Ah, the joys of rental property. Most people's perception is that you just sit back and collect the rent. Maybe that is what our Mayor Jeff Speaker thought when he ventured into the landlord business? I don't think he is thinking that now. From the article:

Asked why he bought the Milwaukee apartment building instead of one in Brookfield, Speaker said he couldn’t afford one in Brookfield.

“It’s an investment, and they can be fairly lucrative if you have a good tenant mix,” Speaker said of Milwaukee rental properties.

He said he would like to get tenants who are on rent assistance “because you’re guaranteed your money.” But he said he couldn’t do that until he made more repairs.

“I’m trying to make a difference down there,” he said...

...He wants to hold annual barbecues there.

My husband and I were landlords for a brief time in our younger days. We bought the tiny Polish flat my husband lived in during his college days from his landlady. It was divided into 3 units and we lived in the upper front after we were married. A few years later, we purchases a second property from our former landlady. Hey, no money down, what did we have to lose except a lot of sweat equity.

People teased us a lot about being the land barons, knowing how we were working our tails off and operating on a shoestring. We repaired the numerous code violations and painted, refinished floors, and transformed them into rental units that decent people were happy to rent for a reasonable price. 

I had to smile when the article about Speaker's rental property violations mentioned that he planned a barbecue when it was all finished, because that is what we did! It was in celebration of our white trash tenants moving out. (We inherited them with the purchase--they were on welfare by the way--our landlady must have liked the rent assistance angle too?) 

The neighbors and other tenants were jubilant when the two families moved out.

Now the JS Editorial: Keeping Promises  compares Brookfield standards with the City of Milwaukee. (H/T Fairly Conservative) Ouch.

Later the article speaks to the heart of the landlord business when purchasing on the cheap:

“We recognize it’s difficult to bring it out of a crappy condition into a compliant condition,” Todd Weiler, spokesman for the city’s Department of Neighborhood Services, told Sink.

...But Weiler made another good point about buying a building in bad condition: “You should know that when you buy it and have hammer and nail ready,” he said. “It’s time. The proof will be in the pudding. We’ll see what happens to his promises.”

Truer words were never spoken. Both properties we purchased had been neglected for quite some time. Our Riverwest Polish flat was not so bad. The landlady left us alone in exchange for cheap rent, and so, we had fixed up our interior before we purchased. Once it was ours, the "hammer and nail" were always with us and we brought it back from the grave. Although it never was a great Milwaukee style flat, it did have a certain curb appeal when we finished it.

The second property, the huge flat and cottage, really needed work (1st photo). The neighbor lady was so anxious to get rid of our bad tenants there, she offered to help us fix up their units if we could get rid of them. She was faithful to her word.

I would like to say that I never have seen such neglect since our Milwaukee Landlord days, but the fixer upper we purchased in Brookfield in 1986 was just about as bad if not worse! Lots more sweat equity here on Kinsey Park Drive. Maybe that is why I'm still so tired? 

I suspect that with rental property, like boat ownership, the happiest 2 days are the day you purchase and the day you sell. At least it was for us.

As for making a "fairly lucrative" investment? I suggest a really solid mutual fund! 

Related Posts: This was the Polish flat I referred to in Remembering the BIG CHILLS the flat pictured was before my dad helped us paint. 

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It has been a while since we had a rain like this morning's. Guess I won't be gardening today. But that is OK, we needed the rain.

If you have ever been on a private well, rainy days don't always get you down. Remember the drought of 1988? (I remember the year because I was pregnant.) It did not rain all summer it seemed. Because we were worried about our well going dry, no one had to tell us to conserve water. We did not go on our usual summer camping trip but delayed until Sept. Often we joke we were the drought busters that summer because while camping, it rained so hard it collapsed our tent! (Oh, that was fun.) But the drought was over and we all breathed a sigh of relief.

The rain this morning got me to thinking about how too little rain isn't good for people on wells, but too much rain isn't good either.  We used to be on a septic system when we moved here in 1986. Sometime between moving in and getting sewer, there was a year that was too rainy. We did laundry, dishes, showers, and even flushing sparingly. Again, conservation was the key to surviving our too high water level. No one had to tell us to do that--it was in our best interest to do it.

As I thought about the too little/too much rain and how both prompted water conservation in our household, I started thinking about how the more conveniences and services we have, the more wasteful we become.

Think about all the food we waste in our culture. One of my in-laws says she never takes home or saves leftovers. I must have looked rather shocked when she said that. She explained she never eats them and just throws them away anyway, so why save them?

That would never happen if a person had to grow and preserve their own food. When you do that, you are invested! It takes a lot of time and effort to grow and can, dry, or freeze your bounty. In my early married years I did this. Trust me, you don't waste a thing!

What about heating and lighting? Back when people chopped their own wood and dipped their own candles, nobody had to tell them to turn their thermostats down! You heated only to the necessary point. Often people went to bed shortly after dark. (I don't want to go back to that era.) 

It is just human nature. The more we have--the easier it is, the more we don't appreciate it and the more we waste. This concept applies to other things too.

How about health care? This is an issue in the presidential campaign. Should we provide Government health care to all that covers everything or look at ways to increase market forces and personal accountability? 

What about providing a college education? Would a student be more diligent and careful about class selection if they were paying themselves or if the government was paying? 

The more we have done for us, the less accountable we become.

Well, that is enough early morning musing for one day.

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