
So yesterday was really the final big workday, addressing all those little loose ends - like reversing the opening direction of the fridge, getting the dishwasher operational, installing the remote on the ceiling fan, hanging shelves, etc etc.
All good because they actually spent their first night there yesterday ! I still have a short punch list of things to do, but they have a fully functioning kitchen and home.
And for the first time, my investment is fully self-funding. Rent fully covers PITI, meaning no more out of pocket for me. Deep breath.
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