Wednesday, July 14, 2010

I am a genius or retarded

Recently, my secondary residence has been broken into twice within the last several weeks. For anyone who has not experienced this unique feeling……………….it sucks some hard ass. I had two gun safes there but they were undisturbed. They did however take the dolly, rope and support stand I used to get those safes into the house to start with. After some reflection and “other stuff” I’m convinced that they were just some kids and not hardened criminals.

The ultimate solution is to rent out my second home and have them there to keep an eye on the place, and more importantly, make the place look lived in.

That’s why the bastards struck. All the coppers I’ve talked to have told me that garages and out-buildings are fair game to the meth heads who will steal anything not nailed down. But they won’t enter your home because they’re afraid of getting shot. Well, my summer home does not look lived in. Even people I trust, only know my one of my adresses.



So I’m becoming a land lord…………yippee.

I have always resisted the idea of renting it out because:

1. I didn’t need to in order to survive financially.
2. I value my privacy more than most men value their crotch nuggets.
3. I didn’t want to deal with the responsibility, both legally and morally.
4. I really did live half the year in one place and half in the other. It’s a long story.

Pretty boring post so far, huh?

Well, my new tenet is a convicted felon………………..for burglary. He screwed up when he was 18 years old and served 18 months in prison for it. His mother is also my neighbor. I’ve had run ins with him in the past for trespassing and being a bit disrespectful of my property. But, truth be told, he was walking across this property 16 years before I bought the place. I never wanted to be the mad man on the hill yelling at the next generation for trespassing because I was yelled at for the same when I was his age. All that changed when he was convicted of burglary. I had a talk with him when he got out and let him know in no uncertain terms that if he ever set foot on my property again, the police response would be the least of his worries. He told me then that he was starting fresh and wanted to just live a normal life with normal stuff. I didn’t believe him for a second. To me, he was pure evil. He was the reason I finally got my CCW permit after my buddy bugged for 5 years to get one.

Now 4 years have gone by and I always reevaluate my conceptions when needed. He’s 22 years old and homeless. No normal business will hire him because of his felony conviction and his mother has kicked him out of the house for growing weed in her home. Fair enough, it’s her home, not his.

So here I am.

1. He says he wants to start over.
2. He still has a support network from his mother who lives directly across the street. He can’t live there but she still gives him a raft of shit for being a douche-bag.
3. Despite that, he has alternated living/”staying” with his mom while trying to find a job. Time for the fledgling to fly.
4. I had a very long talk with him and his girl friend about decency, honor and community.

He grew up here, long before I showed up. People in my community prefer to lop off body parts in lieu of calling the non-existent police force. Being a new-comer, I had a decision to make.

Do I give this guy a second chance or shun him?

First instinct is to shun him, his entire family and any celestial connections. But I actually like the guy.

UPDATE: First and foremost, I appreciate the brute honesty in everyones' comments. I feel like a need to clarify a bit.

I've already lived next door to my renter for 10 years. He's either going to rent from me, or park a camper trailer in his mom's driveway which is directly across the street from my driveway. His opportunity to rip me off has never nor will ever change in the short term. He still goes to moms for food so I'm living next to him either way.

Of course I moved the damn gun safes.

I actually don't care if he gets a job right away because we've worked out a deal of labor for reduced or total rent, depending on the level of labor. I grew up in a community that valued the bartering system and so does the one I currently live in.
The house and yard need extensive work done and he's more than handy as witnessed how he has fixed up his mom's house/yard in the past. The deal already was that when staying with mom, yard duties and fix-it jobs were his rent. He's simply doing the exact same thing he's accustomed to for me now.

I figure that if I can get 4 hours of work out of him and his girlfriend each day, which is more than reasonable, I will get $2400 worth of work done every month considering I would have to pay someone $10/hour to do it otherwise. Right now, the house is just sitting there getting old. I'd rather have it do something for me.

In addition, the town I live in only has about 300 people. We know each other. We're aquainted. I was forced with the decision of tossing him to the garbage heap or trying to instill in him the values and morals I was raised with. Yes, he's a pet project of mine.

I have plenty of projects around the place and I've even hired him before for odd jobs.

It's a win for him and a win for me. As far as him using my home for illicit purposes, that's not very likely...............because I'm his neighbor, and I do look after my property.

Much as our adversaries love to think we say, life is black and white. I marvel at shades of gray every single day. I'm going to give him a chance to redeem himself. And if my plan falls to darkness, I will blame only myself. Not others, not video games nor movies.

If my trust is unwarranted, y'all will be the first to know......stay tuned.

The inner cities can't do this on a meaningful level. But when living in a town of only 300, yes we can.

I may be a fool, but crossing me will give you nightmares when you're older and wiser.

I still win.





Unorganized Militia Gear

14 comments:

The Warrior said...

Ooh, heck I have no idea...if I were you I'd likely not do it, but then again I'm like you--safe, private and I don't like "douche-bags". Once you're on my bad side you stay there....

