Category Archives: Investment Homes

Cleaning my life of narcissists!

Quote from the TV show Ted Lasso (Apple TV) Season 1; Episode 8

Ted Lasso is in a bar dealing with his boss’s Ex husband, who is berating his position, making fun of him and making a laughing stock of his Ex Wife.  Ted challenges him to a dart match where the winner gets either banned from the Owner’s Box (for the Ex Husband if Ted wins) or is allowed to make the starting roster for the last two games (if Ted loses). 

“You know, Rupert (ex husband), guys have underestimated me my entire life, and for years I never understood why; it used to really bother me. But then, one day I was driving my little boy to school and I saw this quite by Walt Whitman, it ws painted on the wall there. It said, “Be Curious, not judgmental.”  I like that.

So, I get back in my car and I’m driving to work and all of a sudden it hits me: All them fellas that used to belittle me not a single one of them were curious. You know they thought they had everything all figured out and so they judged everything and they judged everyone, and I realized that their underestimating me, who I was had nothing to do with it. Because if they were curious, they would have asked questions, you know?  Questions like have you played a lot of darts, Ted? Which I would have answered, “yes, Sir.  Every Sunday afternoon at the sports bar with my father from age ten til I was 16 when he passed away.”  Barbeque Sauce (a word he just randomly says before he hits a bullseye with the dart).” 

I have recently been dealing with a narcissist with part of my job. He thinks that he can make me feel badly about the office building he was renting by saying nasty things and making empty threats.  He has been a tenant for the better part of four years. He has continuously made off remarks, or direct complaints about the condition of the building I manage, but not broken things, just digs about the fact that he doesn’t like the condition of things. A few examples:  The toilets don’t flush well.  The building is “not professional” because we allowed a squirrel to chew its way into the 2nd floor cornice. Our keys don’t always unlock our doors. Our handicap ramp can not be up to code because a handicapped individual accidentally drove off of it and hurt himself. This person, who was continually complaining about non-issues, or perceived issues, and who was “embarrassed” when his franchise leadership came to observe his office, I just had to laugh.  He had dressed up and made his employees dress up (office casual) the day the franchise corporation visited his offices because had they secretly shown up, he would have been caught with his pants down. His normal attire consisted of the following:  Wrinkled cargo shorts, a dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the tails untucked, ragged penny-loafers without socks.  His office workers wore sweat pants, cargo shorts and/or yoga pants daily.  His office manager has been seen multiple times with a pink t-shirt with a glittery purple unicorn on the front.  It appeared that it came from the little girls’ department at Walmart as it was extremely small and tight and not at all appropriate for office apparel.  All the while, he complains about how unprofessional the building is. 

Now, I will be the first to admit that the building needs help. It was built in 1987 and has the original entry hall parquet wood flooring, the same stick-on vinyl tyles in the common areas and has only been repainted one time since the building was built. The cabinetry in the kitchenettes and bathroom is well worn, but due to the fact that everything works, albeit the toilets do flush slowly compared to modern toilets most of us have in our homes today, they all still work. We have a janitor who cleans weekly, but there isn’t much she can do to stained and scared walls and floors where people have abused the building in the past. The owner of the building simply refuses to fix anything unless it is actually broken. Then he repairs things, as opposed to replacing them. But, that is his prerogative, and I can’t do anything about it other than make requests.

You must keep in mind that this particular narcissistic tenant did view the building prior to moving into his suite four years ago.  He came multiple times to look, measure and observe the conditions. He brought his whole staff to see the potential new office, well, the staff he had at the time. (He has since had a 100% turnover of staff.)  He chose this building knowing what it looked like, and accepting it AS IS, WHERE IS.  We had just placed brand new carpet in the suite he selected, but the walls hadn’t been painted. He accepted the office as is because he had employees who wanted to pick their own paint colors, so we allowed him to paint the rooms whatever color they wanted. Then, corporate came in and noticed a pink room, a purple room, a blue room, etc., and made him repaint the entire office to be in line with corporate colors. Then one day he asked me to write him a letter telling him that we denied him permission to have any signage on the property due to the fact that we are a PUD office complex that does not allow for signage, therefore, no one can have a sign.  He needed this to prove to his corporation that signs were not allowed. Apparently this is something he failed to do prior to selecting this location, again, he is not flawless, yet he believes himself to be.

When the Squirrel dug a hole in our cornice at the second floor level, I noticed it almost immediately, although I had been working from home due to the fact that my Mother-in-law currently lives with me and it is just easier if I can stay at home as much as possible, though in my office working, I’m here in the event anything happens. I’m able to feed her lunch and do other things as needed, but otherwise, I’m able to work. My management of this office building is strictly voluntary. My father owns the building and he is getting up in years as well, therefore, when the squirrel hole appeared, I knew that meant I would have a squirrel problem in the attic and I needed to take care of that as there are wires and heating ducts that squirrels love to chew on and uncover so as to make things a mess up there. So, I began making calls to handymen to see if I could get someone to come and fix this cornice and block up the space to keep the squirrel out. It took seven bids (each would take at least a week, as they would tell me on a Monday that they would come look on Wednesday or Friday, etc, then come the next Monday when I hadn’t heard from them, I would call them again to find out what was up.  I had excuse after excuse from I forgot, or I couldn’t get out, to it was raining, etc. so when I finally found a man who could do the work (for $750.00 to fix about 24” of board and repaint it to match the building), I jumped on it.  It just took about six weeks to actually find someone who would 1) give me an actual bid and 2) promise to do the work.  He fixed it in good order and was paid and all was well. 

The next week, the narcissist calls me to tell me that the squirrel has mad his way down into the walls of his office and has died there, the stench is outrageously bad!  He apparently doesn’t understand how two-story buildings are constructed!  There are not one but 3 plates that run around the entire exterior wall system that runs from roof to ground, and there is no way a squirrel could have come down from the attic to stink up his office.  A mouse or rat or some other small vermin could have come through a crack in the wall, but this squirrel could not have come down the walls.  Also, we had extremely dense insulation in the exterior walls and the walls dividing each suite from the common areas.  It is so dense in fact that when you try to drive a long nail into it in order to hang a picture, it tends to bounce out of the wall and go no further once it penetrates the sheetrock.  A squirrel is not getting through that either. So, this guy is just a nut-job!

