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 March, I had to fix a small water damage in the ceiling on the second floor of the house. The heavy snowfall during the winter caused a part of the roof to leak and the water ruined the interior part of the ceiling in the child’s bedroom.
I called up my usual contractor to check up on an estimate for repair. He quoted $150 on the phone, but after he looked at the damage in person, he said that the price would be $500. My real estate property manager had recommended another guy, and his price was $200. Since I am on a tight budget, I hired the cheaper guy.
Last month, the roof repair cost $350 and this month the ceiling repair cost $200, for a total of $550. Repair costs add up quick.
Monthly Income and Expenses for March 2010 [PDF link]
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).
Roof Repair
My real estate property manager, Earl called and reported that there was a small leak on the roof of my house. He said that Philadelphia had tons of snow and the amount of snow caused a lot of roofs to leak. He told me that the problem should be addressed as soon as possible before more rain or snow comes.
I told him to get some quotes for different roofers. He called me back and said that he check with several roofers. He recommended a roofer that lives a few doors down by him. He said that he had hired him and he did a great job on his roof.
As for the price, he claimed he checked with several roofers and they charged $500 – 600, but the roofer he recommended charged $450. He said that he negotiated the price with him and brought it down to $350. Another $350 out of my pockets. So I gave him the green signal to go with the roofer he recommended.
Water Bills
The water bills are in my name. Usually I would pay the water bills first and then send copies of the bill to the tenant. The tenant had not been proactively paying the water bills. They sent me a few checks and the amounts are different from the amounts due on the bills. I had no idea where they would come up with the numbers.
I create a spreadsheet that detailed the water bill charges and the amounts that they had paid. The total water bill charges came out to $589.69 and the total amount I had received from them was $283.00. The difference was $306.69. I sent them a copy of the spreadsheet and copies of all the water bills.
Billing Date Water Bill Charges
7/15/2009 71.99
8/18/2009 75.32
9/16/2009 80.09
10/16/2009 80.09
11/17/2009 75.32
12/15/2009 70.55
1/15/2010 70.55
2/16/2010 65.78 Total $589.69
Date Tenant Paid Amount
10/16/2009 102.00
10/16/2009 40.00
12/17/2009 81.00
2/1/2010 60.00 Total $283.00
My property manager, Earl charges a percentage of the rent for his services. He would usually deduct the amount from the rent check and send me another check, less his fees. The monthly rent is $900 and the property management fee is 6%, which comes out to $54.
For this month, my tenant had also made an check of $60 for water payment. So the total amount paid to me was $960. Earl had taken a 6% cut of the entire amount of $960, instead of only the rent amount of $900. In other words, he had charged a fee on the water bill, which he should not have done. He had charged a total of $57.60, an overcharge of $3.60. Granted the overcharge was small, but I was not happy with the sneaky tactics.
I called and told him that I had noticed an extra charge on his services for the same rent amount. And I said that we had agreed that the property management fee is a percentage of the rent check, excluding the water payments. He said yes. When I told him that he had overcharged me on the fees, he said that he was human and he would make mistakes too. He asked if it was only a few dollars. I said yes and then I said that I would let it go.
Monthly Income and Expenses for February 2010
Do you have a bad tenant or a bad landlord. Share your landlord/tenant stories with us.
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 January, I did not receive any calls from my property manager, Earl. This is usually a good sign. The rent check came in the beginning of the month and the rest of the month was quiet. I wish for more of these months.
In the beginning of year 2009, the bad tenants drama that started in year 2008 continued in 2009. My bad tenants had not been paying for rent and were not willing to leave the house. Worse, they had wreaked havoc in the house and in my landlord experience.
Fortunately, after many struggles, I got rid of the bad tenants by the end of March. The house was in a terrible condition. The carpets were ruined, the walls had holes in them, the windows were smashed, and the doors were dented. And that was only half the story. (more…)
Ever wonder how much money do the popular people on YouTube make? I do too. I want to know if it is possible to make a living off video blogging on YouTube.
YouTube has a traffic rank of #3 on Alexa (as of writing) with over 100 million video views per day. It is without a doubt that YouTube is the largest user-published video network out there. With that many traffic, it is only logical for people to think about making money from publishing videos.
YouTube allows users to reach audiences not only in their country but in all countries around the world. It allows you or anyone to make and publish music, movies, comedy sketches, etc. The opportunities are abundant and the possibilities are endless.
