Free is free

[Joel_BC]

The key to renting is vetting! Financial, criminal and employment background checks. Have the applicant pay for the checks and make it perfectly clear that any and all applicants with negative results will automatically be denied. That weeds out the Lions share of deadbeats from even applying.

Up here I don't think potential renters would want to pay for those financial, criminal and employment background checks. You'd have to mask those costs within the rental fee or maybe the damage deposit. But I suppose that might be feasible.

What I'd dislike, as a landlord, would be scenarios like this: You've got a small family renting your place. The mother loves and does her best to take care of the kids, her spouse has a job and pays the bills but has a recurrent drinking or substance-abuse issue you didn't know about. He goes off the rails from time to time, and damage is done to the property. You get fed up and want to turf them out but the woman pleads, appealing to your more kindhearted side. As a well-meaning woman, she's distraught... and desperate for the kids' and her own welfare. Whaddya do?

 

[sumi]

Beekissed, that is really sad to see. Around here rentals are hard to come by, since the banks are sticky about giving mortgages, many people have no choice but rent. As a result the demand outstrips supply in many regions. Yet I still here about people trashing places to the point where landlords refuse to rent their properties out any more.

Landlord-wise I cannot ask for a better one than my current landlord. Yesterday I found the outside drain blocked yet again. He was here shortly after the plumber arrived this morning, early. Whatever big or small things I find here that needs attention, he's on it immediately and thoroughly. Huge difference from my previous one!

 

[moxies_chickennuggets]

I am currently looking for that 10K foreclosure property to purchase and move in to.

 

[moxies_chickennuggets]

Come to Ireland. I've seen houses here go for as little as 8K

I truly wish I could do just that sumi. Move to Ireland and buy that place for 8K.

 

[sumi]

Score on the house and the notebook!

 

[tortoise]

Wow! Congratulations!

 

[Beekissed]

Did that years ago with a new looking lawn mower at a yard sale for $10. The yard was a postage stamp and the mower looked brand new. Asked the lady what was wrong with it and she proceeded to tell me that it wouldn't start, took it back to the dealer and they said all kinds of things were bad on it and that it would just be cheaper to buy a new one than repair the old one. Does that sound familiar? I think that must be in the employee handbook anywhere they sell something with an engine....how do folks stand there and lie for a living????

Anyhoo, I had a suspicion that they'd been had, so I bought the mower and took it home to my folks to tinker on. Twenty min. of work to bypass the electric start function and it roared to life. They used that mower for many a long year.

Sort of the same thing on a vehicle I bought years ago. It was an SUV that booked for $4300 but I got it for 1K...it was beautiful, good exterior and interior, ran wonderfully. It had a check engine light on it and I think they thought the engine was going bad or maybe someone had told them it was, so decided to sell it rather than repair it. All it needed was an O2 sensor, ran me for years and was a great vehicle.

 

[Chic Rustler]

Right on! Funny how things go when a tradesman gets involved

 

[Joel_BC]

CC, that's an interesting story. And good to hear about your windfall.

I've found some good stuff for free, that's for sure, but I have no real knowledge of electronics. I mean, I do know the difference between a capacitor and a resistor, but don't now how to test them, or how to track down problems in complex circuitry. I can wire a building for 120 or 240, but it's that other complicated, delicate stuff that's a mystery.

Recent experience: my household's favorite second-hand electric clothes iron. It's got a lot going for it — it's heavy enough to do a good job, got a good water capacity for steam, it sits on its haunches on the ironing board without being tippy. But it stopped heating. I figured the problem might be a stuck relay, so I got my deadblow hammer and gave it a couple firm taps. Starting working like a charm!

But that's not really "electronics" (as in computers, radios, etc).

On another topic... I've always shied away from any opportunity to become a landlord. I've just heard of so many thorny, gnarly situations. But I trust it's working out well for you. Sounds like it.

 

[milkmansdaughter]

My son knows exactly what you're talking about. He loves Linux, and is always rebuilding old computers to make them work.

I'm better with a hammer or a drill but to each their own.