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Your Landlord Resource Podcast
Your Landlord Resource Podcast
Staying Motivated When Work Gets Tough
In Episode 101 of Your Landlord Resource, we pick up where we left off in our 100th episode and dive into the “how” behind pushing through hard times as landlords.
From unexpected repairs and long vacancies to personal setbacks and stalled growth, we’re sharing how we’ve stayed motivated—even when the work was overwhelming. This episode is packed with mindset shifts that helped us learn to love what the work does for us, even when we didn’t love the tasks themselves.
We also walk through what it means to “think like a CEO” in your rental business. That means learning how to gather and use data—from vacancy rates to tenant behavior—to make smart, strategic decisions without relying on emotion or guesswork.
Whether you're struggling to fill a unit or navigating a season of hustle, we’re giving you practical ways to stay grounded, clear, and motivated.
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🎧 Listen to Episode 100: Landlording Through Personal Challenges
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🎧 Our 3-Part Masterclass on Leases: Episode 32, Episode 33,
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You know, maybe you just want more financial freedom or flexibility with time, or maybe owning rental property is a retirement goal like it is for Kevin and I. Maybe owning real estate is just something where you want to prove to yourself you can do it. Just know if you're clear on your end goal, you can pivot when needed and still stay aligned. And speaking of pivots, there are always going to be setbacks. You can plan and replan and have plan B, and things will still go sideways. It's not a sign that you're doing something wrong, that's just how life works. It's during those rough patches when your mindset matters most. You gotta roll up your sleeves and become a problem solver. And most importantly, you gotta be proud of how you show up.
Welcome to Your Landlord Resource podcast. Many moons ago when I started as a landlord, I was as green as it gets. I may have had my real estate license, but I lack confidence and the hands-on experience needed when it came to dealing with tenants, leases, maintenance, and bookkeeping after many failed attempts. Fast forward to today, Kevin and I have doubled our doors and created an organized. Professionally operated rental property business. Want to go from overwhelm to confident if you're an ambitious landlord or maybe one in the making. Join us as we provide strategies and teach actionable steps to help you reach your goals and the lifestyle you desire. All well building is streamlined and profitable rental property business. This is Your Landlord Resource Podcast.
Stacie:Hey there, landlords, and welcome back to the Your Landlord Resource Podcast. My name is Stacie Casella and I'm here with my hubby and business partner, Kevin Kilroy.
Kevin:Hello there, landlords. Thanks for tuning in for another compelling episode of our podcast where we cover tips and tricks about self-managing your rental properties.
Stacie:So our last episode, our 100th we, 100th, 100th. Did I say that right? Our 100th. We talked a lot about when our lives got challenging and trying to keep our head above water during those times. For a quick recap for about three years, Kevin and I got slammed with one difficult time after another. And without even discussing the challenges of the pandemic, we discussed the death of my brother in 2020, and then six weeks later, the death of a very dear friend who was like family to us, especially for my boys after their father passed away. My father had some medical issues. The rentals had some hard times. And then my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in early 2022. If it was not something personal challenging us, it was something with the rentals., A fruit fly infestation, termites, a flood, and working to remove a tenant who stopped paying rent during the pandemic.
Kevin:I'll say that last one. The fruit fly guy who turned alcoholic and never paid rent, it actually went much easier than it could have. So even though it was nerve wracking, he eventually moved out without us having to go through the eviction process.
Stacie:Yeah, I mean, all in all, other than the deaths of three close family members in 14 months, I'd say for the most part, everything came out on a positive note in the end. It was a lot of work which was unexpected.
Kevin:And to clarify, we didn't mention it before, but Stacie's brother-in-law, who had been in her life since she was nine years old, passed suddenly in November of 2019. Then her brother, three days shy of one year later passed away and six weeks after his death, the close family friend, her best friend's husband passed away suddenly. Each of those deaths really rocked our world. I mean, her brother had been ill, but we had no idea it was life threatening. The other two were sudden deaths with not even a chance to say goodbye.
Stacie:Right? Regardless, if you wanna hear more about what was happening and how we were able to handle it all, go back and listen to episode 100. And really quickly, I wanna remind you all that we have a contest that is still going on until June 30th, 2025, where we're given away one free hour of coaching to one lucky winner. We have a link in the show notes on how to sign up and we'll talk more in detail about that later in the episode.
