October, 2009:

Rental Property Update October 2009

Oct 8th, 2009
by Sean.
4 comments

This post is an update on my rental property in Philadelphia. In this section, I talk about my landlord experience – the good, the bad, and the ugly. All my posts that are related to the rental property can be found in the Rental Property section, including the bad tenant saga series).

In September, I received a call from my property manager, Earl about a flooding problem in the house. The tenant’s daughter took a bath on the second floor and water leaked down to the first floor.

I called my contactor to look at the issue. He was the guy I usually called and had helped me with the last flood. The contractor went to the house a few days later. He filled the tub with water to simulate a bath but no water leaked. I guess it was good news to know that it didn’t happen again.

The contractor tried to charge me $50 for his time. The flooding would not have been a problem if he had fixed it on the last job. I told him that I would give him $30 for his time and I said that I would call him if the flooding issue happened again. He said it $30 was better than nothing.

Below is a snapshot of the rental income and fees since the new tenants have signed the lease in June 2009. Boston renter suggested to add in my monthly expenses such as insurance, taxes and interest on the mortgage to see the true cash flow. I have added those numbers in this post. The net is not so pretty. See for yourself. (more…)

My Chicago Trip

Oct 2nd, 2009
by Sean.
1 comment

img_2577I went to Chicago in September to visit a friend who has started his new full-time job there. My friend, S.B. had recently completed his MBA program and graduated from Michigan University. He had accepted a job offer in Sears Holding located in Chicago.

The one thing I quickly noticed about Chicago, aside from having the tallest skyscraper in the country, is that Chicago also has one of the highest, if not the highest, sales tax rate, a whopping 10.25%. Beat that New York! But no, I think NYC’s sales tax is already too high. I asked my friend about Chicago’s high sales tax rate and his answer was that Chicago has a much lower income tax rate than other states, so I think that offsets the high sales tax. Here’s what I think – earn money in Chicago and spend elsewhere.

I was in Chicago for 5 days and stayed over my friend’s place. I tried to keep my trip costs low and since I stayed over at a friend’s place, I believe that helped cut a lot of the cost. Below is my expense report for my 5-day trip. (more…)