Getting Ready for Staycation, and The Last Day of the Month

Hi Friends!  Today is the last day of the month.  I know for most of the world, this is just another day.  But to me, as a landlord, it is a busy day.  At least I HOPE so!  I get off work at 12:00 noon.  As soon as I am off, I go to our two Post Office Boxes to see if we have any mail.  Mail is a code word for "rent".  I always try to get as much money as possible in the bank on the last day of the month.  It is an allusion to me, I guess.  If we have money in the bank the last day of the month, all is well.

I first stop at a post office on the parkway in a small town we used to live in.  If there is rent in that box, I immediately take it to the bank branch in that town.  If there are any tenants that haven't paid for the month yet, I try to call them.  I leave them nasty messages, or try to set up appointments to meet them if they answer.

Then I go to the town we live in.  They are about 12 miles apart.  If there is rent there, I go to the bank branch in that area also.  I used to save the rent in the first town, and wait till I had been both places, but this way if there is no rent at the second box, I don't have to drive to a bank.  I was trying out the box in the second town, but we are in the process of moving all our mail back to the box in the town we do not live in.  There is a reason for that.  The town we live in is very small, and it only has two post men.  So even though we are not listed anywhere, and have a PO box, one day a tenant showed up at my home.  I don't like when that happens!  So I'm moving all my mail back to the larger town, to the box I've had about 15 years.  That way if tenants decide they need to find me, they will look there.

Some days I have a lot of appointments to meet people to pay.  Today I was finished relatively early.  Some days I have to check houses to see if they are empty.  People just move out like that, and don't tell you.  Today I know I have two coming available the first of the month.  Two people are giving back their homes.  Another is getting evicted.  So that is three we have that we need to rent.  I hope they go fast, but since school just started here, I don't know if they will or not.

Tomorrow I will get off at 12 as usual, and that starts our "staycation".  I believe I already told you that we usually go away to a river town an hour from here.  We do this every Labor Day.  We leave on Thursday before, and come home Tuesday morning, in time for me to go to work.  Because we have the farm, and cattle every where, we have to stay close to home.  If someone calls at 2 in the morning as says the cows are out, one of us (usually Pappy) has to go see about them.  Well this year because of the tornado and its damage to the park, we were unable to have our reservations.  We always rent a chalet at the state park.  We love this house idea, because I take all our food, it has a full kitchen, our kids have their friends along.  It is great for us.  We junk shop, and go to the beach.  Just do nothing and relax.  The first year, I would come back and forth to collect rent and make bank deposits.  Then Pappy started telling me I had to stay over in the other town.  I was "vacating".  When we didn't get our reservations, I decided we would sleep at home, and just drive to do the things we want to do.  I think this will save a lot of money.  Pappy doesn't know if he can sit home and do "nothing".  We'll see how this goes.  I'm starting to get excited.

See you tomorrow!  Honey

Saturday: Library Book Sale, Rain, and Errands

Today is Saturday, and it was pretty quiet around here.  Daughter #1 went to the rental trailer we purchased, and was laying tile on the floors.  It was her off day from the retail store she works at while going to college.  Daughter #2 was studying for her college finals next week with a study group.  Daughter #3 came over to help her Dad with some chores here at the farm.  The also went to the rental trailer to move some furniture.  We brought home two long credenzas, a wooden three shelf storage unit for our bathroom, and a glass hutch.  Still to come is an antique chest of drawers.  The previous owner went into a nursing home, and we bought the trailer "as is", previous owner's belongings, and all.

Grandboy is at the beach.  He called, but I wasn't home, so he spoke to Pappy.  He went to a dolphin show and told Pappy all about it.  He will be home Monday I think.  We miss him.

Our library has a book sale twice a year.  It is one of my favorite things to do.  There are thousands of books on tables, and you walk around the room in a line, one person behind the other.  You have to bring shopping bags to put your treasures in while you look.  All the books are a quarter!  The last sale I went to, I bought $25 worth of books.  When I got home, Pappy said, "Do you know that is 100 books?  What are you going to do with 100 books?"  I said, "I don't know.  I think I'll read them.  Maybe put them under the bed?"  We have books in every room in our house.  EVERY room.  Two years ago, when we finished homeschooling, I decided to list a lot of them on paperback swap.  That went well, I thought at first.  I had over 1,000 books listed.  And that was not including the ones I intended to keep.  I would mail out about 30 books a week.  But then I had all these credits, and I needed to pick more books, and it really didn't help much.  So I quit.  But I need to cull a few, and find a means to re-home them.  Today I only spent $5 at the library sale.  It probably helped that I waited till after lunch.  I missed the crowds and most of the books, I'm sure.

Today, while I was out running errands, it began to rain.  We need rain, so that was a blessing.  It helped cool things off a little bit too. 

Tomorrow our ad starts in the paper for the rental.  Pappy and the girls have been hard at work on it for a few weeks.  I hope the home  goes fast.  They usually aren't empty long.  But school starts here in two weeks, and that would really be a blessing for some one to take it the first weekend it is ready.  After school starts, I'm afraid the rental market is going to die down a little bit. 

Well, that about covers the excitement here today.  Hope your day was relaxing and Blessed!  Honey

This is the first view of our home as you come down our half mile long driveway.  Pappy is building a greenhouse.  You can see one of our clotheslines on the right.  The deck on the front of the house faces a 2 acre pond and a pasture.

Cleaning out a Rental Home

Today I am going to tell you a little about the rental home business.  Pappy and I have had rental property for about 20 years.  When we first started we had three babies in diapers!  It's been a long time.  Recently we bought a mobile home from the gentleman I work for.  We will redo it, then sell it owner financed.  We bought it "as is"  and Pappy is in the process of reworking it.  Today I went by for a minute and it was largely improved.  It looks really nice.  I will try to have pictures this weekend.  In the kitchen, he painted the cabinets doors pale yellow.  Really lightened up the place.  I can tell he and our daughters have done a lot of work in there. 

We also have to "unload" the home.  Take out all the personal belongings that were left in the house by the previous tenant.  A couple of the items were things I had recently decided to look for.  I only shop second hand for the most part, and with a list.  So it takes a while sometimes to find what I am looking for.  When two items I was looking for show up "free"  I believe it is a God moment!  One of the items was a piano bench.  My husband brought it home to see if I wanted it, and it was perfect as a little desk or table for the Grandboy.  He can use it to eat in the office, or draw, etc.  We spend a lot of time in the office, and where we are, he is also.  So I was really pleased about this.  The second item was a floor lamp.  It is very nice, made from wrought iron.  I wanted it to go by my den chair and footstool.  I thought I'd like to start trying to do my Bible readings in there, but I knew the light wasn't good.  I also brought home a stacked set of white baskets that I put in our bathroom for storage, two sets of wind chimes, and shoots from a ground cover plant.  My daughter #1 brought me home a box of books.  Oh, I forgot.  I also brought home a china clock that worked when I changed the battery.  It stands about 8 inches tall.  It is pretty.

All in all, it was a nice afternoon treasure hunting, and I didn't spend a cent!  Well, unless you count what we paid for the trailer!