The stench he was experiencing was soon discovered by another tenant in the office.  It seems the lady across the hall noticed what had happened early in the week and when I called her to ask if she smelled anything amiss, she told me what had happened.  We had given permission to this narcissist to have a refrigerator out in an alcove in the common areas near the restrooms on the first floor. He had promised to bring in a brand new stainless steel refrigerator, but instead, he kept that for himself, moved his old fridge into his garage and brought the older garage fridge to the office.  It had remnants of duct tape on the outside and it truly looked like a piece of trash.  Apparently one of his sweat-house workers (he crammed 14 employees into a place only meant to hold 6 maximum) didn’t like the nasty things that were spoiled in the fridge. So on a Monday morning, when she arrived and started to put her food into the fridge, she was overwhelmed with disgust at the other items in the fridge, so she cleaned it out.  She threw all the bad foods out into a trash bin right beside the fridge.  She spent considerable time cleaning out the bad things and wiping up spills for the benefit of all who used the fridge, then she went on about her work.  By Friday, the food in the trash can was extremely ripe. This is the day he complained about the dead animal in the office.  When I told him they couldn’t do that any more and that if they cleaned out the fridge, they had to take the trash to the curb and place it into the dumpster there, they started doing that, but not replacing the trash can liner, therefore, that week’s trash they produced all went into the trash can without a liner. He was called to task many times over this problem as he doesn’t care, this is beneath him! 

His people were really inconsiderate most days. At one point they rented a second suite so that they could spread out a little and the traffic between the two suites was incredible. I could see on the cameras he begged me to install his employees leaving dirty dishes on the counters, cups in the sink, coming to the fridge and looking inside and looking at everyone else’s food, but not placing any food inside the fridge themselves.  I saw them dancing and singing and milling about doing nothing but wasting time. Yet he was oblivious that his employees could be anything but angels. They talked so loud everyone in the building could hear their conversations. They would walk outside for smoke breaks and talk together or talk on their phones so loudly that from the second floor I could hear their conversations.  They accused me of eaves dropping, however, it was impossible NOT to hear their conversations. I asked him on many occasions to have them not congregate near the building as we could hear their conversations and this could possibly divulge his client’s private information, yet he accused me yet again of eaves dropping.

For four years I endured this crap from him and his inconsiderate employees.  When I finally decided to charge him for damages to a suite that I had originally thought was clean, then discovered later it was not, I confronted him about it. He said he had cleaned the carpets. He lied. He did not clean the carpets. He said he had repaired the walls, they looked like a kid with the chicken pox wearing a smattering of calamine lotion, all splotched over their body.  He had left part of his security system in the office, so every time anyone came to look at the suite or the janitor tried to clean it, or I dropped off paper goods for the restrooms, it set off the alarm. He must have been in constant peril due to the sheer number of false alarms.

One other thing he balked about was the utility bills he was being assessed.  He had begged me to average the bills so that his rent could be the exact same each month, therefore, I did. The average from the year before, however, was based on 4 people in his suite, each person with a computer and a desk.  They were mainly ladies, who ran cool, therefore, the HV/AC was not placed on high demand as a rule except in the hottest of days in the summer. However, when you cram 14 people into 1000 sq. ft. with 2 monitors each, plus desk and floor lamps, each desk having their own coffee pots and humidifiers, and fish tanks, etc., you tend to use up a lot of extra power. One of the offices used so much power that they kept blowing fuses in the electrical panel.  They had several power strips at each desk with every plug used.  Don’t get me wrong I also have power strips, but they have things like pencil sharpeners, label makers, phone chargers, etc., plugged into them.  I plug things that are used only occasionally into these strips, they were using each of the plugs full time, this was blowing the fuses.  He wanted this problem fixed, but refused to remove the extra items, so I called an electrician to fix the problem.  Because he couldn’t come immediately, the narcissist said he had a friend who did this for a living, and he could come today, now in fact.  It was a HUGE mistake that I allowed this to happen because I don’t know if he was a licensed electrician or not and I could have placed the building and the owner into a bad situation, but worse than that, I was now forever “beholding” to this narcissist because he had helped ME out with a problem.  He didn’t help ME out. He caused the problem and he had it fixed as probably it should have been without me even being in the middle of the situation, but nonetheless, his narcissism made me feel small that I had allowed such a problem to exist.

When I finally realized he was using me to fuel his narcissistic needs, I stopped. I stopped bowing to his every whiny whim. I started ignoring the comments he would make that had nothing to do with me, or the upkeep of the building that was beyond my control.  He finally quit sending his complaints and this made him mad that he was not getting his narcissistic supply from me. When I finally mentioned that he was going to have to pay for the damages he did to the suite he had vacated (due to Covid), he told me “if we can’t work this out, consider this my notice to move out as of March 31, 2021.”  Hallelujah!  I was thrilled.  I wrote back, “I accept your March 31, 2021 date as your official move-out date, though it is not exactly 90-day’s notice as is stated in your lease, however, to make it even more palatable for you, you can select any date between January 31st – March 31st as your move out date without any penalties, just let me know what your final date will be.” I wanted him to be gone so badly. I couldn’t stand his abuse any longer. I had caught him in several lies which is when I realized I was dealing with a narcissist.  I just wanted him gone, so the thought of putting up with him for an additional month, had I pushed the 90-day’s notice business, would have been unbearable.

As the day approached, his last day, I received an email stating that he needed more time (he had scheduled movers – i.e. his employees for the weekend of Easter.  They all balked, I’m sure, so he wanted to get one more week to move out).  I told him that I had already scheduled workers for the next week as I had already scheduled the carpets to be cleaned on the Tuesday following Easter. Speaking of which, I had told him NOT to schedule carpet cleaning due to the fact that he didn’t use competent carpet cleaners as proven by the condition he left the formerly vacated suite, of which he lied saying they had cleaned, but turns out it was his cousin who both tried to clean the carpets and who attempted to patch the walls, making a mess of both, and failing to even vacuum the carpets, much less actually clean them.  But anyway, I asked him not once, but twice to NOT clean the carpets that I would take the cleaning out of his security deposit. BUT, because he asked, and because I am nice, I provided the name of my carpet cleaning company for his FUTURE use. Yet, even though I told him twice in writing not to clean the carpets, he called my guy anyway, lied to him about where he had gotten his name from, and scheduled the cleaning on the last Friday of his tenancy (April 9th). He wasn’t all the way moved out on the 9th. Luckily I had also scheduled my carpet guy to clean a different suite across the hall at the same time, so he started with her suite so that the narcissist could finish getting all his desks out of the office and vacuum it. He was still moving stuff when my guy started spraying the stain lifting solution on the carpets and baseboards. He left a bunch of double-stick tape on the carpet in one of the offices that was used to try to keep a vinyl chair pad from creeping (listen to me people, carpet has a nap. It creeps. Tape will not keep it from creeping in the direction of the carpet nap.  Just fix it from time to time. Life is hard, be and adult)!  So, we will attempt to get the tape out of the carpet, but we will have to use a razor blade to do so, which hopefully will not show too much.  This was new carpet when he moved in and I’d hate to replace it now.

But, after all of this, his damages were over $600 more than his security deposit. So I sent him a bill as his lease states that your damages are the ACTUAL damages and are not limited to the deposit you place as security.  He cried so I acquiesced a little bit by cutting one of the fees in half, saving him $455, but he still balked.  He demanded that I release him with his entire security deposit being used, but release him from the balance of the damages.  He wanted it in writing TODAY so that he could go on with his life and business without this hanging over his head.

