— September 5th, 2008 —

My Corporate Preparation bill came in, along with all the paperwork to file our rental companies 2007 taxes (we used a 6 month extension). $1700!!! Alas, I’m told that’s about right. I was surprised on how much detail was required, including all expenses broke down by each of our six units.

The rental company itself is just doing so-so. Everyone actually paid on time in July, but not since. We had one late payer for August, and two this month – including that one that still hasn’t paid August. They are on the short road to eviction if they don’t make good REAL soon. Seems like everything is breaking too. So far this summer I’ve replaced two water heaters, had one fixed, replaced a stove and a dishwasher, and am dealing with a leaky roof now in one unit. Good thing I’m just looking to build equity, because I’m dying cash-flow wise. At least there are people in all the units – our last one took 9 months to rent (which is a big part of why our cash-flow is horrible). Honestly, I don’t think I would have done this if I had a working crystal ball two years ago. Now that we have the farm, I know I wouldn’t. In fact, as units free up, we plan on selling, leasing-to-own, or leasing each and every one of them. Hopefully by the time I retire, we will be out of that game.