Crying over rentals...

I got stuck in an 80s music warp on youtube the other day. One hit led to another till I was watching a Platinum Blonde video.



Where are they now??? Pressing question, I googled them.

Kenny Maclean the bassist and Keyboardist passed away in 2008.

Mark Holmes the lead singer is an actor and composer.

Sergio Galli is a luxury home builder in Ontario. I'm sure I've seen his beautiful homes in Mississauga. Take a look here

Chris Steffler lives in Toronto. I found a great article about his foray into rental real estate. Imagine the guy from Platinum Blonde as your landlord.

 Anyway he had some troubles:

“One day I got a call from a tenant saying he was going to sue me for $100 because a mouse ate out the crotch of his girlfriend’s bathing suit and another $500 because mice were in his sofa. How did it become such a huge problem? This couple had been there for two years. All they had to do was tell me they’d seen a mouse and I would have come right over to deal with it.”
“I was totally stressed out. When a tenant doesn’t pay the rent or a cheque bounces, you can have the best excuses in the world but the mortgage company doesn’t care about your problems. Some major repair would suddenly need to be done and I’d be like, ‘omigod, I need two grand by Thursday!’ Those houses cost me a lot of money and a relationship.”

The best piece of wisdom:

It’s about being self-sufficient,” he says. “If your landlord doesn’t have to come all the way to your place at dinnertime on a long weekend just to fix a leaky tap, you cement a great relationship. Just let him cash your cheques and worry about the big stuff, like replacing a furnace or the roof. The more love you can get happening with your landlord, the better off you’ll be.”

Rentals are never easy. It's interesting everyone has the same troubles. No one is doing it better and becoming a millionaire over night.  Maybe a property manager could have eased his troubles.