But then again, that's not the most Christian thing, is it?

Anonymous said...

Well ... I hope you have a certain sense for dark humor.

Carteach said...

Been there, done that.

$7500 in damage to the house. I had nothing personal there to to steal, so nothing was taken.

Kind of burned me forever on stuff like that.

Earl said...

He knows how to say he has changed and needs another chance, the question is does he know how to stay right? The culture does not expect better behavior from him. But then the culture thinks guns are dangerous and immoral.

New Jovian Thunderbolt said...

This can only end in tears.

Thomas F said...

You know through the grape vine he was growing weed in his mom's house and you still invite him in.......

Non/un employable and you still let him in........

How is he going to pay rent......

He is probably the one who was in your house twice before......

Go out and find yourself the meanest nastiest lawyer/rental agent and let them manage the property for you, renter screws up or rent is a day late blam!!! paperwork is started for eviction.....

That Guy said...

Don't do it. If he gets busted growing Pot in YOUR home by the cops, the police/DA/ Feds can and will seize YOUR home and property.

Plus, you will need to move all of your guns out so that you are not making firearms available to a felon.

Just don't.

Anonymous said...

Simple economic decision:
+ You have a tenant who pays you on time
+ Your tenant does not trash the property
+ Your property is secured as it is now lived in and not susceptible to casual meth head thefts
- Your tenant does not pay on time
- Your tenant trashes your property which diminishes value, and costs hard $ to repair
- Your tenant grows or cooks on the property making you susceptible to seizure
- You are forced to evict your tenant for any of the above costing you several months of lost rent (unless the courts work radically differently in your area, PLUS the hard costs of attorneys fees
- Your tenant is actually friends with the meth heads who broke in, which will compound all the other (-) exponentially


Having been a landlord in the past and still renting to a much reduced number, the first rule of property management and landlording is cherry picking your tenants. I get that you want the property lived in, but if mom gave up on him, he already has a record, and the potential downside is SO much greater than the upside, why the heck would you do this??? Seriously, this is one of the stupidest posts I have ever commented on. You dont even need the analysis, you just need to decide with your brain instead of your golden heart.

If you want to rent the property for the upsides of revenue and security, go for it, but not to this guy.

I would add that no matter who you rent to, you cannot leave the firearms on the property. Period. They must be under your control at all times, regardless of the safe they are enclosed in. Yes, specifically in this case of a felon, but even if you were renting to my grandma, it is probably a legal issue, and definitely a common sense issue - unless they are blood relatives, you do not leave firearms without your being present on the property (again, within a safe or not.)

Weer'd Beard said...

I must echo the sentiments of others. I wouldn't if I were you. My Nephew is a drug addict. He's always been a great kid and I've always liked him...that's when he's clean. He's very similar to your acquaintance, good guy, bit of a mischievousness streak, reminds me of myself at that age. Only he's an addict and has been busted for a number of crimes, done time, and is unemployable (except for the census bureau...that's even scarier)

He will be a great kid until he feels the need to do drugs, which is not a matter of "If" but "When", and when that DOES happen (and it will) he will break, steal, and destroy anything he can.

Remember his own kin have thrown him out (the same with my Nephew) why on EARTH do you think his own flesh and blood won't trust him, but you can?

Smokey Behr said...

This is where a "Fool me once... Fool me twice" scenario comes in. Let him know that in no uncertain terms that he is to keep on the straight-and-narrow, and that if he deviates from that path in any way, that he will be looking for another home, whether it's back with his mother, in a shelter, on the streets, or in jail.

I hope you have First, Last, and a security deposit equal to a month's rent before you hand the keys over. I don't know what the housing situation is in your area, but I know that there are plenty of people out there looking to rent, especially with all the foreclosures in the US.

Anonymous said...

I would list the place with a management firm and remove the safes to a more secure location. The only time I ever rented to a "friend"(I worked with him) He turned out to be a druggie and ended up stiffing me for five months rent...
But we are all adults and make our own decisions.

Anonymous said...

Best of luck. My suggestion, hire the kid to do the work before you let him move in. He has a place to stay, right? That trailer at his mom's place.

So if you pay him to do the work, and he does a good job like you say he can, maybe then you can let him move in. He might just feel a little pride in having done the job and been paid for it.

But make him do the work first. That will also give you time to see if he really has straightened out.

kaveman said...

I have already hired him to do work on my place and he did it with enthusiasm. If he continues to do what he has already shown he can do, I will be improving my property value by 100%.

That's my plan.

If my property has my vision, I can sell it for 4 times what I paid for it. It's so easy, even a kaveman could do it.

George said...

Other issues aside-that have been heartily addressed-I will address another-Gun Safe(s). I had a 800# Fort Knox in my home. I thought "No one will take it, it's 800#." I was wrong!
Make certain your safe(s) are bolted in to aged concrete by professionals. Learn from my fail.