phases 2 and 3

Thank you Amy for kicking me back into action.  We've been a little extra busy around here, and the lack of perceived progress on the basement made me hesitant to post the next phase.  In my brain it wasn't done.    But actually, phase 2 IS done, and wallboard gets to be it's own phase.  I'm glad I finally downloaded some pictures - forward progress is being made, despite lame renters!  The extra time has actually been good, allowing us to really think about what we want and add things we didn't initially plan on - things that are a lot easier to change now BEFORE wallboard is up and taped!

Roger rented a framing nail gun for most of the framing, but it had to be returned before everything got framed.  This allowed our handy helpers to all be a part of the framing.  Alex puts on his 'Mouse-ka-zoomer' to get those screws in, while Roger provides a little bit of extra muscle.

Dad/Opa helped a TON with the wiring.  Of course, now there are plenty of outlets and plugs to be wired if anyone is interested in a trip to sunny CO!  We wired the area next to the stairs for a future kitchen.  I think Roger is most excited about the 12,000 channel sound system he wired down there
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The kids are now more of a fan of the Pink Panther than I am!  Luckily my contractor reminded me of the importance of long sleeves, so the itching from all the insulation didn't last too long.  The kids made good runners, and Alex had fun standing on the board I used as a straight edge.  It's amazing what a difference the insulation makes.  Even though it's still open to the garage, the basement is a ton warmer - it's only heated by the boiler room, which is plenty. 

Here's a peek at the back bedrooms.  The top pictures are of Katie's - and my - new craft room.  We moved the doorway so now you enter the room straight off the hall, and flipped the closet over to the wall next to the boiler room.  It's deeper than usual, and there's now a linen closet on the left side that will be accessed from the hall.  The bottom pictures are of the guest room.  I had to get in a picture of one of the few things that didn't get changed.  One wall that doesn't have to be taped! 

Putting up the wallboard got put on hold thanks to some awesome tenants.  We finally got them out Feb 7.  My favorite comment from our SECOND visit to court, when they were asking for more time to move out, and I noted that they knew for at least a month that I wanted to evict them was 'We thought you'd change your mind.'  Oddly enough, continuing to not pay rent did not help me change my mind.

Another favorite:  2 days after they finally were out (just 5 days after they said they would be) the calls about when they would get their deposit back started.  Somehow they were under the impression that although they still owed us some rent and they left more pet damaged carpet than I've even seen, I would be returning their deposit to them.  People are awesome!  When I get totally frustrated by their shenanigans, I go sit in 'mom's blue truck' and calm back down again.  I'm SOO glad I remembered to put that in the stipulations from court visit #1!

So, instead of working on our basement we spent Feb putting Humpty Dumpty back together again. We finished cleaning and rehanging all the doors on Monday.  To celebrate, we started work on phase 3:

I forgot to take a before picture of the kitchen.  Where there once was a wall between the kitchen and the stairwell (on the side of the dishwasher; right where Roger is standing in the picture on the right) and between the garage and the kitchen, there is now a big hole. Fortunately, plastic sheeting is actually not a bad insulator.  Last night we put on part of the subfloor and moved the washing machine into its new home.  The laundry area is now on the outer wall - allowing the dryer to finally vent correctly to the outside.  The area where the washer used to be (where the electrical panel is) will be a little mud room.  HOORAY for more space!!

rental non-rant

I hesitate to actually state this out loud, but instead of killing us off this month, the rentals are going AMAZINGLY well. In November, our 2 best tenants told us that they would be moving out. One set bought their own place - we're happy for them, but I was also crossing my fingers that their closing wouldn't go through - and the single guy needed more room. The 2 bedroom just wasn't enough space for him and . . . whatever he needs space for. Your guess is as good as mine.

Every other vacancy we've had has taken a month to clean up after the old tenants and then fill with the new ones. A month with no rent. We were faced with a double whammy for December, on top of a potentially very busy Thanksgiving spent doing repairs and painting.

