Not a question, just a story...share yours please.

Many people have problems with priorities. Here is my example.

I had a tenant a few years ago. She was a professional accountant, made $60,000/year. 10+ years on her job, stable residence in an apartment, single mom with a 12 year old son. I approved her. The rent on this house is $1,080/month.

During the showing and the in-home visit she was obviously mature, clean, smart,etc. Her house was clean, she wore clean clothes, had her fingernails painted, always looked nice and was clean, etc.

She moved in, and within a week she called me and asked if she could rent a water softener. I asked her why...and she said "My hair is very important to me...I spend $120 every 3 weeks to get it styled, colored, and cut. Having soft water keeps it looking nice."

I made her a deal. I said "Call the water softener company and ask how much it is per month to rent one. I will then buy and install one and raise your rent by an amount $5/month less than that and I'll have my plumber install it."

She agreed. Two weeks later it was installed and she was happy. 7 months later she was late on her rent. I notified her to pay, and she did...4 days late. The following month, late again. I told her that we needed funds within 3 days or we would file for eviction. She did not pay, so I filed, got the judgment, and evicted her. On the day she was supposed to be out, I texted her...she said she was packing up the last things. I told her I needed to change the locks that night, so she said come on over.

I arrived just as she was leaving. She said she was heading to the nail salon. And her hair looked beautiful. And...she had a tan...she'd been to the tanning salon recently.

As a side note, she left the house clean and with minimal damage, so I did get the unpaid rent via the judgment and was made whole including the ELT fee. No financial downside...just the hassle of turnover.

It just amazes me that people will put a tanning salon in front of their rent payment.

My husband and I bought our apartments fully occupied with inherited tenants. All the units are 2 bed/ 1 bath. Our first project was improving the common areas. We had one very friendly tenant the first few days we worked on site. We realized why he was so friendly -- he had lost his job and could not pay his rent. so he was trying to get our good side. One night as we were heading home after a long day painting and cleaning a laundry room, I walked by his apartment while putting supplies back in the truck. He was sitting in his easy chair in front of the TV -- eating a pizza, drinking beer and smoking a cigarette (in my non-smoking apartments!) Beer, cigarettes and pizza -- and homeless the next month.

I have also learned the hard way that many tenants priorities and not rent first. This can often be verified by looking at their credit reports and eviction records.

What I've done to reduce this is to require direct account to account transfers at the bank. If they have no account or say they don't believe in banks I now reject them. I also require them to have overdraft protection on their account so that if they don't have enough in their account the bank automatically pays it and then they owe the bank.

Does this always work? NO!

I've found that no matter what I might do, some tenants will find a way around it. It's a common trait of scammers and thieves. I think this is a character flaw. Some people have these. In my area there are hundreds of renters and I'd say about 30-40 are like this. They keep getting evicted and any landlord who does not do their screening soon loses lots of money.

This is one reason why I am such a big fan of Dave Ramsey. People might argue all day long about his views on credit cards, reward points, investing, all cash vs. borrowing,etc. But the CORE of his teaching...the thing he is known for...the BABY STEPS. Which are 100% about priorities.

First, you get current on the "4 walls": light/heat, food, rent, and basic transportation. This isn't a Baby Step technically. It's basic survival mode. If your CPA lady had followed this piece of advice, she would not have been evicted.

Then you work on a basic savings, then debt paydown, then safety net, then investing for retirement, then funding kids college, then paying off your house, then living like no one else.

It's so simple to grasp, put these things in order and you'll prosper. But folks have such a hard time actually DOING it.

As far as my stories go: I can almost always show where an eviction happened because of messed up priorities. The tenant who drives a late model sports car but is late on rent. The person with 10 empty liquor bottles in the sink when you go over for the inspection. They'll have 2 large dogs who eat like teenage boys and 3 fish tanks...but RENT? ;-)

Rent-a-Center furniture and electronics. Pay 3x as much for shiny because "I gotta have it now" because you can't wait 3 months to simply save up, or buy a used one, or off Craigslist.

Back in 1997, at the depths of the real estate market, I purchased many low income apartment buildings. I had saved up every penny to make these multiple purchases. Sacrificed life's simple pleasures.

Within a year all of my "low-income" tenants, all with families, had:

a) A large screen TV on payments

b) A new vehicle, on payments

c) A new computer, with store financing

I asked these tenants if they knew the financing was making them pay double the base price, at 16%-24% per year. They didn't care, they wanted things now! I heard a husband tell his wife that they had an extra $200 at the end of the month -- What should they spend it on?

Savings? Retirement? Health Insurance? Or a College fund? NOPE! Those things are for them. Why? Because they will get those services for free via a social program.

10 years later, those tenants that I still had asked me what I did with my money I made from the apartments I had purchased recently. . I told them I still have my old tube TV, no new car and an older computer. But what I do have is a million dollars in the bank and a healthy monthly income.

Good stories all, thanks for sharing. I knew I was not the only one.

Depending on her office or corporate environment, maybe she is implementing a "dress for success" regieme or high grooming standards are enforced at her place of employment.

Hoosier,

Congrats! Your promptness protected your business!

ZT paid off! Most LLs would habe let this drag on a few months before filing.

My favorite was the guy who bought his girlfriend $700 worth of roses.