Kevin:Yep, we've actually had a lot of people sign up so far, so that's encouraging. Okay, so we did a recap of the last episode where we discussed issues that arose and how we dealt with them. But in this episode we wanted to talk more about how to handle when you feel your rental property business itself is not working out as you would hoped or planned. Because here's the real truth about building a rental property business. It's not always exciting, and it definitely isn't always easy.
Stacie:Yeah. So the first thing we wanna talk about is learning to love the work that gets you to your goal,'cause it's not always fun. But success comes when you stop resisting the hard stuff and start leaning into it. You know, early on, every landlord will face a steep learning curve. You'll have to figure out how to manage tenants, coordinate repairs, stay compliant with landlord tenant laws. Screen your applicants, budget for unexpected expenses, and sometimes you're gonna have to do all this all in the same week or month. The key is shifting your mindset. It's not about glorifying hustle or burning yourself out, it's about understanding that there are certain things you simply have to go through to get where you want to be. And if where you wanna be is financially free, working fewer hours and having more control over your time, then the hustle is a stepping stone, not a permanent way of life. Entrepreneurship, including rental property ownership is a long-term game. It's a rollercoaster with highs where you're on top of the world and screaming with joy and happiness and lows where you're holding your breath and having to deal with what's coming up around that next curve. The good news is it's in those lows where you learn the most.
Kevin:I think kid two, buying the duplex is a really good example of this. He found a rental property he was interested in, made an offer, went through negotiations and closed the deal for a price that worked well for him. He's on top of the world and thrilled with his first rental property under his belt. Dreams are going to come true now, right? Except the units needed some work and he decided he wanted to go in and do a lot of the work to improve the property and make it more desirable to potential tenants. Not a bad thing, but one thing led to another and where he had grand plans of doing the work himself, he quickly learned that working four to five hours a day after working his nine to five job was not gonna work. And we knew that before he even started. So we went out and gave him two weeks of free labor and helped him out quite a bit. We took on a huge chunk of labor. We were doing painting, replacing all the lighting, all the electrical plugs and switches, shopping for all the appliances and all the little things here and there. Like blinds and window coverings, floor registers, uh, smoke detectors, CO2 detectors, fire extinguishers, escape ladders, cabinet hardware. I mean, you name it, we ran errands to get it.
Stacie:Yep. And window screen repairs and dropping off and picking up doors that had to be repaired. And most importantly, we were there to be on site to meet all the contractors that needed to come in and do their thing. The plumbers, HVAC people, the flooring contractor, the contractor for the deck replacement, the garage door repairmen, all those things.
Kevin:Yeah. And the plumber came in to replace a faucet and all the water supply lines to the sinks, toilets, washing machine and water heater. When he got to the bathroom sinks, he realized he could not access the valves behind because the sinks were too deep to get his hands around to the back. So while they worked on the other items, Stacie ran over to Home Depot and bought two new sinks so they could just remove the old ones that were not in the best of shape anyway. I think they cost like 50 bucks a pop. And of course, you know, Stacie wouldn't let them install the old nasty bath faucet back on there. So she bought brand new faucets to go along with it.
Stacie:I bought new mirrors to replace the old oak Granny medicine cabinets too.
Kevin:Yes, you did. Now these were all things kid two did not consider. I mean, he knew he wanted to spruce up the place but I don't think he was thinking about the details and how much work it would take to get all those things done. We're not throwing him under the bus here, but he has never had to go in and completely renovate a property before. He's been part of it, but there were a lot of small things people overlook and they all take time and money.
Stacie:Yeah, and for the most part, you guys, he did great. Every once in a while when he got really overwhelmed, we had to talk him off the ledge. You know, he hit the low spot of the roller coaster. Then when the work was done and he was ready to list the rental, and at this point he's back up on top of the roller coaster. He's seen progress and he's happy and optimistic about moving forward. Then he realizes he has a lot of decisions to make, you know, what does he want the listing to say? What's his criteria? What is the rent that he wants to ask? What application do you wanna use? What do you want to include in your lease? You know, now he's overwhelmed again and backed down in the low spot of the coaster. Again, we stepped in and we guided him the best that we could. You know, we don't know his market as well as we know ours. Many of the decisions that he had to make we do not handle for our Idaho property, the property management company does. So in order for us to be able to support him properly, it's important, you know that we all had a lot to learn here.
Kevin:Yeah, and let me just jump in here real quick and let you know Stacie and I leaned on someone we know back there who is an amazing property manager. She really knows her stuff and she was very generous with her time and resources to help us out. And let me clarify, this is not our property manager, it's someone else we know separately.