Both tenants left the units spotless and in good repair. All I had to do was get the carpets cleaned. We didn't even have to paint! For both units, the former tenants were out one day, and the new ones could move in the following day. You might be thinking 'whoop-dee-doo. What's the big deal?' I, however, am still in grateful shock.

happy anniversary to me

So, people. How do YOU like to spend your anniversary? Over here at the Young house, we like to mix things up a little. Last year I would have almost be money that we'd be celebrating year 3 hanging out in the hospital with the arrival of our little friend Alex. He and the induction folks decided to wait a few more days.

This year, we decided to be extra exciting and romantic. Roger got sent to scenic Ohio for work, helping some dork manage his own account. I spent part of the morning at the Sheriff's office in Boulder filing the Writ of Restitution for our deadbeat liar pants tenant P. Good times, good fun.


For those of you just DYING to know the ending of the eviction story, here's a little update to keep you on the edge of your seats. We held off filing in March, and the rent trickled in - less $100 - by the end of the month. Ahh. And then it's the first of the month again and the game starts anew. I'm sure by now you're surprised to hear that P did NOT in fact have all the money for April. Apparently she needs to find a new congregation to milk, because her church was just not forthcoming. She could pay me $300 (of the $1300 she owes, an amount of payment that had dropped overnight from what she said she could pay). This is a kicker - if the tenant pays ANYTHING, even if it's just $1, you have to start the game all over again with a new 3-day notice. I had to turn down the partial payment and we - me and my class of future landlords, Katie and Alex - hit the courthouse to file the eviction. Happily this adds on another $88 that P. won't be paying us. To put the cherry on the cake, I got a speeding ticket on the way from the courthouse to the process server. It was of course deserved, but Alex gets some credit for distracting me with his screams of protest at not being able to take a nap in his own bed. I wonder if I can add that on to P's bill?

In an eviction, you file one week and then the hearing is set for the following Friday. Time for court arrives - apparently, I had not done enough of my 'NO MEDIATION!' mantras ahead of time. P arrived 10 minutes late, and said that she was on her way to a social security hearing to get an advance on her disability settlement. She had paperwork proving this money is due her. She could pay us the full amount that night. So we went the mediation route again, and agreed to stipulations that included the amount that she owes us, when she would pay, when the Writ would be issued if she failed to pay, and when she would be out if she failed to pay. The judge said that he would issue the Writ on April 23 provided I didn't show up right before they closed for the day.

Are you sitting down? Friday night, no word from P. No word all weekend. I tracked her down Tuesday, and she came out of her apartment asking 'Are you here to talk to me?' Surprisingly enough, P, yes I was. Well, guess what. No money. Surprise again, her church wouldn't be able to help her.

Wednesday I was back at court with my posse of helpers. The judge wasn't back from lunch yet, but the clerk offered to call me when he issued the Writ. After an hour of kicking it at the library, we headed home, with no word from the clerk. By 4 pm, I called the courthouse and asked what was going on - 15 minutes later I received word that the judge had finally acted. Let me just add here that a trip to the Boulder courthouse is required next to actually FILE the Writ with the Sheriff's department. Even lead foot Kat cannot pull off a trip to 6th and Canyon via the Longmont courthouse in 45 minutes, even if I did not have two friends to carry along with me. ARGH! But now our story is up to date. The kiddies got to go play with Oma at work, I got to go hit the courthouse on my own, which was good considering the hike I had from the parking area to the courthouse, and the multiple trips up and down the stairs to get everything taken care of.

I did talk to Roger just after filing, so I guess we were together on this anniversary after all. :)

rental rant #3

It's been a while, but have no fear: our renters are still creating heartburn. To be more accurate I should properly state FORMER tenants.

