Lutz, Florida
We are settled back into Winter Quarters Rv Park for probably the last time until next spring. It’s been our base camp while in Tampa and is the most convenient to Mom’s. Rates go back up next month, so this will be it for awhile.
Even though we sold our Georgia house, we are still homeowners. We own a rental house here in Tampa, and our tenants of two years have moved out. About a year ago we discovered they had a dog (against their lease) and went to inspect the house. We decided to let them stay and keep the dog. The place was a mess then, so we expected it to be a mess when they moved out. It was. How a toilet could get that dirty in only two years, is a mystery to me. We think the carpet can be cleaned and there didn’t appear to be any permanent damage, so hopefully a good cleaning and painting will be all that’s needed.
We have a property management company that handles the rental for us. They have people that fix things, clean carpets, and paint. Their prices are reasonable, so we just let them do it. Needless to say the tenants are not getting their deposit back.
Fortunately, there are not too many rentals available right now, so we should be able to get it re-rented fairly quickly, and for an increase in rent.
The refrigerator and stove were very old, so we decided to replace them. Our property management company turned us on to an appliance dealer (Famous Tate) that gives contractors good rates. We ended up getting a scratch and dent 25 cu foot, side by side, top of the line Electrolux refrigerator for only $697. It has a small ding on the front, but for the price, it’s very nice. I could live with the dent, so the tenants can too. 
The painter is starting today, and then the maid service will be coming. We also hired a guy to pressure wash the outside, screens, driveway and porches. We could have done it, but his price was fair, so we decided to let him do it. We just don’t want to have to do any homeowners type chores!
We are planning our trip back to Georgia, and may finally get to stay at Stephen Foster Folk Cultural Center State Park. We tried to stay there last year on the way for Florida for the winter, but never got to. We’ll see.
Baxter is going through the “terrible two’s.” He has been getting lots of “spankings” and spends a lot of time in his “time-out” box. He jumps on the other cats and starts biting them. He just wants to play, but the cats don’t appreciate it. He just feels so darn good that he can’t stand himself. A short stay in his little carrier, calms him down….for a few minutes anyway. We’ve bought him a few toys and he loves them. The first one didn’t last 24 hours though, he played with it so hard! We try to play with him a lot to wear him out. I need to take some pictures of him playing with his toys. He’s so cute! But he is so bad!
Good luck with the rental house. Perhaps Baxter should be nick named, Bax the Bad!
ReplyDeletedarn renters with dogs!..we were renters with a dog for a few years..but you can be darn sure we treated the rental like it was our own..spic and span all the time!!
ReplyDeleteWell I think maybe Baxter needs a playmate his own age. How about 4 cats? What's one more when you've already got 3??? :-))
ReplyDeleteCan't blame you a bit for letting folks take care of the "house work" on your rental. Especially if the rent on it will cover that sort of thing.
TexCyn
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a good name for Baxter. We have others too. :)
Sue and Doug
The dog and the young kid didn't do nearly as much damage as the two adults did!
As is the case most of the time, it's never the dog's fault.
ReplyDeleteHaving a pet shouldn't make one iota of difference.
Trouble is, some people are pigs. Good thing you have that deposit.
We've always left a place in better shape that we got it.
The guy we rented from in Puerto Rico was upset that we were leaving, since we had looked after his house so well. When I asked him what could possibly be done to a concrete house, he said, "Oh you have no idea", and then proceeded to tell me some horror stories of breakage and filth.
Going with the management company seems to be the way to go.
Cleaning the carpets will bring amazing results, and I've never come up against a toilet that couldn't be brought back to gleaming bare porcelain.
But then again, that's the result of lots of experience.
Not really the kind of "experience" I would necessarily recommend.
I think every person responsible his work so you have nothing face any problem.
ReplyDeleteCondo Management