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I’m not sure why a real estate investor won’t take care of their Kansas City rental property but it just seems to me that drainage problems and rental property go hand in hand.

Fixing a basement in Kansas City can be very, very costly. Heck, if you put in a 4″ wall brace every six feet and you have 140 linear feet of basement wall you are going to end up with a bill close to $9,000 for repairs. And that’s if you don’t need any other major corrections…which is highly unlikely.

Some simple things you can do to protect your rental property investments;

• Water the lawn when there has been no rain for an extended period of time. Especially about two feet out from the foundation. If you think your tenants won’t water because they pay the bill offer them a $25 rent credit to offset their water bill.
• Make sure ALL downspouts have elbows on them at the water exit. Otherwise it’s like a blasting tube for water during thunderstorms. I’ve seen holes as much as a foot deep dug by the foundation walls. Not good.
• Add those $15 flexible black pipe extenders to your downspouts to get the water directed to the closest slope away from your rental house.
• Add dirt around your foundation so that you have a one inch drop away from the house before you have gone more than twelve inches away from the foundation.
• Avoid buying rental property in Kansas City at the bottom of a hill if there is no berm or drainage systems to direct the water away from or around your rental property.

This list is by no means all inclusive. Nor will it insure that you never have a foundation problem. But it sure as well help keep your negligence from being the doom of your Kansas City rental property. And how much do you think any of those items costs, anyway?

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As I get busier my focus gets narrower when it comes to Kansas City real estate investing. I am spending a week or two putting together a list of my core values. Cliche I know. But telling, never-the-less. So look for that coming soon.

There are some folks out there that think real estate agents make too much money. That is funny to me. Usually (always) these people work at some job where they put in their 40 and go home. Complain about their job they do. (Did you catch the Yoda structure of that sentence?)

Anyway, the point is that I’m out socializing last evening and all anyone wants to talk about is the current real estate market. I’m out at my son’s football game Saturday night and I get two phone calls regarding real estate matters. The phone almost always rings when I’m having dinner with my family. And while I ignore it until I’m finished eating everyone hears it and it’s on their minds.

So “some folks” may not like what I’m gonna say here but “Mind your own damn business and if you want to make more money do something different. And quit worrying about what I make or don’t make.”

These same “some folks” aren’t feeling bad for me when I’ve invested a thousand dollars in time and money and a seller decides not to sell. Or drive a buyer around to 10 houses and they decided not to buy. So quit chastising me when times are good for me.

Okay, I feel better.

While I’m ranting, Blogger no longer seems to allow me to dump certain comments. Why? I got spammed over the weekend by some “person” with nothing better to do than add links from my blog. I’d love to dump them. If the jerk, er person, keeps spamming I’ll have to turn on comment moderation and nobody wants that.

So two things;

1. Blogger, put the trash cans back on my comments section so I can get rid of these stupid ads that no one will read anyway.
2. Spammers, leave me alone and get your own readership.

(Can you tell the Chiefs got killed yesterday with no hope for the season? Looks like I’ll have to spend my football season rooting for the Washington Redskins and against the Raiders.)

What if you weren’t going to be here tomorrow? What kind of grade would your spouse or significant other give you on your choice of real estate investments?

It just happened again! Can somebody out there explain to me the logic of driving 35 mph on a 40 mph road and then running the yellow light to make it through? (Leaving me to wait through the light!!!!)

If you are one of these idiots, er people, please explain. I’m begging you. Are you driving below the speed limit to be safe? Then why run the light?

We both could have made it if you would just drive the 40 mph!!!

Okay, I feel better. 🙂