erikahollister's Journal, 19 Oct 23

OMGoodness!! I am so sorry your trip got spoiled by mechanical issues and your welcome home was not welcoming! I'm glad hubby is recovering from a very dangerous and life threatening condition. I lost a B-I-L from sepsis, it moves quickly and is impossible to tame once it hits the bloodstream. Most men do not go seek medical attention quick enough in those situations and it's out of control before they even get to the hospital! I understand the issue with the rentals, age does make a difference in your ability to keep up with maintenance and aggravation. This is a good time for sellers, the number of folks looking to buy still outnumbers the ones looking to sell, of course the time of year may factor into the equation. All in all, you landed on your feet, good job on the adulting....I hate adulting!! I hope everything smoothes out for a while! This is another example of life throwing curve balls. You handled it with grace and slammed it out of the park! Good going! 

Thanks Deb! You recently went into take-charge mode, too. Thank goodness to still be able to handle the tough stuff! 

Omgosh! What a hand full! Sorry to hear all this but glad your husband is back on track! We are thinking of moving and renting out our house but so hearing so many horror stories is making us think twice… 

I forgot to mention that he lost the one electronic key to his car and it cost us $900. to get 2 new keys, plus $200. to rent a car so that I could drive to Boston to babysit (as I had promised) for my granddaughter when she had a holiday and her parents didn't. Just another item in our last two weeks. 

Renting safely requires so much background research on the renters, and even then you are taking a risk. Oddly enough the worst renters are family, something about familiarity breeds contempt. They are related to you, so surely you won't mind a couple of holes in the drywall right???? 

LOL Erika! now you need to hang a sign on the porch....All caregiving, babysitting and drama-mediation services have been suspended for the duration of the year, if you knock on my door you must present a bottle of wine and flowers or lots of hard cold cash, otherwise I will not open it! 🤣🤣🤣 

Hey that was drama, comedy, and dramedy. I’m so happy your husband‘s better, that is the scariest thing to try to beat! On top of it, the RV getting fixed in three days is pretty damn fast for an RV. But I want to recommend that you think about it before you sell your rentals, I’ve been in the game a very long time and I was managing it all myself and then got a property manager that took all my problems on for not that much and worth every penny!!!!!!!! Everything is in his court, nothings is in mine!!! Think about it money comes in for the month, and then you can use that money and then next month’s and more money comes in for the month. 😊 I wouldn’t sell them, I wouldn’t sell them, I wouldn’t sell them. I’ve been through it all, but it’s been worth having extra money every month going into your account. They collect the rent, pay all the bills, you have nothing to deal with except the money coming into your account.👍 Get a property manager, find a good one, it’s worth every single penny, hassle, and grief, that apartments can bring on. If you sell them your moneys in the bank and slowly disappears and never comes back. Just a thought, I’m old and have gone through a lot, I think they’re worth keeping.👍 Glad you guys are well!!!💕 

Glad also that all turned out well most especially for your husband. So fortunate he went into the hospital in time to get well! I also have rentals and my biggest rental has had amazing tenants for past couple years. They had planned on staying for 5 more and then the husband (he was a dentist with his own practice) unexpectedly died while i was in Newport Beach recovering. Wife cant afford and will be leaving soon and i have been terrified of getting bad tenants (i have had rentals for over 20 years and have sold all but 3). It is a nearly 2500 square foot house and im afraid of the damage that may happen with bad tenants. We had them about 5 years ago and within six months and much angst got them out with a little over $10,000 in damage to home. Had to put all new flooring in the majority of the home. So ive been back and forth over selling. Ive owned it for 25 years so capital gains would be horrible and it rents for quite a bit. I do have a property manager. I would love more input. What do you guys do to try and make sure renters will be respectful of property? We do background checks and income checks. 

Thanks Deb for the commiseration and Shrewd for the advice. I will look into a property manager. We just invested in the houses and they are in the best shape in years, so it feels like a good time, but we are considering all the options. Tax consequences dictate careful action, so we're getting professional counselling. 

In July we turned over the lease on one house for a 9/1 occupancy. I had gotten an inquiry from a corporate renter, but after many emails back and forth they never asked for a showing and I leased it to someone else, then they told me that they wanted the house for a halfway house for recovering addicts. I told them that the house had been rented and then foolishly added that I didn't think it was appropriate to expose my neighbors to possible unstable renters. Well, I've had a discrimination complaint filed against me by the corporate agent. That was in the mail this week too! It's just not been a good run. 

Fortunately, the current tenants had given us a check and a complete application the day before my honest, but stupid email. So, I'm hoping it'll be okay. We've hired a real estate lawyer to handle it. $$$ 

Erika im sorry. So many people wanting to play the role of victim when there is none. The folks that cost me so much damage were trying to set me up for a discrimination suit. It was very scary. I rented to 2 adults and a toddler and wound up having 5 adults plus toddler living there. This is a primarily home-ownership neighborhood and there were cars everywhere not to mention all the wear and tear on the house and the washer/dryer etc. the city i live in said even tho the lease stated 2 adults there were five bedrooms so home could accommodate 10 people. There is not a lot of protection for landlords. 

OMG!! Total nightmare. You handled it well. The RV "vacation" was bad enough. So scary about your hubby!!!! I am glad he is okay. My family was into the rental business big time and when mom got sick I told her to start selling them off and she did. Only had 2 big houses left, both around 11 rooms, when she died and that was 2 too many. I would NEVER do it again. I used to manage hers and my step-dads rentals when they were in Florida in the winter. The repairs were enough to deal with but the drama part was the worst. Thank God, my ex was a Vietnam vet and when he talked people listened. So when people decided to be a pain he would have a "talk" with them - the gist of which was "Be out by the weekend, or else." Back then landlords had a lot more power. Now you can be stuck forever with a bad renter.  

YOH. Get out your google machine and look up 1031 Exchange, and Delaware Trust. It will lead you down a long rabbit hole, that avoids Capital Gains taxes. There's a whole industry that caters to folks in our situation - that have owned rental real estate for a long time that's been depreciated. The tax laws have a loophole that takes a lot of jumping through hoops - and there are people who specialize in managing these requirements. You can DM me if you want some names that have been refered to me. 

Had some rentals many years ago. One tenant set the house on fire (accidentally). Sold the houses, invested the money, decided I liked the stock market return on investment better. No regrets. 

Wow!!! your dealing with a lot right now Erikahollister my prayers are with you and your husband. Giving up the rentals might not be a bad idea if your tired of dealing with it. 

Need a full vacation to recoup from the mini one! 

There are people who have asymptomatic UTIs and if not caught early end up infecting the kidney. You can buy urine test strips that will est for UTIs. It’s worth doing every few days to possibly help prevent a recurrence. Asymptomatic infections can become a repetitive problem in the older population. 

very good information Kenna thank you! 

So glad your husband is on the mend. You have nerves of steel Erikahollister!