Am I going to release him of his final $145.00?  Absolutely not!  I will NOT give him the satisfaction of having won.  I have bowed more than enough and after all, he damaged all the items on the list I provided to him. He actually owes for 100% of the damages, and I didn’t have to reduce the painting by 50%, but to try to play nice, I did. He refuses to budge one inch, therefore, I will NOT release him in writing.  I may even send him a bunch of “past due” invoices for his debt.  I doubt seriously I will ever receive it, but I could be nasty about it.  For now, I’ll just not respond so that I will have no reason to ever talk to him again for the rest of my life.

This is the problem with narcissists. They are lonely cusses (I would like to use a much stronger word here, but I don’t want to have my words shunned by the community).  He has caused me such anguish over the past four years, I consider it to be mental abuse.  It hurts as much as if he were punching me, though he never laid a hand on me. The mental anguish I took home, generally on a Friday when he would bother to send me his rants via email or text (or worse yet over the weekend), so that my entire weekend I would ruminate over his comments not wanting to respond outside of office hours as this gives him even more power the next time he wants to torture me. I am so tired of his narcissist abuse that I cut him off.  I literally pushed him out of the building and I am thrilled that he is finally all the way out. The bad news is that he is in the building next door, but he has been told not to park in my lot, nor place signage on the building or his former office door as to his new location. I do not want anything to do with his new location.  He has the power to place his new address on his website and with his corporation so that people can find him and nowhere in our contract did it give him permission to place a forwarding address sign on the building, so each one will be removed.

I have had the locks changed, so he no longer has access to the building unless the front door is unlocked. I’ve encouraged the lady who works across the hall from his former office to leave the exterior door locked as much as possible when she is there on the first floor alone for her own peace of mind. I have also locked his former suite with new locks so that he can not enter there either. I would not put it past him to send one of his employees to come do something stupid. I may stop ruminating about this narcissist eventually, it will take some time and if anything will help, having this entire story out of my head and out there for anyone to read will help me heal from his abuse. No one should have to put up with a narcissist!  It is very hard to recognize them up front, they are all smiles and charming.  Beware lest you fall into their trap, it is like quicksand!  It is difficult to get out, but so rewarding when you do. It would be better, however, if you were never trapped in the first place!  Good luck with that!  

Landlords VS. Pets

Are you a landlord and do you LIKE having pets in your units? If not, and if you have a “NO PET” policy, you may want to read this post.

I am a landlord, I don’t want pets in my units.  The main reason for this is because I know what pets do to a house, I have pets!  I had been told by what I thought were reliable sources that if you have a “NO PET POLICY” you simply won’t have to allow pets in your house. Then I heard a question about Service Animals.  A way was suggested to get around having to have these animals in your units was to simply change their policy to read “NO ANIMALS POLICY.”

Then, one day, while reading Facebook, one of my daughters posted that she wanted a puppy.  She lives in New York City and most of the places she has lived have all had strict “NO PET” policies.  She was planning a move, but I told her that finding an apartment that would allow a pet would be next to impossible and reminded her that she couldn’t afford to pay extra just because she wanted a pet.  (I suggested that she become a dog-sitter on the weekends so that she could get lots of puppy time, but NOT own a pet.)

But then, one of her friends commented on the post:  “You can just write off to one of those websites that will give you a certificate stating that you have an Emotional Support Dog and any Landlord will be required to allow the pet to live with you.

This freaked me out as a landlord!

So, at that time I began to do extensive research on the topic.

This is what I have learned (so far) and I’ll try to be brief, though, if you’ve read any of my posts, you know they aren’t.  Sorry.

SERVICE ANIMALS:

  • Service Animals are trained to do specific tasks for a disabled individual.  The disability may be physical or mental. (Seeing Eye Dogs, Hearing Dogs, etc.)
  • Sometimes a Service Animal might be a Miniature Horse, but Service Animals are not Cats, Ferrets, Monkeys, etc.
  • These animals often cost between $17,000 and $22,000 EACH!
  • These animals are NOT pets, they are considered by the ADA and HUD as “Necessary Medical Equipment”
  • Service Animals are allowed to go anywhere the public is allowed to go:  Restaurants, Grocery Stores, Hospitals, etc.  However, they are not allowed to go where the general public is not allowed to go, such as in a restaurant’s kitchen…unless the disabled person WORKS there.

LANDLORDS and SERVICE ANIMALS:

  • Landlords are allowed to ask ONLY 2 questions when presented with a prospective tenant who says they have a Service Animal
    • Is this a Service Animal? (yes or no)
    • What TASK has this animal been trained to do for you?
  • You may NOT ask “what disability do you have requiring you to have a Service animal!  That is personal medical information that does not have to be disclosed to you.
  • You may NOT charge extra rent or extra “security deposits” for the animal.
  • These animals do not have any type of ID or License other than regular shots/vaccinations from the vet.
  • You can not discriminate because of the breed of the dog even if your insurance company has said they don’t want “viscous breeds” in your rent house, such as Pit Bulls, Dobermans, Rottweilers, etc.  Each animal must be judged on a case by case basis.  Remember these animals have had roughly $20,000 worth of training.  Do you think they are going to attack you? Really?
  • You CAN, however, require that the tenant PAY for any damages to your unit caused by the Animal (or the tenant).
  • You CAN evict a tenant IF their animal becomes a nuisance:
    • excessive barking which annoys the neighbors repeatedly; or
    • the dog attacks other animals in your complex (for example, you allow up to 20 lb animals, but this is an 80 lb German Shepherd who attacks other animals)
    • the handler/owner does not keep the animal under control when in public areas or does not clean up after the animal or follow the pet policy you have in place (allows the pet to poop on the playground rather than in a pet friendly area)

EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMALS (Assistance Animals)

These are NOT SERVICE ANIMALS (ESAs).  These are, many times, formerly a pet that has been promoted to the position of Emotional Support Animal.  These animals are prescribed by a Medical Professional, Mental Health Professional or Social Worker. Many people with conditions such as PTSD, Epilepsy, or Autism may find the help of an Emotional Support Animal to be a great comfort and a calming effect when their emotions get out of control.