The 27th of December, sometime around 9 pm, I got a call from a tenant's sister, asking if they could come over to talk to us. 'Well, if you feel like driving 12 hours, knock yourselves out.' The brother had to go back to Mexico for a family emergency, but the sister wanted to take over his apartment. Would that be OK? I'm in New Mexico and it's late. Right at that moment, sure, it's OK. What else am I going to do? My first thought was that at least we wouldn't have to do much to turn the apartment over. HA HA HA HA HA. I never learn.

We return to CO and meet with the gal to go over the lease, etc. She'll be moving in Feb 1, and all she wants is the bedroom set. Anything else that was left she isn't interested in. I went over this a number of times, as - to my continued detriment - I have not yet taken a Spanish class.

We head over and HOLY SMOKES! Someone should have brought her camera. They clearly left in a hurry, but still. This two bedroom apartment housed two adults and their 4 children (most recent one 2 months old). [Two separate friends of ours - each with 2 children and houses that are two stories and have basements - are looking for new abodes because they just don't fit anymore. HELLO! But that will be another post.] They managed to take or dispose of their 4 TVs, living room furniture, crib, and double bed, but left two closets full of linens, bags and bags of children's clothing, three dressers, and a kitchen full of everything. Oh man.

We took an entire Saturday and loaded up two truck loads for the dump and had a family friend who recently suffered a fire come and take what she could use. This still left a mountain of stuff in the living room. When I went back to clean some more, the living room was empty! Apparently the sister changed her mind, and came and got the stuff. Craziness! We would have happily let her move ALL of the crap out of there!

Two things really struck me with this turn over:

1 - I could NOT stop thinking of the irony that the chore I probably hated MOST as a kid is what I end up doing far too often as an adult: washing walls. I understand it's a rental, but they have to live there. Are people really OK with black walls? Is there some black/white colorblindness that I don't know about? Do we need to switch paint colors from the landlord-standard Dover White to some gross shade of brown that will better hide hand prints and nose waste? And WHY OH WHY do you need to have 800 holes in the wall to hang one picture? I'm stating up front that filling holes will cost $50 an hour. Totally ridiculous.

2 - When folks have limited funds, why does the amount of junk seem to multiply like wire hangers. For example, these tenants had three hand mixers, and probably 4 sets of beaters. Call me crazy, but it seems like the amount spent on these three junky mixers would probably be equal to one that actually worked OK. Why does something being FREE suddenly make it something you can't live without. The friend that came to get things for her house took TONS of stuff that I thought should have been destined for the dump for sure. Does anyone need two sets of silverware? But there were two, so in the box they both went. Three colanders? Sure, why not? Tupperware without lids? Throw it in. I felt like we were just transferring junk from one over-crammed place to another. Oh well. Just very interesting to me.

environmental pondering

A post from another blog - lowercase numbers: the link is just over to your right - challenged folks to try to walk a little instead of just hopping in the car. My knee jerk reaction was 'Yeah right, tree-hugger boy. Easy for you to say. Try that idea with small children!' But honestly. How much harder is it to strap the wee ones into a stroller instead of into their car seats? Who doesn't need the sunshine? And how about getting myself moving a little more often? What better excuse than doing my small part to save the planet?

That challenge - thank you Mr. Pulsipher, and sorry, I don't remember how long ago it was offered, but it has indeed been a while - got me thinking about small things I can actually do to use less energy - fossil fuel kind or non-renewable, that is. It would actually not be so bad if I expended more energy. So now, if it's a minor grocery run, we walk it. This also has the benefit of actually only buying what is on my list, instead of everything that looks good. One benefit of where we live in Wrongmont is that we are just one block off of Main St. - easy access to many fine eateries such as Good Times, Chipotle, and Three Margaritas, as well as fine shopping Murdoch's Ranch Supply and, my childhood favorite, BigK. We even took a stroll over to the monster Wallmart before our trip out West - even though I HATE Wallmart, the walkability of it won over hopping in the car and going to Target. Insanity. It's a whole new Kat! The car trip that we've cut out that struck me as the silliest was to the park. There's a pretty good park about a mile away, which we used to drive to most of the time. Let's hurry up and drive to go play! That's just funny to me. Half of the fun is the getting there. And if we actually get to wait for a train, it's like Christmas morning for little Katie!