Stacie:Yeah. Which leads me to tell you all network with other landlords and lean on them when you need questions answered. There are rental property associations in almost every major city who have the resources that you need. If we did not have this person to ask advice from, I'm not sure what we would've done. If kid two did not have us to lean on, he would've had to figure this all out on his own, much like you guys. And there's no book on how to rent out your duplex in this specific Boise, Idaho market to walk him through it. You guys need to lean on the professionals in your area when you need to. We needed a good rental application that tenants could fill out online. You know where we found one? The Idaho Rental Association offers one online for free. I downloaded it, and then I used my Adobe PDF software to make it able to be filled out electronically. I wanted an application that had three spaces for past addresses so we can contact old landlords. I wanted a place for them to put personal references so that I could call them when doing my background check. And lastly, if people have pets, you need an application that includes a place to put information about that pet, specifically the breed, the age, and the weight, because you can put limits on those aspects. Kid two was okay with pets, but no kittens or puppies and no pet over 30 pounds. He also needed to know how to price his units based on the amenities included with the units. And most importantly, he needed to know his market of renters and what criteria fit for his area, because it's way different than our California renters that we have here in Sacramento. So this leads us to the two seasons of hustle. There's typically two seasons of hustle in any business. The beginning and any time you decide you're gonna grow. In the early days, hustle is about building your foundation. It's learning your systems, discovering what kind of tenants you want, figuring out how to write a lease, finding vendors and dealing with the nitty gritty of repairs, maintenance, and communication. It is overwhelming, but it's also essential. Later when you decide to scale, maybe that means buying a new property or converting a unit into a midterm rental, or taking on an out-of-state investment. You're gonna hustle again, but this time it's strategic. You're working hard because you're building on something solid that you've already created. You've already been through the messy beginning where the rollercoaster seems to be outta control. So when you scale, it doesn't seem as daunting.
Kevin:So in episode 100, we talked about those hard times we've been through. Because we had systems in place, we were able to coast on the rental properties. Now that we feel like we've come up for air, we are gearing up for a season of growth. Knowing when you're in a season of hustle versus a season of flow helps you adjust your expectations and avoid burnout. You know, most days aren't fun and that's okay. We need to normalize the fact that most days in business ownership aren't glamorous. Some days you're replacing a faucet, reviewing applications from unqualified tenants, or chasing down a late rent payment. It's not about loving every task, it's about loving what those tasks are building for you. Your focus shouldn't be on the immediate reward. It should be on the long-term vision. That's what gets you through the tough parts. I will never forget when Stacie was in one of the Sacramento units replacing a broken toilet handle. She was sitting backwards on the toilet with her face down in the tank trying to get the broken handle off, and she was cussing like a sailor. And it wasn't like frustration because the nut was frozen and she couldn't get it to budge. This was like she was having a meltdown and mumbling about not wanting to do this shit anymore, and this is not what I signed up for. And why did they make toilet handles outta plastic? And I'm so glad I'm using my college education to sit backwards on someone else's toilet to fix it when my own house is falling apart. I mean, something along those lines.
Stacie:That was a very low, low day for me and I was mad at the world that day. If I recall, you did not say one word to me. You just stood there and stared at me with big eyes like you were scared.
Kevin:Believe me, I was. I had seen you get pissed at the kids and around the house, but that was the first time you kinda lost it with the rental and over a toilet handle. Yes. I was afraid to say the wrong thing and for the record, you guys, when your wife is melting down like this, there is no right thing to say., I mean, I was better off just being quiet and letting you just go through the process. And if I remember correctly, afterwards, it was then when we decided to use Jim on most repairs from that point on.
Stacie:Yeah, well, more than likely there was some other underlying issue that I was dealing with, and I took my frustration out on the toilet handle. So you guys, during those tougher days, your mindset matters even more. You need to be willing to get uncomfortable because growth, whether it's personal or financial, almost always lives outside your comfort zone. That place of frustration, the uncomfortableness that I was experiencing did result in growth. It's when we decided our time was better spent on the business side than doing those small repairs that Jim could easily handle. This was not a time to be a cheap penny pincher, and, and don't get us wrong, we still do a lot of hands-on work on our units. We just got back from working on the last vacant unit in our fourplex and did a lot of work to avoid having to pay someone else to do it. Did we do it all? No way. Just what we knew we could do for much less than a professional. Replace all the old incandescent lights with updated and more modern looking efficient LED ones. That probably saved us around$750 for about five hours of my time.
