adventures in landlording

Things are a little busy here these days. Baby Savvy is doing great, every day he is a little different... a little bigger, a little more alert, a little more active, and of course he's getting even cuter. In addition to the handful of work he brings, we have two apartments available as of next month that I need to get rented! The first open unit is because our long-term tenants are moving out (see previous posts here and here). We signed a six-month lease last summer, and that lease is up November 30. They are moving out of state to be closer to family and hopefully find better employment. I'm sad to see them go, as they were great tenants. Unfortunately, they are leaving behind an apartment in desperate need of paint and carpet, so we spent some time yesterday buying 800 square feet of carpet and arranging for installation. I think we got a great deal on the carpet, we went with higher quality (and better looking) on both the carpet and pad than what the salesman said was their typical "apartment grade", but in the end it is going to be cheaper because he was able to get us some great discounts on top of the sale price. We had him price both the apartment grade and the carpet he went with, and after we talked discounts he was able to get us the higher-end carpet and pad for about $100 cheaper than the apartment grade (which didn't have any discounts available), after about $500 total in discounts off the sale price. The best part is that he's ordering an entire roll and the store plans to stock the carpet, so next time we need to redo a room or two in any of the units, we can just call them up and they have all the measurements and the carpet on hand and can turn the install around in a day or two... perfect because time is money when you are renting an apartment. The second open unit is because another tenant is trying to break their lease early because she is buying a house. It's only two months early, and it works out well because I'm already running ads and showing units, so hopefully we can both end up happy. I do have a gut feeling that I won't be able to get her to pay rent through the end of her lease (without going to court) if we don't find a tenant, but I'm hoping I won't have to find out. My ad in Craigslist is bringing in some great candidates. I have a few showings set up, and a couple applications out already. Despite being able to rent the last two openings without a sign or a newspaper ad, I have an newspaper ad starting next week. I don't want to take any chances, I know it can be a little more difficult to find a tenant this time of year.