Other painless changes:

• Switching out incandescent bulbs to CFLs as they need changing. A little pricey at first, but they should pay for themselves in no time.
• Hanging a few loads of laundry out on the line instead of using the dryer. I admit I'm not ready for crunchy, scratchy towels, but I actually like the feel and smell of sheets that have dried outside BETTER than ones dried in the dryer. Bounce tries hard to recreate that smell, but nature wins on that one.
• Garden/canning adventures. We are not self-sufficient over here . . . yet. But we're practicing. With Roger 'McGyver' working his magic on the watering system and grow boxes, we're getting a pretty good little garden going. I just need to figure out how to keep the poachers out of my blackberries! There are a fair number of man hours involved in the canning process, but in a couple of days I canned 20 quarts of apple juice and 42 pints of apple sauce, all with fruit from a tree that we do little in the way of taking care of. The grapevine that we don't even water yielded approximately 25 quarts of juice as well. And my cost, outside of sweat? A trip to Boulder to borrow all the equipment from my mom! :)Since I'm not ready to grow EVERYTHING we eat yet, buying locally-grown produce and making more things from scratch are relatively painless changes too.
• We've (by 'we' I of course mean Rog) started to install low-flow toilets, experimenting with our place first. Jacuzzi makes a nice one that actually works well - the American Standard did not have adequate power for our needs, shall we say. The city pays $50 for the old toilet, and we easily saved $20 off our water bill with just one toilet changed out.

Just some musings. Once again, I've been surprised at what actually paying attention to things in my little world shows me. Bottled water has been making me shake my head lately. Buy a Nalgene bottle and a water filter if you really need one! Why so much plastic?! Guess a little Berkeley rubbed off on me after all!

fun with trash

Do you ever wonder 'where did all this stuff come from?' This is a picture of the remains after our most recent tenant vacated their 2-bedroom-1-bathroom apartment. Granted, this unit did have some yard attached to it, so ALL of this stuff wasn't crammed into their apartment. But still! How on earth does one collect all this junk? And believe me, it's junk.

I'm always amazed at the stuff that people leave behind when they move. Included in this load of treasures is a dog house (these folks had 3 different dogs in the three years they rented from us), an aquarium, a number of bike frames, and a bed frame. The bed frame we can use - it just needs a coat of paint. The rest is all broken, unusable junk. These guys are not the exception - it seems to be more the rule of folks that rent in our area. If you drive along some of the 'rental rows' you'll see the same story in many front yards: random stuff that is ALMOST ok but that is missing some key element that would make it actually function. Some amount of time and effort and possibly money were expended to gather this stuff, but then it just ends. Do they have grand dreams of making millions on eBay sprucing this stuff up? Christmas gifts for the next year? Do they really think they are going to somehow patch that cracked aquarium and slap some fish in there? Is it going to be a new bookcase instead?

It just seems like instead of saving up to buy one quality item, 100 cheaper items - that don't work or don't last - are purchased instead, to then just end up in the back of Jethro for yet another load to the dump!

Naturally, all of MY possessions are truly treasures. No junk in my crib. Just don't ask Rog - he might give you a different answer. I have a stained glass workshop that doesn't get used, but that's not broken, I'm just busy with little people instead.

Any of you lurkers out there feel like commenting on stuff you have laying around that you have grand designs of fixing, but that have instead been left languishing in the corner, like that bear corduroy hoping to get his button sewn on again.

i forgot to mention the car they had sitting in their parking space for over a year that never ran!!

rental rant #2

I have another question for you: What happened to consideration for one's neighbors?

For the first time in our exciting management history, we have opted to NOT renew a tenant's lease. A paying tenant. In light of my previous rant, you're probably asking: 'Are you nuts?' Maybe so. But while these guys pay their rent - 2/3 of which is paid by the Longmont Housing Authority even - that is about the extent of their lease compliance.

