All Forum Posts by: James R.

I think Milwaukee gets a bad rap for being labeled as a "segregated" city.  Milwaukee is very unique in that it is a city of neighborhoods, with each neighborhood holding on to its unique identity due to the people who live there.  I personally like that.  What I don't like is the poverty in the underprivileged neighborhoods, which sometimes can be perpetuated by landlords.  NPR had a report on how the "system" can work against poor people when it comes to evictions.  The landlord buys a pig and doesn't maintain it.  Instead, he/she pockets the cash flow.  When the tenants refuse to pay rent because the landlord is not maintaining the property, the landlord files for eviction.  There are numerous cases where the poor are continually victimized by these true to form "slumlords".  These same landlords are now trying to unload their pigs to out-of-town investors as cash cows.

The City of Milwaukee is 63% non-white.  The problems started when people seeking jobs and a better life (often from Chicago) came to the neighborhoods left behind during white flight.  When the manufacturing jobs evaporated, these new residents were left with no options.  

The Wal-Mart in the Northside of Milwaukee, which is predominately black, just closed due to lack of profits. Many in that neighborhood are now unemployed due to its closure.  When will corporations do something good for a change, instead of putting profits before people?  

@Dawn Anastasi  I believe your success is due to the fact that you self-manage your properties and you also care.  If more landlords were like you, they would be part of the solution to providing decent housing to people in poorer neighborhoods.  Kudos!  

I think now is the time to sell "pigs".  There is a glut of pigs in the City of Milwaukee right now.  It's sad to see these brick bungalows in the old German neighborhood up for sale at $30,000 when these same properties in a "good" area would go for $250,000 - $300,000.  They are rundown and a lot the time at the end of their life.  Any investor will have a hard time getting the cash-flow that so many brag about on this site with these pigs, so they sit on the market for sale.  The City of Milwaukee has a list a mile long of houses that it is trying to dump that go for pennies on the dollar and still cannot get rid of them. 

As you may have guessed, I invest in A and B class neighborhoods.  

@Max James  I think if you need to do it this time, then do it, but don't make it part of your regular process.  I lived in Germany for 4 years and one time I asked the tenants who were moving (they bought a house) to show the apt. for me.  They did it and the first couple to see it loved it (it is in a class A neighborhood).  I did the check-in of that couple when I came to the States for one of my 2 week vacations.  Everything worked out fine, BUT I hold a lot of value in the face-to-face interview with prospective tenants, so don't forgo it unless necessary.  You discover so much during the interview that you simply won't reading the application.  

Best wishes!

Five years.  

I agree with Ben Leybovich's posts and others who agree with him.  Again, he has taken a topic and turned it into something provocative!  Kudos!

My example would be the following: 

My undergrad degree is in business.  At about 30 years old, my career seemed to stall, i.e. I felt that I wasn't climbing fast enough or making enough money.

All the rage was getting an MBA.  I thought, why do I need an MBA, i.e. more business courses that I've already taken?  Now, if my undergrad were in English, I could see the value in getting an MBA.  

So, I took the $100,000 that I would have spent on an MBA and invested it in RE.  Best money that I ever spent!  I am reaping far more benefits with my decision to invest that $100k in RE than I ever would have gotten with an MBA, in a market saturated with MBAs.  I would much rather pay down a mortgage than pay down a student loan, plus the RE investments have 'bought' me the freedom that I enjoy today!  

@Kimberly T. Yes, you want to address this issue right away!  Everyday that you wait opens you up further to a lawsuit.  It's sad, but that is the society in which we live.  Your tenant may have a legitimate concern, BUT it could also be a ruse to set you up for a lawsuit. 

No, you cannot tell your tenant what shoes to wear, as this would not be a solution anyway.  I would add the addition handrail and if she insists on adding the runner, let her, but state in your documentation that you did not approve it nor are you going to pay for it.  That way if she falls, you would have a better standing in court.  Make sure you have this well documented.  CYA. 

@Jim Adrian 

Please read my final post!  

As a final follow-up, please see my subsequent email correspondence with my tenant.  I posted my original email to be a landlord learning experience for me and for fellow BPers! 

Thanks again for everyone's feedback and advice! 

Stephanie,

I hired a different company altogether to look at the washer and here's what he diagnosed. He said that the washer is working, which we knew. I told him what you were experiencing (thank you for all of the information and for your patience, by the way). He decided to plug the washer into an outlet by the vanity. The washer started up and spun your clothes through the cycle.

He examined the wall outlet and discovered that it was a loose connection. He rewired it and tightened the fixture. We spun the clothes through the rinse cycle again and everything seems to be a go now.

If for some reason, you experience another problem, I am going to swap out the wall outlet with a new one.

Please accept my apology for the email that I sent to you last night. It was late and I should have waited, before I responded. I value your tenancy and hope that we can put this behind us now.

Thank you again for your patience.

Regards,

Thank you for taking care of the washer. I was pleasantly surprised when I got home to find out that my clothes had gone through the cycle and the washer appeared to be in working order.

My biggest issue in this matter was you not believing me when I first reported the issue, and then sending me the invoice for the work to take care of the issue that wasn't really settled. But I do appreciate the apology and absolving me of paying for the service call.

I would like to continue to live here, as this is a good space, in my budget, well taken care of and an ideal location for work. So I also am in favor of putting this behind us and moving forward. And, again, thank you for apologizing. I appreciate it.

Sincerely,

Stephanie

@Mike F.

Yes.  I totally agree with you!  However, I believed there was still a problem with the washer and that we did not know yet what the problem was.  After replacing the timer dial on one of the trips, the washer was still acting up. The repairmen (2) told me that it was the tenant, which I found hard to believe.  After the 5th time of trying to solve this matter, I believed it was just the tenant trying to jerk me around, thus my email to her.  

Yesterday, I hired a different repair company and he diagnosed the problem as not the washer broken, but a loose wire in the wall outlet. Problem solved!

The original repairmen that I hired were both lazy and did not properly diagnose the problem in the first place.  They probably just wanted to run up some bills for the rich landlord. 

And for the haters following this thread with their *popcorn*, I have never had a trashed apartment in 16 years.  This won't be the case either.  

Granted I made some mistakes, but the tenancy was salvaged and everything is good. 

Thank you to all of the BPers with constructive criticism, advice and feedback!

Just wanted to update everyone who responded to my original post. 

I contacted the tenant via email this morning, asking her if she would have about 30 minutes to meet with me.  She agreed.  

We discussed the issue at hand and some others that I did not know about.  Long story short, she was not perturbed at all about the email that I originally sent.  She had planned on staying anyway and was glad that we had a face-to-face meeting. 

With text messaging and emails (especially the younger generation) we often lose so much of the communication.  I should have met with her face-to-face earlier.  

This is another reason why I like to self-manage.  I got to the bottom of this issue once and for all and now everything is good and we have put the whole thing behind us.

While I was in the building, I also knocked on the doors of other tenants to say hello.  One tenant who's lease is coming up for renewal invited me in and we chatted for about 10 minutes.  

Thanks again to everyone for your feedback!  I learned some things!  BP is great!