True Tenant Tales, Volume One


Working with tenants can be an amazing experience. (Owners and contractors are equally astounding, but those are subjects for another day.) It seems I get my most memorable anecdotes over the phone. Here are a few of the ones I've culled from my blog and experience and put together for your reading amazement.

First was a late-night phone call I took:

*beeeep*
*beeeep*
*beeeep*

"Hello?"

*beeeep*
*beeeep*
*beeeep*

"Hi, my smoke alarm keeps going off."

*beeeep*
*beeeep*
*beeeep*

"Is there a fire?"

*beeeep*
*beeeep*
*beeeep*

"No. It does this every time I open the oven."

*beeeep*
*beeeep*
*beeeep*

"Well have you cleaned the oven?"

*beeeep*
*beeeep*
*beeeep*

"I've opened the windows and door but it won't stop."

*beeeep*
*beeeep*
*beeeep*

"Why don't you wave the smoke away with a magazine?"

*beeeep*
*beeeep*
*beeeep*

"Okay, I've got the fan in the kitchen now. What did you say about the oven?"

*beeeep*
*beeeep*
*beeeep*

"Have you cleaned it? There's a product you can buy called EZ-Off. It's, well, pretty easy to use."

*beeeep*
*beeeep*
*beeeep*

"Really? Okay, I guess I'll try that."

*beeeep*
*beeeep*
*beeeep*

"I think it may help."

"Thanks. Have a good night."

"Good night."

You'll notice I didn't suggest disconnecting the battery.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next was a call in the late morning.

"Landlord for Hire."

"Terence, I have a really bad problem."

"What's wrong?"

"There's a bee between the door and the storm door, and I can't get out."

"Well, I wouldn't swat it. It's probably as scared as you are."

"Okay. Can you come over and open the door for me?"

"Well, I'm a half-hour drive from there. Is there someone closer you could call?"

"Not really."

"How about this: open the inside door and the storm door very quickly, and then close the inside door. You'll bring the bee out with you and it will fly away. You'll be doing it a favor."

"What if it gets inside?"

"Be quick and it won't - I have faith in you. Call me if you're still stuck after you try it."

I didn't get a call back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Springtime brought this little gem:

"Terence, it's really hot in here? Why is the heat still on?"

"Have you turned it from "Heat" to "Cold?"

"Um, no . . . "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The last I have right now was a simple voice mail, of chilling consequences:

"Mr. Terence, I wanted to call to let you know there's a problem with the drain in the basement. Thank you."

"A problem" was three feet of water and human waste in the basement. The tenant was late on her rent and, according to the plumber, must have endured the stench for a week or more before she screwed up the courage to call me. That was a rental I owned myself, and that tenant taught me a lot of the lessons I use to guide my property management philosophy, including not selecting tenants out of fear, not accepting excuses for late rent, and always assuming that your tenants are better at understatement than you are!

© 2005 Terence P Ward, all rights reserved. Terence P Ward is the President of Landlord for Hirewww.landlordforhire.com">http://www.landlordforhire.com, a residential property management service of Green and Clean Corporationhttp://www.Green-n-Clean.biz, based in the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York State. You may find contact information for him on either of his company's web pages.


MORE RESOURCES:

Dallas man sentenced in gas-and-oil leasing scheme
Dallas Morning News, TX - 23 hours ago
... to 35 years in prison Wednesday for his role in running a nationwide gas-and-oil leasing scheme that bilked investors out of almost $2 million. ...


Colonial Properties Trust Appoints Dana Hansen as Senior Vice ...
Earthtimes (press release), UK - 10 hours ago
Starting his career with The Jacobs Group, Hansen later went on to work with Urban Retail Properties (Chicago), handling regional mall leasing and ...


GameSHOUT

Honda to begin leasing Clarity hydrogen vehicles
GameSHOUT - 5 hours ago
Tokyo-based Honda will begin leasing its new hydrogen Clarity model to consumers next year. Tokyo-based Honda will begin leasing its new hydrogen Clarity ...


Ritter tells Senate more oil shale research needed
Bizjournals.com, NC - 10 hours ago
"I have serious concerns about the pace of federal efforts to develop a commercial oil-shale leasing program before public and private research efforts are ...
Ritter: Watershed a real concern Grand Junction Sentinel
Salazar aims to slow oil shale leasing Glenwood Springs Post Independent
Guv to urge lease slowdown Rocky Mountain News
Salt Lake Tribune - Houston Chronicle
all 19 news articles


Transportation deals: Ryder completes acquisition of Gator Leasing
Logistics Management, MA - 16 hours ago
With Gator representing the third acquisition of a full-service leasing company in the last eight months by Ryder, this deal is expected to expand Ryder’s ...


Anglo Leasing details held
Standard, Kenya - 10 hours ago
By Evelyn Kwamboka Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (Kacc) told the High Court in Nairobi on Thursday that the details would only be disclosed with ...


Grubb & Ellis Named Leasing Broker for Watch Factory Building in ...
Stockhouse, Canada - 17 hours ago
--Berkeley Investments, Inc. has hired Grubb & Ellis as its leasing broker for the Phase 1 of the Watch Factory in Waltham, which consists of the historic ...


Hard-pressed dairymen are drawn to gas leasing
River Reporter, NY - 16 hours ago
By TOM KANE WAYMART, PA - Like a lot of dairy farmers who aren’t able to make a decent living milking their cows, Joe Davitt, who owns a 145-acre farm near ...


Ryder completes Gator Leasing buy
Bizjournals.com, NC - May 13, 2008
Ryder System has completed its acquisition of Gator Leasing, a full-service truck leasing, commercial truck rental and fleet services company in Miami. ...
Ryder Completes Acquisition of Gator Leasing in Florida CNNMoney.com
all 10 news articles


Downtown dwellers drive occupancy surge
Indianapolis Star, United States - 13 minutes ago
Years ago, a development like Cosmopolitan would have been completed before leasing began, said Crossin. With this project, pre-leasing will begin 90 to 120 ...

leasing - Google News

site map
Nocommentweb.com © 2000 - Partners

psychology help | snus | ekspress lĺn | express loan | Santander Spain | cheap insurance | snus|