Hitting the wall
Its been several late nights trying to get this wrapped up. Mostly just small things to do, but it seem like there are a never ending supply of them. A couple of nights I've really felt like I'm just at the wall.
After working all day, I went to the property to work, and just felt like I could not make any progress. In a post a long time ago I wrote about focus. New investors sometimes dart from one approach to another like a butterfly. Short sales? No, apartments. No, I'll do some wholesales. No wait... I recommended finding a niche and focusing. Same applies to the rehab work. On the previous project, I spent too much time darting from one job to another. So, on these nights when I really felt like I could accomplish nothing, I tried to pick something and just get it done. It really does help.
Friday night was a classic. Normally, we have dance lessons on Fridays. Right now its salsa at 7:00 and ballroom at 8:00. Its not my favorite night for this, because on Friday I'm ready for the week to be over. But the salsa class has been together for 15 weeks now, and the ballroom class is going on a year, and classes don't often hang together this long. But last Friday my wife was feeling ill. Both of these classes tend to have more guys than women, so I really didn't want to go by myself. Either the men or the ladies rotate around, so everyone dances with everyone else. But if the class is unbalanced, someone doesn't have a partner once in a while. So, off to the property to work.
I got over there and just couldn't get into making any progress. But I picked something, and pressed on. There were some fits and starts at first. The replacement for a slightly leaky shower faucet cartridge proved much leakier. After getting the old one back in, that moves further down the list to try to replace. Where do builders get this crap anyway? A "carefree" faucet? Never heard of them.
Actually made lots of progress over the last few days. Cabinets are refinished, showers and tub scrubbed out and caulked. New carpets all vacuumed. Yard mowed. The big project was the new tile (tumbled stone, really) backsplash. Took a bit longer than I expected, but it went pretty smoothly. Really should bought more spacers, though. Somehow, it just didn't click that 200 tiles and 250 spacers was a mismatch.
Had one prospect look on Saturday morning and two more today. The Saturday one is section 8, and a couple of other callers have asked for that, too. So, I'm trying to get onto Denver section 8. Put the property info in online last week, and left a message on their voicemail. Hopefully I can get that sorted out and the inspection done. It would sure be nice if there was just one authority for the area, instead of several different ones. Both the section 8 lady and one couple tonight weren't actually looking to move for a month. Drives me crazy. Am I supposed to give up months rent and hold the place? I don't get why people look so far in advance. OTOH, the last vacancy I had I did end up renting to someone who initially looked way in advance, so maybe one of these folks will pan out. The couple today were trying to figure out where their furniture would go. That's always a good sign.
Down to just two or three tasks to complete. Need to grout the new backsplash. Need to put in new smoke detectors. Then a thorough cleaning.
Yard and sprinklers could really use some work. A few people have said something, but most don't seem to be too concerned.
And I have a huge ant hill in the back yard that's going to need nukes or something. My previous attempts have been unsuccessful.
After working all day, I went to the property to work, and just felt like I could not make any progress. In a post a long time ago I wrote about focus. New investors sometimes dart from one approach to another like a butterfly. Short sales? No, apartments. No, I'll do some wholesales. No wait... I recommended finding a niche and focusing. Same applies to the rehab work. On the previous project, I spent too much time darting from one job to another. So, on these nights when I really felt like I could accomplish nothing, I tried to pick something and just get it done. It really does help.
Friday night was a classic. Normally, we have dance lessons on Fridays. Right now its salsa at 7:00 and ballroom at 8:00. Its not my favorite night for this, because on Friday I'm ready for the week to be over. But the salsa class has been together for 15 weeks now, and the ballroom class is going on a year, and classes don't often hang together this long. But last Friday my wife was feeling ill. Both of these classes tend to have more guys than women, so I really didn't want to go by myself. Either the men or the ladies rotate around, so everyone dances with everyone else. But if the class is unbalanced, someone doesn't have a partner once in a while. So, off to the property to work.
I got over there and just couldn't get into making any progress. But I picked something, and pressed on. There were some fits and starts at first. The replacement for a slightly leaky shower faucet cartridge proved much leakier. After getting the old one back in, that moves further down the list to try to replace. Where do builders get this crap anyway? A "carefree" faucet? Never heard of them.
Actually made lots of progress over the last few days. Cabinets are refinished, showers and tub scrubbed out and caulked. New carpets all vacuumed. Yard mowed. The big project was the new tile (tumbled stone, really) backsplash. Took a bit longer than I expected, but it went pretty smoothly. Really should bought more spacers, though. Somehow, it just didn't click that 200 tiles and 250 spacers was a mismatch.
Had one prospect look on Saturday morning and two more today. The Saturday one is section 8, and a couple of other callers have asked for that, too. So, I'm trying to get onto Denver section 8. Put the property info in online last week, and left a message on their voicemail. Hopefully I can get that sorted out and the inspection done. It would sure be nice if there was just one authority for the area, instead of several different ones. Both the section 8 lady and one couple tonight weren't actually looking to move for a month. Drives me crazy. Am I supposed to give up months rent and hold the place? I don't get why people look so far in advance. OTOH, the last vacancy I had I did end up renting to someone who initially looked way in advance, so maybe one of these folks will pan out. The couple today were trying to figure out where their furniture would go. That's always a good sign.
Down to just two or three tasks to complete. Need to grout the new backsplash. Need to put in new smoke detectors. Then a thorough cleaning.
Yard and sprinklers could really use some work. A few people have said something, but most don't seem to be too concerned.
And I have a huge ant hill in the back yard that's going to need nukes or something. My previous attempts have been unsuccessful.
Comments (1)
I couldn't agree more Jon. While I was rehabbing my upper in my duplex, everynite I would come home and write down a few things I MUST get done the next day. Not a lot of things, just a few. Too many things that don't get done, and it feels like you got nothing done, then it gets frustrating. It was usually just 2 or 3 things, sometimes less. What helped too was that I "sub'd out" some of the work. A freind of mine did the plumbing, and another friend did the electric. I felt it was money well spent, it saved me a ton of time. I know EXACTLY what your going through. It seemed like EVERYTHING would never get done. It was overwhelming at times. BUT, it did, and I'm SO glad it's behind me and the place is rented out. And besides the chaulk shrinking in the shower, and having a bit of a leak because of it, no complaints from the tenants so far. Keep plugging it WILL be over eventually. It was strange though, one day I said..."hmmm, I have nothing else to do", and it was finally over.
Norm Chrostowski, almost 15 years ago