Traditionally, if you want to produce music, you would need to find a record company to sign you up. Today, with YouTube, you can cut off the middle-person. Simply create an account on YouTube and upload your music videos to the largest user-published video network and reach millions of people. The same story goes for movie makers, comedians, dancers, etc.
Many people have taken advantage of this opportunity on YouTube. Some of the famous people are LisaNova, Kevjumba, Miaarose, theresident, Happyslip, Amber Lee Ettinger (Obama Girl), SupaDupaFlyGirl, lonelygirl15 (Jessica Rose), and many more. These people are very popular on YouTube and produce new content on a regular basis. So how much do they make? Well, since they don’t publish their earnings, I can only guess.
To figure out how much each person makes or is worth, I will use the the subscribers and channel views as indicators to calculate their earnings power and multiple the number of subscribers and channel views by a factor of 5 cents and 1 cent, respectively. Here is the hypothetical formula:
Annual Earnings Power = (# of Subscribers x $0.05) + (# of Channel Views x $.01)
Lisa Nova is famous for making comedy sketches and parodies. She is one of the first YouTube celebrities that I have clicked to subscribe. I remember that she started off with only a handful of videos. Now she has published over 100 videos and the list is growing! I would think that with her large audience base, she would be making the big bucks. However, that does not seem to be the case. In her recently published video, “LisaNova’s Non-Corporately Sponsored Holiday Contest!!!,” she mentions that although some YouTubers are making tons of money, she is not one of them. She is an independent entity as the title of her recent video suggests, and she supports people to make independent videos.
Annual Earnings Power = (148,989 Subscribers x $0.05) + (9,367,879 Channel Views x $.01) LisaNova’s Annual Earnings Power = $101,128
Kevin aka Kevjumba is famous for talking about his life as an Asian American and the stereotypes that he has to deal with. One of the famous videos he posted is a stare contest against Jessica Alba (to which she responded). Kevjumba’s channel is ranked #3 for the most subscribed channels of all times in the world.
Annual Earnings Power = (371,106 Subscribers x $0.05) + (12,001,138 Channel Views x $.01) Kevjumba’s Annual Earnings Power = $138,567
miaarose
Style: Singer-Songwriter
Joined: December 29, 2006
Last Sign In: 8 hours ago
Videos Watched: 2,321
Subscribers: 163,904
Channel Views: 11,146,877
Miaarose is a singer and a song writer. She writes her own lyrics and publishes her music on YouTube. When I first saw her on YouTube, she only had a few videos. Now she has published 33 videos on YouTube.
Annual Earnings Power = (163,904 Subscribers x $0.05) + (11,146,877 Channel Views x $.01) Miaarose’s Annual Earnings Power = $119,664
theresident
Beat: Current Events
Subscribers: 18,170
Channel Views: 749,185
Lori aka The Resident makes videos based on current events. Many of the recent videos relate to the presidential election and the economy. She goes out on the streets and interviews people to get their opinions as well.
Annual Earnings Power = (18,170 Subscribers x $0.05) + (749,185 Channel Views x $.01) Theresident Annual Earnings Power = $8,400 (seems a little low)
Christine aka HappySlip is known for making comedy videos. In her videos she also takes on multiple roles, playing not only as herself, but also as the mom, dad, uncle, aunt, friend, etc. This versatility in acting reminds me of actors like John Leguizamo and Mike Myers.
Annual Earnings Power = (248,219 Subscribers x $0.05) + (8,358,814 Channel Views x $.01) HappySlip’s Annual Earnings Power = $95,999
Amber Lee Ettinger aka Obama Girl is famous for her video titled, “I Got a Crush…On Obama,” which has more than 12 million hits. She also makes other videos related to politics.
Annual Earnings Power = (98,584 Subscribers x $0.05) + (5,016,618 Channel Views x $.01) Barelypolitical’s Annual Earnings Power = $55,095
Having traffic is the key to making money in YouTube. The more people viewing your videos, the more opportunities you will have to monetize on them. As you can see, the YouTube celebrities usually have high volume views in their channels.
The hypothetical formula is only a guess. It does not reflect the actual earnings of the YouTube people. Most people on YouTube do not discuss or comment on their earnings.
Do you publish videos and make money on YouTube? What type of videos and how much do you earn?
Growing Money's Motto:
"LIVE, LEARN and EARN"
Growing Money's Philosophy: Life is short, make your money work hard for you, so you can enjoy your life.
Growing Money's Saying:
Earn to live and live to earn. Live to learn and learn to live.
Growing Money's Goal:
Financial Freedom for you
Loading ...