  • An ESA is NOT trained to do specific tasks for the individual and these animals may even be rescued animals from an animal shelter.
  • Many ESAs are generally regular pets that have been promoted to an ESA position because of their owner’s current mental or physical condition
  • To have an ESA, the tenant’s physician or social worker will write a prescription for the animal.  This is only good for Housing and Airplanes.
  • An individual may have more than one ESA, but will have a prescription for each.
  • An ESA does not have to be a dog, it may be a cat, snake, etc.
  • If you have “PET or ANIMAL” policies for your rental units, the owner of the ESA is required to follow these policies, such as no animals in the pool area, this animal is not allowed to go into the pool area (Service Animals, on the other hand,  are allowed to go anywhere their owner is allowed to go).  ESA can go outside in approved areas (if you have pet zones) and inside the house and anywhere else pets are allowed to go on your property.
  • You may NOT charge an extra security deposit for the animal(s)
  • You may NOT charge extra rent for the animal(s)
  • You MAY charge the tenant for all damages
  • You MAY evict if the animal becomes a nuisance to other neighbors, or threatens other tenants/workers.You may also evict this tenant if they can not control their animal(s)

AS A LANDLORD, WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN FACED WITH THESE ANIMALS: 

If someone wishes to have a Service Animals or ESA move into one of your unit, they must do the following:

  1. For both types of animals, the tenant must make a  written request of you requesting “Reasonable Accommodations” for their animal to be allowed to live in the unit, (be it a Service Animal or ESA).
  2. For a Service Animal, ask only the 2 questions listed above, write the answers down on your tenant’s application and file with your records.
  3. For an ESA, you should require a copy of the tenant’s “prescription” provided to them by their health care provider or social worker.

NOTES:  

  • When you ask for a copy of their “Emotional Support Animal Prescription” and if they have no idea what you are talking about, chances are, this is NOT an ESA, it’s the family pet and THIS person is probably “impersonating a disabled person”, which is a crime!
  • There are websites that WILL let you fill out a questionnaire online to help determine whether or not you might need an emotional support animal.  If the answers you provide see to be worthy, for a FEE, a mental health worker will call you and interview you.  If they believe you could benefit from an ESA, they will give you a letter.  While this may be perfectly legal to do, and landlords will need to allow the animal to live in their unit even though they don’t normally allow pets, ask yourself this, is this person getting the mental health care that they really need?  No!  BUT, you better not discriminate if they have this letter because if it really is legit, you wouldn’t want a discrimination law suit brought against you by the ADA or HUD. Better safe than sorry in this case.

THE GOOD NEWS:  

All of your other rental criteria for tenants should be met apart from the animal issue.  If they don’t make enough money, they don’t qualify.  If they have terrible credit, or have a criminal background that is undesirable, you are not obligated to rent to this candidate.  Your rental unit criteria needs to be written so that you can give the tenant a letter stating the reason for their tenancy denial.  You must treat all tenant applicants equally, so make sure you are following the rules you set forth.  The animal should NOT be any part of this denial, or you’ll still get sued.

Stay tuned for other posts about your written criteria for tenants if you don’t have these already established. 

 

Copyright:  Janne Zaccagnino

 

What do Michael Jordan, Itzhak Pearlman and Real Estate Investing have in common?

Michael Jordan – Itzhak Perlman – Real Estate Investing?

I’d be willing to bet that you never thought you’d see those two names in the same sentence, much less the same article about Real Estate Investing, right?

Welcome to my brain!

Michael Jordan: Arguably the best basketball player of all time.

Itzhak Perlman: A polio victim who became a world famous violinist.

These two men are great examples of how a person can excel if they put their mind to it.  But, what does this have to do with Real Estate Investing?   As property investors, our goal is to make money, possibly quit our day job, but just like becoming a world famous violinist or the world’s best basketball player, you can’t do this flippantly. A little effort may make you a little money, but EXTREME effort could make you an ALL-STAR in the Investment game.

How do you get really good?  You must ‘tune up’ your brain and learn the rules.  You must ‘exercise your brain’ so that every time you shoot that real estate basketball deal toward the hoop, it swishes! (He shoots, HE SCORES!)

STEPS TO BECOMING A REAL ESTATE  INVESTING ALL-STAR:

  1. Attend meetings, every meeting and go to seminars.  You can visit the National Real Estate Investors Association website to see if there is a local REIA club in your area.  If there is, this is the BEST place to learn how to become a REIA All-Star.  (www.NationalREIA.com)  My local REIA group is the Memphis Investors Group:  http://www.memphisinvestorsgroup.com
  2. Take notes. Just like in school, write them down, then review them later.
  3. Study the notes you’ve taken, organize them into investment categories (landlording, finding good tenants, wholesaling, insurance, bookkeeping, taxes, etc.) and then study some more.
  4. Write down questions you have, you can put these in your phone or on a note card, and ask an expert at the next Friday Luncheon or MIG meeting.
  5. Never stop reading great books about real estate investing strategies but don’t neglect to also learn about running your business.
  6. REMEMBER: Being a real estate investor is a business, so don’t neglect learning how to run a business (if you’ve never run a business before).  In the real estate investing businesses, records, file organization and bookkeeping are extremely important especially if an auditor comes calling.
  7. PRACTICING FUNDAMENTALS is the only way to get good, really good, at this sport.

I’m sure that Jordan has shot about 10-million free-throws in his lifetime. Perlman has probably played violin concertos until he could play them backwards and blindfolded…all from memory. You need to do this with your career in real estate investing.

In order to be great at Real Estate Investing, you need to develop a certain muscle group, mainly your brain and logic; you need an education.  I’m not telling you to go back to college, though you could, but a great place to get started with your education is at MIG meetings.

Next, get creative.  Take what you’ve learned from the masters and add to that your own style, your own ideas and create something unique, your own brand.

The next step is to DO.  Once you get the education, you must begin to stretch your wings and take some steps into your dream.  Shoot that basketball toward the hoop.  Draw that bow across those strings.  Will it swish the first time? Will you be a virtuoso immediately?  Nope.  BUT, the only way to get better is to practice.  Dr. Sinichi Suzuki, the inventor of the Suzuki Violin Method (which teaches 3-year-olds to play the violin) says the old adage “Practice makes Perfect” is incorrect.  He says, “Perfect Practice plus 100 repetitions makes perfect.” 

  • Start small: Beginning on an elementary level is ok.  We all start somewhere.
  • Get advice to do it right: Talk to your professionals, take “lessons” if you will, talk to the coach and run the drills.
  • Negotiate and Close the deal: Take yourself off the bench and play in the game
  • Make the money: Win the game.
  • Repeat 100 times. Perfect practice plus 100 repetitions makes you money. (Wash.    Repeat).

Expand the muscles of your brain, just like an athlete or musician who has honed their skills, don’t take what you do lightly, but then again, it isn’t rocket science.  Study, learn and apply (do) what you have been taught.

 

Always pass on what you have learned.  Do or do not.  There is no try.  ~ Yoda

Happy Investing!

Copyright: Janne Zaccagnino

Slush Fund for Landlords

“Help, my rental unit has an expensive problem and I don’t have the cash to get it fixed!!!”

NOTE:  These notes and figures were created in the Memphis TN market in 2016 and may need to be adjusted for your housing market and the year.

Does this sound like you? Are you a new landlord?  Have you run into this situation with your rental units or your own personal house (or car, or lawn mower)?

