A Beta United

So… um… hmm. This month is off to an interesting start. It looks as though I can cross something off my December goals list. Somehow I’ve rented out property Beta’s upstairs apartment without showing it.

I got a call from Carver on Sunday. He said Linda’s son, Knick, wants the upstairs apartment. Linda was Carver’s girlfriend when she died a couple years ago from cancer. Knick works and makes decent money (two jobs during the summer), and I thought it was interesting enough of an idea to warrant a showing the following day. Monday came and I went over to Beta. Carver comes out and, before introducing me to Nick, proposes an agreement. Carver will live in the downstairs and Knick will live in the upstairs apartment. They will take over the house and I’d get $1200 monthly rent. Currently I get $525 from Carver and I wanted $700 for the upstairs apartment ($1225 altogether), so agreeing to this would have me lose $25 a month. With next year’s property tax increase looming, I wasn’t sold on the idea just yet. So then Carver sweetens the deal by saying that, if the time comes where the property taxes increase and they have to pay $1225 or $1250, they can pay it. Also, he and his handyman buddies will do all the labor for the attic apartment I’ve always wanted FOR FREE. Wow. I told him I first want to meet Knick, so Carver finally introduced us.

Knick’s is definitely the son of Linda. I remember her being very kind and polite, and Knick was the same. He makes $10 an hour fulltime at a restaurant he’s been at for 7 years, and works another job in the summer for extra money. His girlfriend, who may or may not be moving in with him, works at the shipping depot as a package handler. I recognized her immediately and… I really don’t like the idea of having tenants who I see at work, but she doesn’t work on my shift so it’s not a deal breaker. So Knick would work as a tenant for property Beta, with both he and Carver paying $600 respectively. To add to the mix, Linda’s sister will also be moving in and will be organizing the collection and disbursement of rent checks. All this sounds good, but I have minor reservations. I’ve had varying success when renting out 2 apartments as 1 whole house. Laurie and Angie at property Chi was a disaster. The Africans at property Chi would have been okay if it weren’t for the constant calls about repairs for things I suspect they’ve broken. But I decided to agree to Carver’s proposition. With 4 working people in the apartment and Carver, a tenant of mine for 5 years now, taking care of all the repairs and remodeling, I see this as a good deal.

I remember when Linda was dying of cancer and I was very close to throwing them out. I remember it clearly because I wrote about it in a post called Cancer Schmancer back in 2011. Carver had to use the rent money to pay for her treatments and was missing payments. I even remember filling out their eviction form. But I didn’t throw them out. I worked with Carver, and Linda was able to bow out of life gracefully and Carver always appreciated it. And now, I will have property Beta fully rented out, free labor for a new apartment, and all repairs taken care of. And the best part is that I didn’t have to go through the process of showing the upstairs apartment to anyone. So now, all that’s left is to get the upstairs tenants out of there.

Danny the Kid moved his stuff out over the weekend, but Scott is having trouble finding a place to go. He had the nerve to ask me if I can find a roommate to take the place of Danny so that he could stay because “he really likes the place”. The second I got off the phone with his dumbass, I called the marshal’s office. They said I needed to fax a letter to the city court stating that the tenants did not pay the $535 as promised. Once the judge signs off on it, the warrant to evict can be executed and Scott should be gone by next week.

Knick and Carver still have to sign the new lease and I have to get the $600 from Knick, but it looks like everything will be all set at property Beta for quite a while. That’s one vacant apartment down. You know, I hope this is the beginning of a great line of things happening in December. After that awful November, I think I deserve a little good fortune.  

P.S.: I just talked to Scott and he said he's moved out and left the keys on the table. If I can get to the place and lock everything up, I can cancel the forced eviction and might get some or all of my $75 back!