I’ve just finished 3 days of blood-sweating, head banging bliss completing our personal financial statement for Commercial Bank. Highly recommended right up there with Cat-in-Heat Serenades with Fingernail-Chalkboard Accompaniment.

 Do not talk to me– I’m off to decompress with chamomile tea and Turner Classics.

(Much Screaming…)

Popularity: 4% [?]

 Here’s my system for keeping track of current tenants–

Hanging file folder with white tab, labeled:

Address\Current Tenant

For instance– 54321 Travis Ave\Current Tenant

Inside is a colored interior folder, labeled with the address and tenant’s name:

54321 Travis/Susan Brown

Inside is the application and all background check/screening documents and a copy of the signed lease.

On the inside cover of the interior folder, I write contact information–Cell phone number, email address.

Day to Day Stuff

When a tenant calls, I take out the interior folder and make note of the date and the reason for the call on the outside front of the folder, plus any follow-up information. This gives a detailed record of all interaction.

For example: Ms. Brown calls on New Year’s Eve and leaves message on the answering machine saying her refrigerator is leaking. Here’s what’s written on the folder:

12/31/07 (10 pm) Message: Answering machine: Ms. Brown says fridge is leaking

1/1/08  (9 am) Returned call, left message (987) 654-3210 “Will call repairman on 1/2/08.” CB

1/2/08 (10 am) Left message (987) 654-3210 “Repairman will check out fridge on 1/3/08, afternoon.” CB

1/2/08 (11:30 am) Message: Answering machine: Ms. Brown says ‘goodie’

1/3/08 (2 pm) Repair completed by Joe’s Appliance Repair, check # 3212, $76.50

Inside the current applicant’s folder, I put copies of any notices of entry, copies of notices mailed to the tenant (late notices, notice of default, notice of rental increase, etc.)

When a Tenant Leaves 

Our lease states that the tenant has to give 30 days written notice– rarely happens. Once they call, I start keeping a written record of calls and interaction on the back of the interior folder.

For example:

2/1/08 (10 am) Message: Answering machine: Ms. Brown says her mother’s sick and she’s moving out Friday.

2/1/08 (11 am) Returned call, left message (987) 654-3210 “Sorry to hear of trouble, reminder– tenants must give 30 days written notice per lease to receive full deposit, house must be pro. cleaned and without damage,” etc.

2/2/08 (10 am) mailed “Reminder of Move Out Policy”

2/5/08 (5 pm) Message: Answering machine: Ms. Brown says “Keys on counter, mail deposit to 123 Smith, Conroe, TX”

2/5/08 (7 pm) Visited property, visible damage, no cleaning, junk everywhere– *digital photos taken (copies go in file)

When a tenant moves out, I move the interior folder from the hanging folder labeled ‘Current Tenant’ in the upper drawer to another hanging folder labeled “54321 Travis\Former Tenants” in the bottom drawer.

By writing on the folder, all those little sticky notes and slips of paper are eliminated and I have a permanent record

Clear as mud, right?

Popularity: 7% [?]

The mad hunt for our survey unearthed a ton of important-ish papers which do not fit in our letter-size filing cabinets, so the first order of business involved retrieval of anything legal size.

 This box from Home Depot can hold either letter or legal size hanging folders, depending on which way you flip the box.

On closer inspection, the pile was almost all closing documents of one sort or another.

Front to back:

• Surveys- Green hanging folder, each survey went in a manila tabbed folder with the address printed on top– easier than digging through the closing papers individually.
• Closing Papers– Each set of closing documents went in a seperate hanging folder. Each home was assigned a color. Huge, tacky envelopes from the title company were thrown away. Some homes have been refinanced, so each refi got a separate hanging file in the same color, filed chronologically from front to back.
• Title policies– Filed using labeled manila envelopes tucked into the appropriate colored hanging file. Other important papers relating to each property were filed the same way (HELOC documents, appraisals). 
• A folded set of house plans fit well in the back. With this system, I can fit 4 homes/ box (5 max.)

Plain, manila folders~

Colored hanging folders~

Next~ On To The File Cabinet

Popularity: 6% [?]

One of my dd’s had the nerve to turn 21 without my permission. There will be a great party and much rejoicing, but in the meantime, things must be cleaned prompting massive organizational maneuvers in the office region.

This:

Now looks like this:

I’m happy to report that JoJo’s crate is stored in the garage and all surveys are in the legal size file box where they belong.

More pix:

View from the door: Note the lovely file cabinet and thrift store bookcase and chairs.

An actual file cabinet in the actual office deserves another shot– isn’t she pretty?

Another view from the door, looking toward the desk. When I grow up, I’m going to get an actual desk made of wood (or wood-like by-products.)

Note the lovely calendar poised delicately over laptop. <insert plug for Becky’s artwork here>

My friend, Becky Schultea, sells them over on her website.

Next– details on the filing system.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Too tired to write much–lots of running around rat-killing. The missing survey is now safely in possession and artistically arranged upon a mound of stuff.

Exhibit A:

Current state of mess in the office– note newly acquired survey in corner. Also note that surveys do not belong in piles atop dog crates.

Exhibit B:

Office Closet of Doom.

Exhibit C:

$200 pile of loot from Office Depot which will magically transform mess into OB (organizational bliss… see yesterday.)

Exhibit C+:

A retro solution to my inability to keep up with computer bookkeeping. More on this later.

And finally:

Closeup of file box– so if it’s watertight, then it should be humidity-proof… right? I’m hoping that gasketed lid will keep the Gulf Coast humidity out once the box is stored away in the attic.

Tomorrow, we begin (dum dum dum de-duuuuum.)

Popularity: 6% [?]

Once upon a time I was organized. Then a mean ol’ tree landed on our home, rainwater spewed over my closing documents, the file cabinet from Walmart leaked and what do you know… no more organization.

During our refugee days, organization consisted of keeping papers in color-coded laundry baskets where wet papers were left to dry following their rescue. All the while I promised myself daily that the minute we moved back home, new files and a logical filing system would get first attention over decoration.

Didn’t happen.

Then yesterday, I wasted an hour and a half hunting for our survey– a survey that originally cost $450 and who-knows-how-much for another copy, not to mention an hour and a half that could’ve been spent doing more dishes or compulsively scanning MLS and other fun stuff. And while I consoled myself that this would just be another lesson in the REI business school of hard knocks, the bile in my throat didn’t agree.

Finally gave up. Called our old mortgage broker to ask for the name of our surveyor to order another copy. He said, “That’s sitting in our back room. Found it the other day… guess we never mailed it.” Heavy sigh of relief followed by mild irritation followed by a resolution to get organized *this month* before the agony of income tax rolls around yet again.

So, because I’m irritated and do my best writing in states of agitation, you shall be bombarded with my indignation so I don’t fry the poor child-units.

Many pictures to follow as I peruse Office Depot for the most expensive way possible to a life of Organizational Bliss.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Tags: landlord, Record Keeping, REI, rent houses