Property Management…

I confess that this is not the favorite job title I have possessed in my varied career.

MIL’s House:

• The two plumbing problems were solved on Saturday and I didn’t have to be there to facilitate! This is great. I did have to do the communication liaison between the plumber, who had last minute availability, and the tenants, who are not super fast getting back to me via email or text. So there was this nebulous space where I was waiting to hear from them, hoping it would work out. It did. The plumber thought they were wonderful. They thought the plumber was fantastic! $500 please. How fast can we write that check? Pretty damn fast.
• The shower door… I tried to mitigate its gap at the bottom by installing a ‘sweep.’ The sweep was very tight and has not, as hoped, relaxed at all. The tenants can’t close the shower door all the way, so water gets on the floor. The folks I got the sweep from told me today they could take a look tomorrow. The tenants gave me permission to meet the contractor as they won’t be there. This evening, the contractor’s story changed… They’re likely available on Thursday. I am not, and then not again until May 5th. So, I have to, politely, write back to the shower door dude what my schedule is, without telling him that he didn’t, ‘as mentioned before,’ 🙄 he thought Thursday would be the day, or I would have said it would not have worked 😐 this morning. WTF? Then I have to let the tenants know there’s a probable change, and they may have to meet this guy in order to get the problem looked at sooner rather than later. I am lucky that this is not a problem for them. They had rentals in the past.
• The final bit is ‘remodeling’ the fridge alcove. They are paying for this. I got hooked up with a group that refers contractors. There’ a small annual fee. It’s worth it as I don’t have that many contacts where MIL’s house is, and the ones I do have retired. I’m waiting to hear from the referred contractor who will bid the job.
• And the last bit is suddenly the pocket door to the master bathroom will only close half way. When we handed the house over to them, it worked perfectly. I am no pocket door expert, but before hiring someone to fart around with it, I want to get my hands on it.

Island House:

• We are almost done (please) firing the money guns with both barrels. The drier shed siding, pump room window, and west end of the south deck on the house are all taken care of. The upper barn roof still needs doing. I’ve paid for the roofing material. The plywood is onsite. My roofer, despite prompting this evening hasn’t billed me for this stack of wood. So, there’s another 5-figures of labor and plywood to pay for… And then I’m hoping we’re done with large cash infusions on the property for a bit.
• The tenants are bitching about the washer again. It tied the sheets in knots! And then did it again after the rinse cycle! They have access to laundry facilities at his work, and so he’s gone back to doing the washing at work. I wrote a kind and measured note back reminding him of our appliance guy’s instructions re running the washer (won’t bore you with that). Tenant assured me that’s how his wife was using the washer. She can barely stand up, so I am unsure how he can be so positive that she can reach the knobs, much less load the top-loading machine… I think she is angling for a new washing machine. Angling to be ‘right’ about it’s proclivities after the appliance guru’s reassurances, and I’m not having any of it. The washer works just fine. Use the highest water setting. It’s built to save water. Screw that. Don’t use the auto setting. Appliance guy said not to. I wrote back to him saying I’d test the washer mid-week, next week. Meanwhile I’ve asked my appliance guru, with his moral authority to write a 4 to 7 bullet point users guideline for this unit. He wrote back and said, “You bet!” I’m so done.