All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Marci Stein  - Thank you for the kind comment.  I am a capitalist with a heart.  lol

@Michele Fischer  - I actually like that small town quirk!  Also understand your point about discrimination.  I'm looking for clean and long-term, basically.  

@Rob K.  - Found a great one at Home Depot!  Thank you for the tip.  

@Account Closed  - The Washington State Landlord-Tenant law is unfavorable to landlords.  It's almost notorious!  Because that house is so far away from me, I have a property manager.  She's very sharp and I like her a lot.  Good to have boots on the ground!

@Account Closed  - Thanks, that's a great idea!  I would probably see if they want to do a shorter term lease first, just to make sure they are good tenants.  I'd hate to give an 18 month lease to tenants who don't pay!  What are your thoughts on that?

Glad the neighborhood cat was okay!  Hope you ended up catching the racoon eventually.  :)

@Account Closed  - Not the right critter?!  Oh my.  So, I could aim to catch a cat and get a raccoon instead?  HM.  I guess I got lucky this time!

Would much prefer to have renters July 1 - June 30 each year.  It's just the timing of how the settlement worked out.  And, hey!  I have a cute little rental now!  So, counting blessings in this case.  Plus One = Me!  Even if it is not the best time to be seeking renters.  :)

@Kirk R.  - How's biz in Illinois right now?  They had that big airport shutdown.  Did that affect you?  Lame when renters don't pay their closing bills, because *guess who* gets stuck paying it!  I haven't seen a lot of kitty cat posts.  So I'm not the only one, and feral cats are a regular thing?  Hmmmm.  Wonder why?  

@Brandon Turner - Good to know someone in the area!  Thanks for the info.  I think it should be alright, but it won't kill me financially if I have to wait a couple months of screening to achieve the right tenants.  Curious to know what kind of tenants you usually get there.  Hoping for a nice older couple.  Fixing up to attract that sort, but within a budget.  I can't see investing $20k into a house worth $28k.  LOL.  That's the tax assessment value.  Actual sales price would probably be closer to $17k.  Anyway, the debt to me is now cleared and I have a foot in the door in that area.  I actually really like it down there.  Montesano is lovely!  I am toying with the idea of retiring there when my kids have grown.

Hi @Brandon Turner!  Sounds like we have similar experience in Aberdeen!  It's a great place to get started investing, as housing prices are low, but many people still can't afford to buy.  They appreciate a safe, clean, cute little house they can afford to rent.  I sort of stumbled into it unintentionally.  I received the house in lieu of monies owed to me.  Beats the heck out of going to court!  I'll tell you the story in person at the BP Meetup tomorrow.

The story of the feral cats - I have a contractor staying at the house while fixing it up for rent.  The cats seem to have more than one place they are staying, or maybe they went out to hunt, but one morning they were gone.  Contractor boarded up the crawl space.  Problem sort of solved.  My problem is solved, but I do worry about the cats.  I told him if he sees them again to try and trap them and to take them in for spay/neuter release.

Home Depot has a variety of Havaheart safety humane traps, and they are reasonably cheap.  Easy enough to pick one up for $60-$80.  Bummer that PAWS, Humane Society, and the local animal control are all so unhelpful, but assuming that's the nature of the area.  No worries.  Between contractor and self, they will be humanely handled.

Which brings me to the next step - getting the house ready and rented by Nov 1.  What's been your experience getting houses rented this time of year?  I figure the holidays are going to be more difficult than renting it in June.

It is sort of a drag.  I need to get this house fixed up and ready to rent by Nov 1 to beat the holidays.  Pretty sure I'll get the cats taken care of this week, but I'm going to have to take a day and drive down there.  Just hoping Grays Harbor PAWS will get back to me quickly.  It seems like a small operation, if phones / office hours are only operated by volunteers two days a week.

@Steve Babiak  - PAWS of Grays Harbor is open two days a week, Wednesday and Saturday.  I've contacted them and left a message already.  What I'm not seeing on their site is the trap information.  That information is on the regular PAWS site.  Believe me, if it was that easy, I'd have it done by now.  Thanks, though.  Maybe it will be good news when PAWSGH.org gets back to me.  I'll be sure to let you know.

@Jon Klaus  - Really hoping it doesn't come to that!  LOL.  

Just hoping we can lure the cats out, especially the blind one, which will be difficult.  Then contractor can board up the crawl space where they snuck in.  Sort of wondering if the feral cats will be easier to deal with than raccoons would be?  That's what we assumed were in there until contractor got a good look at them.