Kevin:Plus we were able to meet a couple roofers for bids because yay, we had a roof leak in one of the units about a month ago. And we had many things left to finish up in the duplex for kid number two also. So the trip out to Idaho had many purposes that were being fulfilled. And in this instance, it was well worth it.
Stacie:So the next thing we wanna discuss is that long-term rentals equal long-term growth. And let's be clear, rental property investing is not a get rich quick model, it's a long-term game. And there's gonna be seasons where progress feels slow. You got your mortgage taxes, insurance, and unexpected expenses that might eat up your cash flow. It might take years to see significant equity growth, and that's okay. Success in this business requires patience and vision and the willingness to keep showing up even when the results aren't instant. You're planting seeds that will grow into something valuable, but that growth takes time and consistent effort. A prime example of this is our Idaho fourplex. You know, we're not losing money on it, but we certainly are not making near as much as we anticipated when we first bought it. This is something that we failed to research the market on because had we done a better job at that, we would have found out that there were thousands of new units slated for construction that would hit the market in 2024 and 2025, and they did. And the rental rates for our units have dropped by a couple hundred dollars instead of going up as we had hoped and planned for. On the flip side of that, in Sacramento, which was acquired in 2005, has seen its rents more than double. Yes, new units have come on the market, but those units are much fancier than ours. They have parking and mail rooms, swimming pools and gyms, et cetera. And we're not low end, but we are on the high end of mid grade compared to other units in our area. Our units are updated, clean and include monitor amenities that renters who don't care about gyms and pools want. Like central heat and air conditioning, a washer and dryer in the unit, energy efficient lighting and smart features like smart locks and thermostats. So they can come to our units and pay about$500 less per month and get the same modern conveniences that the new buildings offer.
Kevin:Except parking. I mean that is one thing many potential tenants express to us that they wish we had.
Stacie:Yeah, you're right on that one. And and also lately it seems people have had an aversion to stairs. Our vacant two bed and kids 2 duplex, both have vacant upstairs units and multiple people viewing them have said, no way, because they had to climb stairs, which is so odd to us. This has never been an issue before. But the point is Midtown Sacramento has come a really long way with improvements to the area over the last 20 years, you guys. The city has worked to get cleaned up, literally and figuratively. People are taking much better care of their properties and there's a lot to do in the area now. They built a new arena for the King's basketball team downtown, and now in addition to basketball being local and not 10 miles away, now there are concerts and such in the area, which has really helped, especially with the restaurant scene. They have always had a minor league baseball team, but now we have the Oakland A's using the baseball stadium until theirs is built in Nevada. And just recently they announced they are developing old town and the rail yards and building a soccer stadium. And of course the job market is very strong in the area as well. And all these things help keep our units rented. But in the beginning we were sweating it, for sure.
Kevin:Well, I think it's important to touch on the power of clarity and vision when it comes to owning rental properties. If you're not sure what you want your rental business to look like, that's okay, but know this, the clearer you are on your goal, the easier it becomes to pivot with purpose. Whether your dream is early retirement, traveling more, working fewer hours, or simply replacing your nine to five income. Having a strong WHY gives meaning to the messy middle. It gives you something to anchor to when the days get long or the setbacks show up. Stacie started as a property manager in 2005, 20 years ago, and they had grand plans of growth, right?
Stacie:Yes, we did. You know, we wanted to buy rentals for long-term holds and buy land and do developments to provide cash to buy more rentals. We had plans to flip houses so that we could get a quick influx of cash. Quick meaning a year, not five or 10, like with other revenue streams. And then my brother got hurt and all the building and maintenance stuff went out the window. We had a large parcel of land that was 10 acres. We had hundreds of thousands of dollars invested just on the development of the infrastructure, like sewer pipes, sidewalks, you know, where the fire hydrants need to go. All that stuff when creating a new micro neighborhood. My brother was no longer able to work, I wanted to pivot and hire someone to finish out the job, but my brother came unglued and he refused to hand off the development side for someone else to build his dream. So my dad pulled the plug on it and the land sat until my brother eventually passed away, which is really, really unfortunate.
Kevin:Now, on the plus side, your family sold that land to a developer. And we drove by it recently and saw they were in fact building his dream. So it was nice to know that eventually it will come to fruition.