We all face this.  There is a time when some expensive repairs are required for things we own, but we don’t have the money to fix the problem.  Somehow we figure it out, we borrow the money, we use a credit card and then slowly but surely we dig our way out of debt, but isn’t there a better way? Going into debt is awfully hard on your blood pressure, and paying it back leads to strife and money problems, as well as arguments with your spouse, not to mention sleepless nights.  What can you do to make your financial life easier with regards to your rental units that are supposed to be making you rich but instead, it often feels like all you do is pour money into them over and over again?

The answer is SIMPLE: a “Slush Fund”.  Your money gurus have better names for this, but it is nothing more than a savings account set aside strictly for repairs of your rental units.  We all know that these expenses will arise (at the least opportune moment, like December 20th) and when they do, it causes extreme stress especially if we aren’t prepared to take care of the problem quickly.  We fret and fuss and yell, but none of that fixes the problem and often leads to sleeping on the couch.

 

HOW TO CREATE A SLUSH FUND:

 

This is hard to do during a cash flow cricis, so if you are reading this now and you don’t have a cash crunch problem at the moment, NOW is the time to start your Slush Fund.

  1. Open a NEW Slush Fund Account – either at a local bank or online, but make it a separate account from any account you currently have. This will help keep you from accidentally spending it, you will access it on purpose for a specific reason in the future.
  2. Now begin funding your Slush Fund. How much of your cash flow can you afford to live without right now?  If you say, none, you are in trouble!  If you only own a couple of rent houses, chances are, you have a day job, so put 100% of your cash flow into your Slush Fund to fund it quickly.  If you use your cash flow as income, you’ll have to reduce your spending to afford to put some of your cash flow into your Slush Fund. Set aside a particular amount each month and set a total goal.  Make a decision, deposit the money as soon as you receive it, not at the end of the month when the money will suddenly not be there anymore. PAY YOUR SLUSH FUND FIRST.

HOW MUCH DO I NEED IN MY SLUSH FUND?

This is probably the million dollar question.  There are no easy answers here, but this is how I would evaluate it.  I will run through a recent example to try to give some guidance, but ultimately only you know your own properties.  My friends who own a bunch of units in Midtown which could be upwards of 100 years old may need more cash per unit, however, they are typically smaller units, so the numbers may still work out in the end.  My units are newly constructed single family houses, so their maintenance, at least for the first 10 years should be minimal other than “tenant damage.”

EXAMPLE:  You own a rent house, maybe 10-15 years old with no major maintenance issues.  The HV/AC is in decent shape.  The electrical systems are all up to par.  The roof and carpets are all great.  All the appliances work…for now.

How much do you need in a slush fund for this ONE house?

What is the worst case scenario?  Tenant moves in and does great for 6 months straight, then one of them gets laid off at work.  They’ve trashed the carpets (kids and Kool-aid) and because of the “getting laid off” they fight, the husband damages a few doors because he was mad.  Because mom and dad are fighting, the toddler opens the dishwasher and stands on the door to reach the cookies…now the dishwasher door won’t close all the way, but they use it anyway and the leak damages the kitchen floors.  Now, because they have no job and know they can’t pay rent, they move out in the middle of the night taking with them the stove, all the ceiling fans and leave you holding the bag for this month’s rent.  They of course don’t leave you the keys, but DO leave you a semi-trailer amount of crap and a broken down swing set and trampoline in the back yard.

How much will this cost to repair and get ready to rent again?  I know this does not happen every time you have a tenant move out, at least I hope not, but let’s explore some possible costs.

Carpet Replacement             $1000

Dishwasher                    $500

Plumber Labor               $300

Vinyl in Kitchen              $800

2 new Doors                   $60

Carpenter Labor            $300

Locksmith                     (you have extra locks, so you change out the locks yourself)

“Got Junk”                    $500

Paint                              $1500 (they had painted all rooms a funky color)

Past-Due  Rent             $950 (or actual rent amount past due from tenants)

Lost Rent                       $950 or more (clean up time and finding new tenant)

TOTAL REPAIRS             $6,860.00

These numbers may be off a little, but many MIG members with real life experience can tell you their actual numbers, some are true horror stories.  Recently I had to rehab a house after 8 years of the same tenant.  He had the NERVE to call me and tell me that it was all “clean” for his move-out inspection.  The total cost of the rehab was $4,500 not counting lost rent.  His $775 Security Deposit barely covered his past-due late fees much less the rehab on the building. He actually threatened to “take us to the court house” to try to get his $775 back, luckily we took pictures and have receipts. He didn’t try.

  • We replaced all the carpets and had to paint the entire interior.
  • We had to replace the HV/AC unit, (he didn’t tell us it wasn’t working… but it was fried), not that he was responsible for this, but it would have been nice to know.
  • The disposal didn’t work and the kitchen sink was totally clogged, therefore the dishwasher couldn’t drain.
  • He had apparently let sodas or beers “spew” in the great room so there was sticky goo on 2 of the 4 walls and no attempt had been made to dab up the spills, therefore, there were at least 3 hard, dried, sticky beverage “disks” stuck to the carpets.
  • There was also a strange green stain on the carpets, like a green sharpie had lived under the sofa, bleeding its green blood onto the carpet until it finally died a slow and agonizing death.
  • He had, at some point, overflowed the toilet and water got onto the carpets. At the time I offered him a cleaning option which included him doing the cleaning, (we don’t pay for overflowed toilets) and he opted to clean it by renting a machine.  When he moved out, the entire master bedroom had black mold all over the carpets.
  • He had smoked so much (in the non-smoking unit) that the windows were brown and had to be scraped clean with a razor blade!
  • One bedroom’s closet had staples in the drywall, about 10,000 staples where posters or something had been affixed to the walls. There were torn corners of posters left and the painter charged us extra to remove all these staples.
  • There was also extreme mowing required because he moved out on June 1st, but had not mowed the yard once that spring/summer.
  • One exterior light was busted, had to replace it.
  • One window was broken
  • I had to re-key all the door locks as his room-mate wouldn’t return her keys.

If you add the lost rent to my $4,500, the total was now up to $6,050.  BUT, he lived there for 8 years, so $756.25 per year (or about $63 per month) would be needed for my Slush Fund to fully fund itself for this unit if this is a fair assessment of what could happen on any given rent house.  But if he had done this much damage in one year and moved out, I would be severely lacking in funds if $756 was all I had in my Slush Fund.

So in answer to the question, “How much Slush Fund” do I need for THIS house, the answer is $6,000 or more per house…depending on how many you own, but we’ll get to this later.  Ideally you should have this on hand on day one.  Hopefully every tenant doesn’t leave your house this bad (The bathroom walls alone; what DIED IN THERE!?!) but to save yourself a lot of stress and strife between you and your spouse/partner, you need to be prepared.

