2022-09-02 - 5:45 p.m.

Thankfully my Dad helped me again this month!

He deposited $500 directly into my account which is so amazing
As I asked him to borrow $350

But truth be told I needed more to pay ALL the monthly bills. So his $500 put the account that was in the red back into black as my phone/ internet bill went through bringing it to a negative balance!

Today's tasks have included cleaning bathrooms and the kitchen and removing old caulk and recalling, and vacuuming the Basememt with a borrowed Dyson. It just does a better job than the little robo vac, which works fine, but I want one last deep clean. The attachments on tge upright vac also were needed to get the cobwebs from corners of the ceiling and vacume on to of each door and get all the vents.
A touch up carpet cleaner has been sprayed. I had a pet clean up formula on hand so used it ( just in case!) So I need to vacume again in a couple of hours once it dries. I completed changing the basement door so it has a separate secure lock. I think that us essential to have a clear boundary for whomever rents so I prefer to give the whole basement. The tenant is welcome to share the kitchen and living room as apparently in VA you can not rent out a townhouse basement without including common areas, including the kitchen. But for the price of real estate for rent here I can't imagine not really providing a whole private secure apt for what I will get in rent. I personally LOVE when I have tenants as all the kids then HAVE to comply with the household rules of being couteous which in recent years they ignored when it was just me here living with my kids. I mean in the past when I had tenants the rules were clear and they followed them! In a shared kitchen you do not leave your dirty dishes sitting in the sink! You wash them immediately!
All the years of having tenants , only one renter actually liked to cook and used the kitchen. I had cleared out the one pantry area as well for her as she kept most of her non perishables upstairs in the shared kitchen, her perishables in the basement fridge and she made meals in the kitchen a few days a week.
She used her fridge and freezer downstairs to store meals prepared and leftovers.

But since that gal moved out the next tenants just did all their cooking with the microwave and the radiant heat cook top. I specifically bought the radiant heat cook top as it is the safest kind designed for apartment living.
So it will be interesting to find out of my new tenant ( when I get one) prefers to keep to the basement and be super private or has interest in hanging out here and using the upstairs common area. I did not know legally you have to offer the common areas! I will look up the law on that to confirm. Fine with me either way! I just hope to get a cool tenant that will be a good fit to interact with my family.

I initially hoped to have the basement ready to show today. That did not happen! We are having the listing go live next week. Today my realtor's husband came over and re-hung the AC unit the kids and I had put in ( Apparently not optimally! Ha. It was in and we padded the 2 inch gap of open window at top with a blanket. The window closes to secure the AC and I thought we got it in right!) We thought he was going to just close the gap a blanket was shoved in. Ha...he fixed the install good man thst he is.

I was the helper on that project and it was great to get it done. I know the lovely real estate agent and her husband from church. She is just so good! She pretty much insisted " good enough " would not serve me well ( or her reputation as a realtor I am sure!)
Her hubby also fixed a couple of doors that were off track. I was proud of simply identifying and buying on line the hardware needed which tge fellow then picked up and came over to fix tge doors to the laundry area and the bedroom closet.

Ok back at it.
So much stuff all over my living room, in hall and my bedroom I need to get to the attic! Have to make room!

Tomorrow morning a trip to donate lots of things not needed will be so gratifying!

I am going to...get this...take a break from cleaning to...

Paint the porch. Ha ha 😂 🤣 😆
The Neverending chore.... I had gotten the fence and railings and stairs slowly done a bit at a time with the clear Thompson Water Sealant I bought. All but the main part! In moving everything from the basement I found the two cans of actually colored porch stain abd sealant. So going to finally get it done!! Having folks come to look at the place is seriously motivating!!

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