First, some recap. Homo Andy sent me a letter stating that I can use his security deposit as rent for this month’s rent. I told him that I cannot do that so he still owes a half month’s rent, which is $250 (legally, he actually would actually owe me a full month’s rent if he stays past the 1st, but I gave up on legalities in this situation). So the agreement we had was for him to make sure the place was clean when he moved out, and then he could get the difference of the security deposit and the owed rent ($500-$250), which again is $250. Got it?
Me and the Pest Control guy went over to property Chi at around 3pm where Homo Andy was moving his stuff out. The Pest Control guy was surprised because there were almost no traces of roaches there, so we asked Homo Andy to give us some info on where and when he would see the roaches. Andy started stuttering and was very unclear as to when and where he saw the roaches. I could see the pest control guy giving me weird looks as Andy talked. When he and I went outside to discuss price, he remarked that there was definitely something wrong with Andy. Since he did find an egg, he charged me $55 to do the apartment which I’ll charge to my mom so that it doesn’t hurt me financially. After all, she’s not the one dealing with this idiot.
I came back at around 6pm when Andy said he was finished, and the place was… it was just immaculate! It looked even better than when the Homos first moved in! Bathroom? Spotless. Kitchen? Spotless. Everything?! Spotless! And they left all the improvements they did in there, like the new blinders for the windows and stuff. Once I got the keys from him, it was time to lower the boom. I told him this: “Well, I talked it over with the management company and we decided to make an exception in your case, and use your security deposit as rent for the month as you requested.” This meant that he gets nothing. The look in his eyes was priceless. I knew that the only way to motivate him to clean that apartment was to dangle money in front of him. He could have left the apartment looking like shit, just like my old tenant Stan did when he left property Beta. I learned my lesson with Stan and it worked out great. Homo Andy left in a huff and that was that. Yeah next time don’t send me dead roaches in the mail, you dumbass. The tenancy of the Homos is officially over.
My experience with my very first gay tenants was mostly good, and I would definitely do it again. Since there were almost no roaches in the apartment, I have to assume that Homo Andy didn’t leave because of roaches. My best guess is that the Homos and the Africans had had enough of each other and the Homos just wanted to leave. In the end, they were filler tenants that stayed longer than they were supposed to. The lessons I learned from my experience with them is to take care of problems quickly and if I know that two tenants are not gonna get along, sign the one I don’t plan to keep to a 6 month lease, then throw them out once the lease is over (or at least move them into another apartment where they would get along with everyone). I also learned the importance of a security deposit, and how much easier it is to rent out an apartment when I don't have to do any work during the turnover process. After all, most tenants won't clean an apartment THAT WELL unless they're getting something out of it. I have to start mastering the use of the security deposit so that I can have fast turnovers.
Soon, Hanna of the downstairs Africans will be moving in. I’m gonna do a full interview with her tomorrow, along with the “dude” she’s moving in with her. I also have to figure out just who the hell is living there. I mean, they have kids and brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers and grandmothers and… I just can’t keep up! I do have my reservations about this, but the pros far outweigh the cons and I’m looking forward to having an all-African property Chi in a couple weeks.
This apartment looks a lot like the ones we rent! It's actually weird!
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