Mar. 10th, 2007

livingdeb: (Default)
Today I went to a reunion where I heard a lot of good stories (and some stories of no interest to me and some bad stories).

I learned some advice about finding good tenants when you are renting some property:

1) Offer the apartment far below retail value so that you can get your pick of tenants.
2) Provide an answering machine.
3) Request five references which have addresses and phone numbers in the local phone book. The more references a person can list, the closer to the top of the pile their application goes. The request for five local references biases your sample toward church-going folk.
4) Provide a post office box in which to receive applications.
5) Check their credit.
6) Visit them where they are currently living. If they are reluctant to let you come over, cross them off the list.
7) In the event that you made a mistake and need to evict a tenant, offer the tenant $500 plus wiping out their two-month rent debt to you to leave by a certain deadline without damaging the property. This is quicker and easier than hiring a lawyer and going through the whole eviction process, not to mention cheaper and just friendlier for all concerned.

I just love those last two hints.

**

I learned that you can help those less fortunate than yourself by throwing parties. I'm starting to suspect that you can use any skill you enjoy to help those less fortunate if you are just creative enough.

In this case, the helpers live in an area where it is illegal to leave a child alone if the child is under 12. And the going rate for babysitters is $10 to $12 minimum, up to $20 per hour. So they decided to put together an event involving free babysitting for three hours (a baby nursery and two other areas for children in different age groups under 12). Then there was a lovely sit-down meal for all of their parents. (The kids got pizza delivered.) One of these events was on Valentine's Day. So these hard-working parents got a nice romantic dinner without ruining their budget.

Related link of the day: Speaking of those less fortunate, I heard two good recommendations for people who donate clothes and household items and itemize their taxes. First, if you have a digital camera, take pictures of what you're donating to show that it's in decent shape and really possibly worth what you're claiming. Second, use the Salvation Army's Value Guide to get an idea of realistic deduction amounts.

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livingdeb

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