One way to fund your Slush Fund would be to set aside this much money as you buy the property.  You know there will be closing costs, taxes, insurance, there will also be needed repairs and rehabs.  COUNT THE COST and set aside this money immediately, the entire $6000 if you can, then you are good to go no matter what happens as a general rule.

But you tell me, I have 5 rental units, or 20, or 50.  How much Slush Fund do I need?  Do I just multiply $6,000 times the number of rental units?  Twenty rent houses times $6,000 is $120,000!  You could probably buy a few more rent houses for that amount of money!  The question here is; how often do you need to rehab a house?  Does every house need major renovations every time you change tenants?  And, do all your tenants move out at the same time?  The answer to both of these is, ‘no’.   If you have been at MIG for long, you’ll know that getting good tenants by having a great screening process in place helps many times, just not always.  Most tenants wants their security deposit back, so they will try to keep the unit well and clean it before they leave.  Some landlords teach their tenants well and treat them fairly, so the tenant tends to want to keep the unit better. But some tenants will never understand what “clean” is, therefore will never be able to accomplish clean.

So, if you don’t have a lot of money to start with, you already own a bunch of rent houses and don’t have a Slush Fund, set a goal, $100 per month, or $500 per month.  As stated above, use 100% of your cash flow if you only own a few properties and you still have a day-job so that you can fully fund your Slush Fund quickly and then live with peace of mind, once fully funded, you can begin to use your cash flow to acquire more properties, or go on vacation, but until you have a fully funded Slush Fund, don’t spend your cash flow.

Think about this, though; if you have 10 houses, you probably don’t need 10-times $6,000 ($60 grand).  They won’t all need renovations at the same time.  Also, there will be varying degrees of rehab required for individual units depending on the tenant.  So, my suggestion is to save about 3-5 times your ideal “per house” Slush Fund and keep it in the special savings account.  Then when you need to rehab one house, use some of the money ONLY if you can’t fund the rehab from your regular operating expenses account (this is actually the goal, to have a rehab line item in your normal budget).  An easy clean up rehab (maid service, lawn mowing, carpet cleaning, touch-up paint) can generally be absorbed with regular funds, but one bad tenant may require additional funds from your Slush Fund.  IF, at that point, you dip into your Slush Fund, your deposits to the Slush Fund need to be started back (or increased monthly) to re-fund it to get it back up to your total target (Ex. 5 x $6000 = $30,000 – Slush Fund Goal for someone who may own up to about 10 houses).  If you use $5,000 out of your Slush Fund, then repay yourself over the next year ($416.66 monthly) or 2 years ($208.33 monthly) to fully re-fund your Slush Fund.  If you always keep this Slush Fund funded, you should never have the stress of not having enough money, or having to find a loan, or maxing out your credit card and you’ll get all the cool horror stories without all the stress.  If you own 140 houses, like some in our group, you should keep a slush fund for huge emergencies, but your business plan and annual budget should have a percentage set aside for rehabbing your properties.  If you have 140 units, you have probably been at this game long enough to know exactly what you will spend in any given year for rehabs.  But for you new investors, be SURE to count the cost before you invest every penny you have into your property and then don’t have more when things go bad.

 

Copyright: Janne Zaccagnino

 

 

Michael Jordan & Itzhak Perlman

keep-calm-and-play-on-bb-hoop

I’d be willing to bet that you never thought you’d see those two names in the same sentence, much less the same article about real estate investing, right?  Welcome to my brain!

Michael Jordan: Arguably the best basketball player of all time.

Itzhak Perlman: A polio victim who became a world famous violinist. 

These two men are great examples of how a person can excel if they put their mind to it.  But, does a famous basketball player and a virtuoso violinist have to do with Real Estate Investing?   As property investors, our goal is to make money, maybe lots of money so that we can possibly quit our day job, but just like becoming a world famous violinist or the world’s best basketball player, you can’t do this flippantly. A little effort may make you a little money, but EXTREME effort could make you an ALL-STAR in the Investment game.

How do you get really good?  You must ‘tune up’ your brain and learn the rules.  You must ‘exercise your brain’ so that every time you shoot that real estate basketball deal toward the hoop, it swishes! (He shoots, HE SCORES!)

STEPS TO BECOMING A REAL ESTATE ALL STAR:

  1. Join a Real Estate Investors Group.  In Memphis, the best one is the Memphis Investors Group (MIG).
  2. Attend meetings, every meeting and go to seminars sponsored by the group or national seminars.
  3. Take notes. Just like in school, go to meetings prepared, bring a notebook, take good notes.  Later, at home, re-write them and review them.
  4. Study the notes you’ve taken, organize them into investment categories (landlording, finding good tenants, wholesaling, insurance, bookkeeping, taxes, etc.) and then study some more.
  5. Write down questions you have, you can put these in your phone or on a note card, and ask an expert at the next monthly meeting or call up one of the professionals in a related field.
  6. Read GREAT BOOKS about Real Estate Investment strategies.  Read with a grain of salt, not all states have the same laws.
  7. REMEMBER: Being a real estate investor is a business, so don’t neglect learning how to run a business (if you’ve never run a business before).  In the real estate investing businesses, record keeping, file organization and bookkeeping are extremely important especially if an auditor comes calling.
  8. Landlording is a subcategory unto itself.  There are lots of rules, but this only makes you a great landlord.  Write down your rules and stick to them.
  9. PRACTICING FUNDAMENTALS is the only way to get good, really good, at this sport.

I’m sure that Jordan has shot about 10-million free-throws in his lifetime. Perlman has probably played violin concertos until he could play them backwards and blindfolded…all from memory. You need to do this with your career in real estate investing.

In order to be great at Real Estate Investing, you need to develop a certain muscle group, mainly your brain and logic; you need an education.  I’m not telling you to go back to college, though you could, but a great place to get started with your education is at your local Real Estate Investors Association Group.

Next, get creative.  Take what you’ve learned from the masters and add to that your own style, your own ideas and create something unique, your own brand.

The next step is to DO.  Once you get the education, you must begin to stretch your wings and take some steps into your dream.  Shoot that basketball toward the hoop.  Draw that bow across those strings.  Will it swish the first time? Will you be a virtuoso immediately?  Nope.  BUT, the only way to get better is to practice.  Dr. Sinichi Suzuki, the inventor of the Suzuki Violin Method (which teaches 3-year-olds to play the violin) says the old adage “Practice makes Perfect” is incorrect.  He says, “Perfect Practice plus 100 repetitions makes perfect.” 

 

  • Start small: Beginning on an elementary level is ok.  We all start somewhere.
  • Get advice to do it right: Talk to your professionals, take “lessons” if you will, talk to the coach and run the drills.
  • Negotiate and Close the deal: Take yourself off the bench and play in the game.
  • Make the money: Win the game.
  • Repeat 100 times. Perfect practice plus 100 repetitions makes you money. (Wash.   Rinse.  Repeat).

