webLOGfor.US

    The vacant house is finally rented.  Friday night I met with the new tenant to sign the lease and collect the deposit for the property.  This unit has been vacant for about 2 months looking for the right tenant.  

    The rental market in Philly is picking up quite nicely and rents have been increasing but I kept running into prospects who did not qualify.  It was either no job or a short time at the current job or a horrible credit score (or a combination of the above).  I try and weed these people out before they come to see the property with my phone interview but I was amazed at the amount of people who came and filled out applications knowing they had this on their background.  I guess they thought I wouldn't check their information out.  They thought wrong.  Since there is a $35 application fee they were basically throwing away their money.  I guess that is part of the tenant mentality.

    As Murphy's Law would have it I ended up getting a few good applicants all at one time so I had my "pick of the litter" so to speak.  I actually went against one of my normal items of "no pets".  I figured it was best because I know that I will need to replace the carpeting in about 2-3 years and I am hoping that these tenants stay that long.  If they do I will just go through the normal replacement schedule as I had planned.  The $600 pet deposit fee will help cover that cost if there is any damage anyway.

    It's times when I have to turn down good applicants like these that I wish I was faster at acquiring properties.  Hopefully this tenant will be a winner.  I'll keep everyone posted as to how it goes.

web log for us – those that have others pay our mortgage for us. 

    Currently there is no tax on Internet Access in the United States.  This moratorium on Internet taxes, which first appeared in 1998, has been extended several times, with the last extension granted in 2004.  This moratorium is set to expire November 1 of this year.  If it expires, states and other municipalities could put in place a variety of access taxes, similar to those on telephone bills.

    There has been a measure filed to extend the moratorium for four more years.  Without this extension, some say there could be a tax on email or dial-up or broadband connections.  

    In addition Congress is considering a plan to dip into Americans' wallets, develop a new tax system intended to create a "level playing field" for shoppers, businesses and governments, and help states collect sales taxes not being charged on many Internet purchases.

    Let your Congressmen and Senators know how you feel about taxing the Internet.

    Read more about it here.

web log for us – those that feel the Internet should remain a tax-free shopping place.

I'm off to San Francisco for a few days on business.  Interestingly I was amazed at how full the flight was and how hopping the town is.  It wasn't until I turned on the TV that I realized the baseball All-Star game is tomorrow.  That explains a lot.  As you can tell, I don't follow baseball.  Good game but not enough action in it for me.  

Anyway, if  there is one thing that a 6 hour flight across the country gives you it's time.  I used that time to write a couple posts for the blog.  The are posted and set to go off one per day for the rest of the week.  Enjoy the posts and if you know of any must-go-to restaurants in San Francisco, let me know.