Money in; Money Out or Money Out; Money Out

I feel like I just spend money in Seattle. We have 4 houses here so it is actually quite a task to take care of them all. At least once a year, I try to take care of all the maintenance and upkeep on them all. That was this visit. I thought I had a contractor who would help me but he flaked. This is a common theme I find with contractors, so I wasn’t really surprised just annoyed – why don’t you want me to give you money?? Anyway, this meant that I had to take care of a bunch of stuff I was going to have him do. Not gonna lie, homeownership is expensive. Plumbing, roofs, floors, landscaping, fencing, trees, furniture, linens…. Also, one of our houses was in a little bit more of disrepair than I expected and that house is taking a lot of my time right now. I am able to do a lot of upkeep myself but I find it is often better to hire professionals. Even if you consider yourself handy, the work-product may not stand the test of time of a true professional.

I also move furniture around between houses. Often, I have to order pieces online and things just don’t arrive when they say they will. So, I’ll ‘borrow’ from one house to make another house whole. It is a never-ending process. I find that people are hard on houses. They break things and hide it or don’t tell you – even though they pay for insurance or a damage deposit. I have no judgement here. I often feel like I’m solving a mystery, or I’ll ask the guests and they will flat out deny anything. It’s fascinating. This means I have to go through the houses and test everything. I stay in each house for at least one night, that way I use everything – coffee maker, fridge, utensils, etc.

I am also very lucky in that I have a whole team of people who are wonderful that I work with. From cleaners to plumbers to handy-people. I have a great team. At the end of the day, I still love it. Currently, I am T-minus 7 days until I leave the country. I haven’t been that efficient with my time, to be honest, but I also didn’t know how much work there was going to be. I apologize if I haven’t been able to see you. I think we all need time by ourselves to get our bearings. Sometimes I just like to completely focus on the task at hand and my homes needed my attention. Until next time Seattle.