Chapter 24

Dad and I worked on new rental units on Saturday. I spent most of the time hauling the trash out to the curb. I couldn’t believe what people would leave behind. Well since it was really trash stuff I could understand why it was left. I couldn’t understand why they hadn’t thrown it away long before.

I asked Dad about it and he explained, “Rick there are as many reasons as there are people. But no matter the reason you can divide them into two types; down and out, and down but not out. The down and outers will live in trash, the rest won’t. Now I have simplified it because not everyone who chooses to rent is down. Actually, homeownership has just caught on since the war ended. But I stand by the basic thought.”

“How are you going to keep people from trashing your rentals?”

“We will check their backgrounds carefully. The ideal renter is a long term one who takes pride in where they live. Those are who we want. We won’t always get them. That is why we will have a month’s rent in advance plus a security deposit which will be refundable if they leave the unit in good condition. We will do a joint inspection before they move in and another when they are leaving. I will take pictures before and after.”

“If that is the normal practice why are these units a mess?”

“Background checks and security deposits haven’t really been done in Bellefontaine. It is a standard procedure in cities. In small towns everyone knew of each other, so checks weren’t needed. That was all before the war. Nowadays people move in and out of towns and jobs so much you can’t know everyone. This country has changed and to be successful in business we have to change with it.”

“Boy, Dad you sure are sharp at this.”

“I have joined the National Realtors Association. Their magazine has good articles on managing rental units.”

“I still think you are sharp. How many other local landlords do this?”

“Right now none, believe it or not with eight units I am the largest landlord in Bellefontaine. Most of the others got in the business renting out a house they inherited. I wouldn’t call any of them professional realtors.”

“That’s what I mean, you are sharp.”

“Let’s hope it is sharp enough.”

At the end of the afternoon, I had carried the trash out of four units, two duplexes side by side. I left them broom clean for Dad. We went home just before dinner.

Dinner was fun. We kids talked a lot of Spanish to devil our parents. We didn’t say anything mean, just silly stuff but Mum and Dad didn’t know that. They would exchange looks and we would burst out laughing.

Dad finally told Mum, “They were all your idea.

She blushed a little as she replied, “You didn’t turn down the chance.”

Tom knocked on the door about then. He wanted to know if I wanted to go roller-skating with a group tonight. They were going to the Roller Arena up at Indian Lake. This weekend was the last time you would be able to skate on the wooden rink.

They were going to replace the floor with a plastic one and all the wooden wheels with plastic. It would quieten the place down, but it was also the end of an era.

I told him that sounded like fun. I changed clothes real quick and we went back to his house for our ride. We picked up Tracey along the way. It only took about thirty minutes going through Huntsville to get there. I always liked that drive.

There was a huge curve outside of Huntsville where routes 117 and 33 splits. At the end of the curve was a tourist souvenir place, and the entire outside was coated in seashells. It was starting to look rundown since the tourist business at the lake didn’t recover after the war.