Stacie:You know, maybe you just want more financial freedom or flexibility with time, or maybe owning rental property is a retirement goal like it is for Kevin and I. Maybe owning real estate is just something where you want to prove to yourself you can do it. Just know if you're clear on your end goal, you can pivot when needed and still stay aligned. And speaking of pivots, there are always going to be setbacks. You can plan and replan and have plan B, and things will still go sideways. It's not a sign that you're doing something wrong, that's just how life works. It's during those rough patches when your mindset matters most. You gotta roll up your sleeves and become a problem solver. And most importantly, you gotta be proud of how you show up. Being nasty or negative when things don't go as planned, won't help. Instead, this is your opportunity to step into your role as the CEO and act with intention. And one way of doing that is by collecting and using data to make smart decisions. This is where many landlords stall out trying to make decisions based on emotion instead of facts, much like we did when we did the 10 31 exchange to buy the fourplex in Idaho. We were so caught up in the actual exchange and the timeline and the deadlines, we did not take the time to research the area completely.
Kevin:Yeah, it is absolutely important to know everything you can about the area before you buy a rental or any property in it. But it's also important to know about your existing properties as well. Most successful landlords collect data. It's easier than you think, and here's where to look. Okay. For your property metrics, you want to track your rent collection history, vacancy length, repair costs per unit, turnover frequency, lease violations or complaints. Now, these metrics will help you be able to plan your budget and reserves as well as adjust your screening criteria. You want to track tenant behavior, so pay attention to who's renewing and why. Do they love the unit, the location? Is rent cheap compared to other units in the area? What kind of tenants are applying? Is your criteria too strict? Is your pre-screening working? Application numbers dropping off at a certain point? What else is on the market in your area, and why are they choosing those units over yours? You also want to track rental market comparisons, which means you'll need to research Rentometer, Zillow, and apartments.com to see what price points others are listing at. Are your listings getting fewer inquiries? What amenities are trending and what is realistic to improve your unit to include them. You'll also wanna be on top of tech tools. Because tenants prefer it, many landlords now use landlord software with reporting tools, so this helps track your income, expenses, and maintenance requests. We recommend platforms like Turbo Tenant, Innago, Rent Ready, and EZ Landlord Forms.
Stacie:Yeah, tenants really do want electronic forms of payment and communication. You know, we just worked with Turbo Tenant to help Kid two set up his duplex and holy cow, do they make it easy. We generated a personalized state specific lease on EZ Landlord forms, which took a bit to add all the info we wanted to include for his property and coverage. And then we uploaded that lease into Turbo Tenant and it was so easy to send it out for electronic signatures. Once the lease was signed, kid two release the requests for payment for the prorated rent, the fees and the security deposit. And one thing he loved was that he was able to set up both his bank accounts so that the rents and fees would go into his general business banking account and the security deposit would go into a completely different account that he has just to hold security deposits. In case you didn't know, you cannot commingle security deposits with your general banking funds. It is not your money. It is money you are holding on behalf of the tenant and must be in a separate banking account. So that one feature makes it really easy to not mix those two funds up. Both Turbo Tenant and EZ Landlord have chat boxes for quick responses on questions. So when I was building the lease in EZ Landlord with Kid two, we had a question about something and got an answer in about three minutes after communicating on the chat service. It clearly was a real person on the other end by the responses that we got, so that was very reassuring. No matter which tech company or app you decide to use, if you have questions, reach out to their support. Use their chat tools, watch tutorial videos, ask fellow landlords, other people that you know have used the product. But don't get stuck in tech paralysis. Most of these companies are working to make their sites very user-friendly.
Kevin:Yeah, and I will say you did spend quite a bit of time developing his new lease on EZ Landlord. Now, was that because their lease was not adequate or what was the reason?
Stacie:No, their state specific lease covers what needs to be covered by law, but it did not include any details. So for instance, when it came to the parking addendum, because he has a long driveway and two garages, I thought it would be best to specify which side of the driveway and which garage was for which specific unit. That way there would be no confusion about where they're allowed to park. And the main body of the lease had a lot of information, but like we said in episode 34, that's where we started our three-part masterclass on leases, it's all about the addendums, and we use most of the addendums offered by EZ landlord forms. But the thing is, each one has to be personalized to make sure what your rules and your specific guidelines are are clear. Like I did on the parking addendum. They also have a section at the end where you can include anything else that was not covered in the main body of the lease or an addendum. So we grabbed the verbiage from our lease about micro mobility devices and lithium ion batteries being charged in the unit. Now often these are the batteries on scooters and e-bikes and all those things, and if left charging for days on end, they can heat up and cause a fire in the space. In apartment complexes and units in metropolitan areas, these devices are used more and more. There's a reason why you can't check'em in luggage on a plane because they catch fire very easily and they're hard to extinguish. Which is why the fire extinguisher we bought can do those batteries plus grease fires, not just paper or wood kind of fires. So anyway, EZ landlord forms has a great base to their lease, I wanted to add as much as I could to cover kid two and his property, likely way more than the was needed, but you never know.
