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The top of this page displays a Dashboard Summary of all of my key performance metrics.  Scroll down for a detailed month-by-month account.

 
 

october 2021 final update (SOLD)

Finally sold this house for $110k. After paying for the substantial repairs after the last tenant, this was a break-even investment. I’m not doing a 1031 exchange on this property since the gain was minimal and I have enough tax write-offs to offset the capital gains impact. So essentially I am re-deploying the capital into other investments (directly owned real estate or otherwise) at my discretion and on my timeline.

august 2021 update (renovating to sell)

This renovation is well under way and nearly complete. Hope to be selling this soon.

july 2021 update (-$662)

The tenant is out and there is substantial damage. I will be putting in around $15k to get this house ready to sell in the next few months. This will likely be my last month of tracking, and I’ll post final numbers once it sells.

june 2021 update (-$411)

Working on evicting tenant…

may 2021 update (-$411)

This place is just bad luck. I’ve had 3 bad tenants in a row. The current tenant moved in a few months ago, paid 1st and last months rent, then experienced marital issues and stopped paying.

Considering selling this one soon! I have a replacement identified!

april 2021 update (-$474)

Continuing to pay more bills from the turnover repairs from last month.

march 2021 update (-$708)

Vacancy, turnover, and tenant lease-up fee all paid for. A new tenant moved in mid-March.

february 2021 update (-$21)

Welp.

Unlucky property! Let’s get this thing turned over!

january 2021 update (-$396)

More repairs, and the rent continues to come in uneven spurts. For whatever reason this property just can’t get off the ground. And it’s 100 yards away from 3 of my other (identical) properties that are performing spectacularly. This one just keeps encountering repairs and sub-par tenants. Thinking of renaming this house “Facepalm”.

december 2020 update ($0)

Between repairs and only partial rent this was a break even month. I think this is officially the new dog of the portfolio.

november 2020 update (-$632)

Had some drywall repairs this month causing cash flow to swing back negative.

october 2020 update (+$759)

Back to positive, but I think Bat Cave might swing back down again next month. A forgettable year for the Bat Cave.

september 2020 update (-$632)

Another round of repairs. This might be the new “dog” of the portfolio!

august 2020 update (+$354)

Rent was a little late coming in, and this made me start thinking the sky was finally falling from reduced unemployment benefits. It eventually came, so my freakout might have been a little premature.

july 2020 update (-$693)

Paid for the tenant placement fee plus some minor repairs. There will be another large-ish expense coming soon, but not a back breaker.

june 2020 update (+$460)

No issues this month with the new tenant.

may 2020 update (-$632)

The vacancy was finally filled this month, but it wasn’t without some significant pain. We got it filled using combination of ingenuity and follow-up. Hopefully, the bleeding has stopped.

april 2020 update (-$3,543)

As expected, we still have not filled the vacancy plus I investing almost $3,000 into making the property much nicer. This included a new refrigerator, all new interior paint, and some new flooring, as well as some miscellaneous repairs and maintenance. I decided to do this after I saw that overall portfolio cash flow was still strong.

march 2020 update (-$632)

Well, this vacancy happened at the absolute worst time. By the time this was cleaned out, turned over and listed for rent, the country started shutting down for COVID-19. We STILL have interested tenants who want to move in soon, but there’s some logistical hurdles due to new social distancing guidelines. We’re working through them, but things will definitely move slower than normal. I expect this property to have some ugly numbers for a while.

On the bright side, I’m taking this opportunity to update some parts of this property since it is sitting vacant anyways. This will make the property nicer for the next tenant, and give some business to one of my trusted contractors during a slow period. I’m going to continue to look for these types of opportunities.

february 2020 update (-$33)

Welp, my PM found out that this tenant just up and left with no notice and left a bunch of stuff. I expect this one to look ugly for a month or two as there will be a cleanout and also some repairs.

january 2020 update (+$698)

Great start to the year for the bat cave.

December 2019 update (+$595)

Another great month.

november 2019 update (+$452)

Very minor repair bill, other than that all good.

october 2019 update (+$545)

Carry on.

September 2019 update (+$560)

No issues!

august 2019 update (+$314)

All is calm in the bat cave.

july 2019 update (+$1,195)

I don’t know all the details, but in a dramatic turn of events, the tenant is now staying and some kind of social program is now paying her rent for her. I’m not complaining.

june 2019 update (+$347)

No issues, tenant is moving out at the end of July.

may 2019 update (+$394)

No issues this month, lease ends in a few months so should be interesting to see what happens. This is a problem tenant and hopefully we can make a somewhat graceful separation.

april 2019 update (+$1,437)

Tenant has partially caught up and the (very lenient) judge is giving extra time to catch up fully. Thank god my PM is dealing with all of this on my behalf. Embrace the chaos.

march 2019 update (-$621)

Got an economic vacancy (fancy term for non-paying tenant). Tenant has been taken to court and claimed they can catch up completely when they get their tax refund back. America.

February 2019 update (+$30)

A break even month with a minor repair and the tenant struggling to pay full rent. I’ve concluded that my last four BRRRR’s (Lightning #1, Lightning #2, Bat Cave, and Unicorn) will be on an eternal roller coaster ride. I’m hanging on tight and embracing the chaos!

january 2019 update (+$394)

We had a minor repair but still great cash flow this month.

December 2018 update (+$490)

Another month with no issues, and the tenant paid a full month.

november 2018 update (+$494)

Tenant paid a full month but is still 1/2 month behind from last month. We will see if they get caught up. I have little faith, based on previous experience.

october 2018 update (-$5)

Tenant is already having payment issues which is obviously a huge bummer. I am grateful that I have a property manager who takes on the tenant babysitting that is required when this happens. I am working with him on raising tenant screening standards for my properties, which hopefully will yield better results on filling future vacancies. Until then, we ride the roller coaster.

September 2018 update (+$380)

First update for the latest rental to come “online” - refi complete, got a tenant and paid lease-up fee, and made the first mortgage payment. This was my first deal from direct mail. In terms of baseball this deal is a single or maybe even a bunt. The expectations have been raised and a 15%-20% projected cash-on-cash return is the absolute minimum acceptable return. I took this deal due to a few factors, including that it is right down the street from Lightning #1 and Lightning #2.

Why am I calling it the Bat Cave? Well, I’m running out of creative names for properties and the tenant thought there were bats in the house when they moved in (there weren’t).