Expand the muscles of your brain, just like an athlete or musician who has honed their skills, don’t take what you do lightly, but then again, it isn’t rocket science.  Study, learn and apply (do) what you have been taught.

Always pass on what you have learned.  Do or do not.  There is no try.  ~ Yoda

 

Happy Investing!

Running the Business of YOURSELF Better…

There is a wealth of free information available to us via the web.  I know many of us “old folks” are not in love with the web, computers or new technology, but it is really incredible how much you can learn for FREE if you know where to go for the information you need.

In my day job as a home designer, I was recently looking for information on Solar Panels.  Search for that on YouTube.com and you get hundreds of videos, everything from where to buy them, what brands to buy, to how to install them, how to link batteries – both serial and parallel (whatever that means) and how many do you need for the Watt hours you’ll be using… WAY more information that I could actually digest, but extremely helpful!

Last weekend I tried to pick up a pair of knitting needles that had been sitting in a basket for over 2 years.  I couldn’t remember the first thing about knitting.   I opened a knitting book, but it was full of these weird abbreviations causing me to get lost immediately.  “YO” and “Slip 1” and “PSSO” and “K2tog”. I was lost until I remembered YouTube.  So I searched for “Knitting YO” and there were dozens of instructional videos about that one stitch.  So each time I came across an abbreviation that I didn’t know, I searched for that thing specifically.  Before I knew it, I was knitting again.

It doesn’t matter what you are interested in doing, whether Real Estate Investing, starting a Food Truck, cooking in a Pressure Cooker or Knitting there are YouTube videos and Pod Casts for every walk of life, even Real Estate Investing.  To prove my point, go to YouTube.com and type in “Real Estate Investing” and you’ll see a list like this:

Be Specific on what you are searching for!
Be Specific on what you are searching for!

Click on any one of these topics and you’ll get a bunch of videos to watch.

If you are not an experienced investor, M.I.G. is definitely the best place to be for monthly meetings and break-out meetings as far as education and networking are concerned.  Many M.I.G. members are very experienced in their particular course of investments (Wholesaling, Buy & Hold, Hard Money Lending, etc.) and are happy to help educate the rest of us, but one thing we could all use some help on every once in a while is running the business of ourselves better.  When it comes to our own Real Estate Investment companies, many of us work for ourselves and though we may extensive formal education, most of us need refresher courses in running our daily business of ME.  How do we recharge ourselves to get re-invigorated about the business we own (or aspire to own)?  How do we plan out our day to keep the main thing the main thing and to avoid having the tail wag the dog?

How do we prioritize our daily activities so that we:

1.) Get the things done that need to be done; and

2.) Improve ourselves a little bit each day; or

3.) Become a better business person and overall better individual?

There are countless self-help books that can be checked out at the local library that we can read for free, or purchased in a store or online, but which book would you begin with? There are thousands to choose from!  You can get recommendations from other M.I.G. members or from your friends.  A few favorites would include Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, Seven Secrets of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, or Failing Forward by John Maxwell.  There are literally hundreds of books out there that will come highly recommended, but if you are like me, the first thing you’ll get is overwhelmed by so many choices.   My quick answer to this “where to begin” question would be podcasts and/or YouTube videos. They are generally short and free.  You can listen while you are otherwise bored:  while driving or waiting in a line at the DMV or the doctor’s office.  You can “subscribe” to these which makes listening/viewing very easy.  My suggestion on the perfect place to begin this year:  Listen to the Bigger Pockets podcast # 157 (created on January 14, 2016) and work your way back to # 1.

I am a member of Bigger Pockets (www.biggerpockets.com), a national club, a lot like the Memphis Investors Group where you can go online to visit discussion forums, get forms for your investing business, network, ask and answer questions, etc.  They even have calculators where you fill in the blanks to see if a deal is worth the investment (membership has its privileges). Kevin Perk, former M.I.G. president (SmarterLandlording.com) has a regular posts on Bigger Pockets.

Last Thursday I got the weekly email about their new podcast and as I was reading through the main page (on my phone at a traffic light – it was red!) I accidentally hit “play” on the podcast and because I was driving, decided to let it play rather than listening to my music (for a change of pace) because I have a daily one-way commute of 30 minutes and podcasts really make the time fly.  WOW!  Was it AMAZING!  It was not about Real Estate Investments per-se, but about beginning your day better regardless of your line of work.  The guest was Hal Elron, who wrote the book The Miracle Morning which has sold THOUSANDS of copies to date.  The podcast was certainly worth the time spent listening and that has prompted me to actually purchase the book as I believe it will be well worth the read.

I highly recommend the podcast and/or YouTube video (of the same thing).  You can listen to the podcast here:  https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2016/01/14/bp-podcast-157-simple-morning-ritual-help-dominate-every-area-life-with-hal-elrod/ (even while you drive) or you can watch the interview on YouTube here from your home computer or mobile devise:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeiqShce96w

I find it cool that a well respected person like Robert Kiyasoki has not only enjoyed this book personally and put its principals into practice, but has highly recommend it to regular folks like you and me.

 

Quote from Amazon: “As my rich dad often said, “I can always make another dollar, but I cannot make another day.” If you want to maximize every day of your life, read Miracle Morning.”  – Robert Kiyosaki

 

I hope some of you out there will read this book with me, but will also recommend other books that are especially meaningful to you as I’m always up for a good read… but often get overwhelmed at all the choices!

 

Janne Zaccagnino

Ralph Jones Home Plans, LLC

901-756-6070

Rent House – The Chumley – is almost finished!

Chumley

Yes, I’ve decided to name my rent houses.  I bought 4 lots right in a row, and since my son made this venture possible, I decided to name these first 4 houses after the initials U.S.M. C.  (left to right).  This first house, just happens to be on the far right, it earned the initial “C”.

So in choosing a name, I decided to use one of Garrett’s first nicknames given to him by his superior Marines.  They called him Chumley, after the old-timey cartoon character.  When he first became a marine, he was a bit chubby, and I’m sure that’s where the name probably originated.  Now, I’m old enough to remember the cartoon and remember Chumley being a rather dumb character.  Garrett was no where near dumb, but his superiors called him this to do what they do… probably considered hazing now, but much to their surprise, he embraced the nickname and was excited to finally have a nickname other than what his parents called him… Bear, or Garr-Bear.  So, Chumley he became.  This rental unit will be called “The Chumley”.  It is almost finished, here are a few more recent pictures of the unit. We have 1-2 weeks for completion.  So if any of you know of someone who would like to rent a BRAND NEW HOUSE, this is a very rare opportunity, please have them contact me by making a comment to this post.

The Chumley.  Still not fully painted, but it looks MUCH BETTER now with a garage door.  Shutters are coming as well as a few shrubs.  The nice level lot made a huge difference.
The Chumley. Still not fully painted, but it looks MUCH BETTER now with a garage door. Shutters are coming as well as a few shrubs. The nice level lot made a huge difference.