Kevin:Yeah, okay. That makes sense. Thanks for the clarification. If you'd like to learn more about Turbo Tenant, EZ Landlord Forms, or any other product we've mentioned here today, you can find the links in the show notes. Even our other podcast episodes, we mentioned the links are all in the show notes, but getting back to collecting data. Lastly, you need to understand tenant demographics in your area. What your ideal tenant values. Does it matter to them that you have central heat and air or are they okay with radiators and ceiling fans? Do they want their own washer and dryer, or are they fine with hauling their laundry to the local washer and dryer every week? Are your credit score requirements reasonable? Did you know that the average credit score for a renter is between 650 and 700? Now in Sacramento, we asked for a FICO score of 720+. You guys, this is actually a big ask because that number falls into the house buying rates, which most tenants do not have. And lastly, how your pet policy impacts demand, because a lot of renters have a pet and want a pet friendly rental. Not to mention the additional income we can add If your unit is one that can easily handle pets.
Stacie:You know, you guys, we can guide you here, but every city and every state have different things that are important to their tenants. So it's really important that you know your area and your neighborhood. How is the weather in the hottest part of the summer? Do you need to offer air conditioning or will a ceiling fan do? You know, dig deeper, be relentless in your pursuit of finding out what resonates with your ideal tenant, and let the data guide you and not create fear. So as you know, a few years ago we had a studio with a fruit fly infestation, we've talked about it multiple times. And one thing about studios in our area is that they seem to turn more often than larger units. After we wrapped our brains around the cleanup that was required from that fly infestation, we realized a lot of work needed to be done to that unit. Expensive work like new LVP flooring, all new appliances and the bathroom needed an overhaul. So we did some research to see what else we could do with the studio that would help us earn more income because we don't want it to turn every year. As it turns out that our area is prime for midterm rentals. This is not a short term rental where you get someone in there every few days. Midterm rentals are where you rent a unit furnished for 30 days or more, usually around 90 days at a time. Because someone can just come in with their suitcase and live, the rental rates are significantly higher. For context, we are getting 38% more rent for that studio right now compared to the other one we have right next door to it. Exact replica, except the bathroom is not updated and it's not furnished. Now, most everything I bought was from Amazon or Costco. Maybe a few items from Target, but mostly everything was delivered right to our front door. So I'll say it again. When you're going through an uncomfortable moment, do your best to see it as an opportunity and not a setback. And sure, the fruit fly thing was a freaking nightmare to go through, and it made us really uncomfortable, but it also allowed us a chance to evaluate what else we could do with that space. And boy did we nail that opportunity.
Kevin:Yeah, it was definitely a nice win. You know, look at it as turning a setback into strategy. When something fails, it's not a signal to quit, it's a chance to learn. Ask yourself, what does this make possible? Which is exactly what we did with that studio unit. What if you place a bad tenant, use an unprofessional or subpar repair person, get a lot of maintenance requests. This is your opportunity to make a change. Bad tenant? Check your criteria, maybe it needs to be tightened up. Do you analyze their credit history? Do you call past landlords to ask how the tenant was when living there?, Do you verify their income? Because ever since we started doing this, we have never had an issue with a tenant. No more going with our gut. We only let the information provided on their application guide us on if they will be accepted or not. It's a similar situation with our garbage disposals. So for many years we were replacing those like every 18 months, so a couple times a year with the six units. And we would call the plumber out and he would bring out a new one and install it, letting us know the old one had rested out. He never told us why this was happening, just happily took our$300 and said, see you soon. And then along comes Jim. The first time he replaced a unit, he said, are you telling the tenants how to care for the disposal so this won't keep happening? And both of us were like, uh, no. What are they doing wrong? And then he told us that garbage disposals need to be run every day that someone rinses something in the sink. Because even one little grain of rice can sit in the bottom and the continual moisture will keep the rice wet, causing the bottom to get a small rust hole and leak water. He also told us that tenants should only use cold water when running the disposal. Because hot water can make the motor overheat too often, eventually blow itself out. And do you know that ever since we have told every tenant upon move-in and we also put it in their lease and we put it as a tip in the unit binder, that we, knock on wood here, we have not had to replace one garbage disposal unit in the last five years because it was rusting out or blowing the motor. Not one. Do you think the plumber could have told us that? I guess we were easy money and job security.
