A typical day in the life of Property Management

Sometimes I believe that there are people who just don't know how to think. I don't know what causes someone to want to complain about needing something without using some sense. My favorite stupid complaint was, "my kitchen light doesn't work" to which I asked, "have you change the bulb?" only to have the response, "are we suppose to do that?". When someone tells me something isn't working, I expect to hear certain things to describe 'not working', words like the motor humming but the blades aren't chopping. Good way to describe a wonky disposal. If you tell me your light isn't working, I may believe I need to call an electrician. Now how stupid would that be!

There are some renters who believe we run a motel service, and that we would change light bulbs, call carpet cleaners when they want the carpets cleaned, and pay for the plumber when their hair is fished out of the drain. I even had one tenant want me to come spray the ants at her window. I told her she was free to purchase a can of spray and take care of it herself, but she didn't understand English well enough to grasp the concept. I am certain the owner was miffed when it cost him $52 to have someone purchase a can of spray and go out and charge the owner a one hour maintenance charge to spray the ants.

Often times, I have to remind people what their lease says, the one they signed. No we don't supply bulbs and batteries. Your smoke detector was re-batteried when you moved in and all lights were working, so the lease says you need to take care of this afterward. I will remind them that they have a responsibility to ensure their trash cans are taken out weekly and no we don't supply pest control. If they have a termite issue, that is different, but if they don't take out the trash, they better get a pest control because we will charge them extermination fees when they move.

Right now, we have a house that we are chasing a ghost electrical issue. It comes and goes throughout the house and occurs on weekends, nights and other odd times. I've called the electrician, again, but I am going to have to see this whole affair. It's an odd set up, and probably an old one to boot. I think we are looking at a rash of loose neutrals and junction boxes. I'll know tomorrow. In the meantime, I will remind some how to use the brain God gave them to solve minor issues.