The Single Garage Door (with auto opener) has been installed.
The Single Garage Door (with auto opener) has been installed.

The water heater is located in the garage (rather than in the attic) so that if it fails/leaks, nothing in the house will be damaged!
The water heater is located in the garage (rather than in the attic) so that if it fails/leaks, nothing in the house will be damaged!

Master Bathroom with dual vanities and dual mirrors/lights.
Master Bathroom with dual vanities and dual mirrors/lights.

The Patio.  I know it isn't large, but it's about as large as we could possibly make it.  There is a big drop-off on the right. Still big enough for a grill and a couple of chairs.
The Patio. I know it isn’t large, but it’s about as large as we could possibly make it. There is a big drop-off on the right. Still big enough for a grill and a couple of chairs.

 

We’re Getting CLOSE to completion!

Wow, it seems every day new things happen and I just can’t wait until it’s all done!  Here’s what has happened lately:

Measurements for closet rods/shelves

Measurements for Garage door installation

Cabinets are in, Counters are a-comin’!

Bathroom vanities have been installed (see pics)

 

2015-05-12 18.43.03 2015-05-12 18.42.20 2015-05-12 18.41.52

Shower door and mirrors are ordered.

Waiting on one tiny sheetrock repair and then off to the paint wars!

Then install mirrors & Shower doors & Garage door

Then flooring….

Lighting, final electrical and final plumbing…

Inspection… Move in!  Hahaha!  I’m sure I’m forgetting something incredibly important, but so far, this is all I can think of… been running around like a crazy person dotting all my “T’s” and crossing all my “I’s”!

I’ve done a craigslist ad for the rental on this unit… hopefully we’ll be done within the month! So excited.

Progression

I can’t believe the progress as we near the end of construction.

We have Brick.

brick
brick

 

image

We have a cute little porch over the back door:

back porch
back porch

We have CABINETS!!!!!

Master Bathroom (double bowl vanity)
Master Bathroom (double bowl vanity)

 

Bath 2 Vanity (54" wide)
Bath 2 Vanity (54″ wide)

Incomplete Kitchen Cabinets
Incomplete Kitchen Cabinets

These are the kitchen cabinets here.  He is working on my corner cabinet.  This one faces him (the Dining Area). The dead corner is no longer dead!  I know this cost me a little money, but I wanted to take advantage of every square foot in this house. This may only house tupperware or children’s toys, but it is a much needed cabinet.

The cabinets now have crown molding around the top which makes them look like a custom home rather than a rent house. Stove goes against the wall and the sink/dishwasher will be in this island. The dining room looks HUGE with the cabinets now in! I Think this house will be NICE when finished!  I know there aren’t that many kitchen cabinets, but there will be a lot of counter space and the bonus, a HUGE pantry.

Below we have a pic of the Vaulted Master Bedroom.  Of course it doesn’t look like much YET, but it will be amazing.  10′ ceilings in a rent house.  Nice!

Vaulted Master Bedroom
Vaulted Master Bedroom

Walk in Closet(s):

Closet for Br. 2
Closet for Br. 2

This is the closet for the larger of the kids’ bedrooms.  It is a walk-in.  I utalized the space over the staircase (being sure to leave ample head-height below).  My framers made these two landings in the closet so that the space above could be used.  We will have double rods on the right wall until you get to that highest shelf, but the top rod will continue in an ‘L’ shape around the back wall (straight ahead).  The tops of these two shelves will be carpeted as well as the step.  There is a window on the left wall just out of the picture.  I can only imagine what a little kid will do with this closet as a secret hide-out.  I had a closet like this as a child and LOVED sitting on the shelf reading books.

The view:

Master Bedroom view
Master Bedroom view

The view out the master bedroom window is stunning.  There are undeveloped lands beyond my property.  I’m not sure how long it will stay this way, but for now, it is extreamly peaceful.  I saw deer walking across the property a few months ago and then as spring budded, there was a lone dogwood blooming near this dead tree stump.  Some of the trees will go away, we have some scrub-type trees too close to the house which we will remove, but this will give a nicer yard to my future tenants and will keep them from falling on the house during a storm.  Best of both worlds, loads of trees, just not on my property!

Extra Space – HUGE CLOSET!

There are areas in your home, most likely that have some wasted space.  many times you aren’t even given the opportunity to use those spaces.  The most widely wasted space inside a home is under a set of stairs.  The builder/designer may add a closet, it may have a bit of sloped ceiling, but they usually block off all  that other space under the stairs.  That space is incredibly useful.  My kids and I spent many a night under the stairs in our old home after returning from Salt Lake City to a Tornado Zone in Memphis.  The sirens would go off and we’d climb under the stairs.  Part of it was opened, yet unfinished, so the kids would crawl into the “short” area with their sleeping bags, blankies, and stuffed animals.  The dogs and I would sit on the carpeted area of what was our pantry. This was a fabulous use of our “under” stairs wasted footage.

Another great space is ABOVE the stairs in a 2-story home. (See the picture below.) The Investment Home I’m currently building had a bunch of very useful area above the staircase which was at the back of a small closet.  SO, I simply had the builder omit the back wall of the closet and build several shelves over the stairs to flatten out the usable area.  NOW what was going to be about a 4′ wide x 3′ deep closet is still 4′ wide, but about 6′-6″ or more deep!  This is a KID’s room!!!  Just think of all the things the family living here could do with this closet!  A little girl might make it a doll house.  (There is a window up high on the left wall).  Mom could do double rods in this closet and put those “don’t fit yet” clothes up high, and shelving down low for all those toys.

One of the Kid's closets above the stairs.
One of the Kid’s closets above the stairs.

I maintain, I’d rather have a huge closet and a tiny bedroom so that all my “stuff” has a home out of the sight of guests.

In a kid’s room, I’d love to have a small walk-in closet if at all possible.  Let’s pretend for a moment we have a 6′ wide by 4′ deep closet.  The door would be on the 6′ wall.  On one side, I would do double rods (or triple rods depending on the age/size of the child) so that all their clothes could hang nicely.  Clothes that fit, lowest, especially if the child is old enough to pick out their own clothes.  In the upper would be the “still too big” clothes to be used next summer and the “too small” clothes, saving up for a good garage sale.  On the opposite wall I’d have shelves floor to ceiling. The shoes would have a home and the toys would too.  On the upper shelves would be the things I need in the child’s room, but I don’t necessarily want the child getting into.  Keepsakes, breakables, toys that have been confiscated because the child refuses to take turns, etc.

If there is a PLACE to put everything, the room CAN be cleaned.  If there isn’t a closet big enough to hold all the toys, the floor of the bedroom will be forever cluttered, or the under-side of the bed will be nonexistent!