Stacie:Yeah, that one still blows my mind'cause so many landlords have decided not to use disposals because of that problem. And all it takes is a little bit of communication. You know, another quick one is pests. For us, we're in an area where termites are common. We have had to deal with them twice. And between both those fumigations, we have spent over$8,000 for the pest control company to exterminate those termites, and that's a crap ton of money. So now we hire them to come out annually during our fall inspections to look and test for termites. We figure it's better to catch them right away and not wait until we have a full issue on our hands. It costs us about 350 bucks each time, but it's now part of our preventative maintenance list for that complex. All right, some final thoughts for you. Guess what? You're already a CEO., You may not have a corporate title, but if you're analyzing properties and screening tenants and coordinating repairs and managing your income. Congrats. You're the CEO of your rental property business, so stop any negative talk. When you're struggling, you're not failing, you're learning. Listen, we don't wake up and go, I love driving two hours to Sacramento to grab dirty sheets and put out clean ones for the cleaning lady who's coming to work on the midterm unit. It sucks when someone shows up to view a vacant unit and the first thing they do is complain about the stairs or say that the bedrooms are too small. Instantly we know that that person has completely wasted our time. We have dealt with missed goals, flaky repair people, damages to units, floods, bugs, homeless people using our hose to shower, late rent payments, and sure, those challenges are no fun to deal with. But we love what those uncomfortable things do for our business and when they are resolved, what the result does for our family. Entrepreneurship is full of unexpected turns, but this is where your growth happens. And not every day will feel good. If you stay clear on what you want and stay committed to doing what it takes to get there, you're already winning. So use data, stay curious and be resourceful.
Kevin:You almost said you got this landlords.
Stacie:I, I did. But first we wanna tell you about the contests that we have going on, so you can take that, Kev.
Kevin:Alrighty then. So Stacie and I have decided to start doing a little landlord or property management coaching on the side. To kick it off, we are giving away one free hour of coaching, which is valued at a hundred dollars. Get it? A hundred dollars gift to celebrate reaching our hundredth episode? To enter, there is a link in the show notes or you can go to your landlord resource.com/contest 100. So you can enter there, and for a bonus entry you can leave us a kind review for the podcast. Just make sure we are able to align your review with your online entry. So don't make it an anonymous review. Make sure it has a way for us to connect them together so you get proper credit. Like use your first name and initial of your last name. The link to leave a review is also in the show notes. We will also be announcing this contest on Instagram and Facebook and offering bonus entries for those as well. So you all have multiple ways to grab those bonus entries.
Stacie:And we are running this contest through the month of June in 2025. It ends at midnight Pacific Standard Time, June 30th, 2025. So if you're listening to this episode in the future, you can still sign up for coaching, just not the contest for a free session. All right, well, thanks for tuning in and we hope that this has helped you to know that it's not always wine and roses for us as landlords. Even with our experience, we still struggle to handle everything professionally. And all you can do is your best, and that includes working to improve your business. We hope you enjoyed this episode and got at least one good tidbit of information out of it. If so, would you do us a favor and leave us a kind review of the podcast so other landlords will find us too? If you wanna hear more, follow or subscribe to the podcast so each week the episodes are downloaded right to your favorite podcast platform. And we'd love to stay in contact with you. If you have a question or wanna suggest a subject for our podcast, you can text us at 6 5 0 4 8 9 4 4 4 7, or you can email us at stacie@yourlandlordresource.com. That's Stacie with an IE. Or kevin@yourlandlordresource.com. We will link those in the show notes too. Also in the show notes, you can find links to all the downloads that we offer and the way to sign up for our free newsletter. There's links to our private Facebook group that's just for landlords and our social media accounts on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, where we share very informative detailed tips and tricks for landlords, so check those out. I think that's about it. Thanks again, and until next time, you've got this landlord's.
Kevin:There it is. Yep.
Stacie:Got it.
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