• These guys have had a dead car parked over there for at least a year. 'We're getting that inspected next week.'



• They have 'gatherings' almost every night, where they and their friends steadily ooze across the entire front lawn area, smoking and drinking, and intimidating the other tenants in the building to stay inside their own apartments, or blocking them from reentering their homes.



• Once they finish up outside they move it on inside, where, now drunk, the couple that lives there fights and yells for a while.



• When asked how many times the police have been over there this year, an indignant 'only twice' was offered as a response. (The second time, the male tenant got arrested for mooning the cops as they were driving away. Smart fella.)



• They have had at least 3 dogs - at different times - and a ferret, all on a lease that requires approval for animals.

It's a little funny being on the other side of the line now. I mean, as a renter, I thought some of the clauses in my leases were silly, but being the law-abiding soul that I am (if you don't count the speed limit) I never really considered violoting any of them.

Sad for many, but better for us, the increase in the rate of foreclosures - CO has ranked#1 in this arena for much of the past couple years, but has recently fallen to #5 - has really helped the pool of renters improve dramatically. Hopefully we'll be able to get a GOOD tenant in there in no time.

Fortunately, dealing with the renter drama really gives me some great practice getting over my fear of confrontation. It's been an interesting evolution of Kat, minimizing the emotional components of dealing with people and shifting into more of a complete mindset of 'it's just business.' What's that? You don't like me? That's a shame. I don't particulary care for you either.

So what's the word? Have you ever moved because the neighboring tenants have been so bad? Did talking to the landlord ever help? Did you ever get anyone kicked out because of their nonsense?

rental rant #1

Finally, you say, a posting to justify the name of the blog! I'm sure you - all of my vast reading public - have been waiting on pins and needles for some insight into the world of rentals in Longmont, CO. Well, your day has finally come.

First question for you: When did paying rent become optional? How is this not one's FIRST obligation?!!! Mr. 'I-can't-pay-my-rent' tells me he has no money this month as he's sitting on his rear watching 'platinum' cable programming on his 55" TV. He's talking on his cell phone, there's a big trampoline in the backyard, and evidence of many, many cases of Bud that . Hummm. I have basic cable, and in the past somehow always managed to pay my rent while going to school and earning my rock-and-roll-lifestyle wage of $8-10k/year. Ask me if I feel sorry for your mismanagement of funds. Go ahead. I dare you.

Out of the 20 renters past and present that we've had, there have been 7 total deadbeats. The partial deadbeats in there ended up making up their back-rent. Well, except for the 'midnight movers,' but they actually left the place clean, outside of a pot of beans on the stove. I don't really count them in the deadbeat tally.

• 5 accounts are currently with a collections agency. Only ONE of those is actually making the required payment.



• 1 we took to small claims court and garnished her wages - that one was GREAT! These tenants had the outside faucet 'magically' leap out of the wall, flooding the basement on the 4th of July for approximately 10 hours. The broken water balloons and balloon-filling attachment on the hose laying in the mud next to the faucet were purely coincidence.



• The most recent one we evicted and won a judgement, but they bolted the state so now off to collections they go. These would be the same folks who claim they cleaned the place to 'move-in' ready. 'Someone must have came in after us and put a cat in there.' Ahh, yes. The infamous 'poo fairy.' Always running around, leaving presents for unsuspecting landlords. Also, bags and bags of empty aluminum cans are now considered a 'move-in' gift. If you aren't receiving these fine incentives from your current landlord, consider moving to Longmont. We can hook you up.

Contrary to popular rumor, landlords DO actually have live, warm, beating hearts. I can understand a glitch in the funding source. Things out of your control can happen. People fall ill. Even the 'accident' of being arrested and spending some time in the pokey can be an explanation - although I don't personally see that as something outside of your control. But it's your life. So then you make it up. I do NOT understand getting upset with ME because I am enforcing your half of our agreement. You have a roof over your head, it's not my job to pay for it.