Whats everyone do for a living?!?

[RalphVa]

I worked for 31 years as a chemical engineer on lubricating oil refining technology: design, computer modelling, startups, troubleshooting, teaching people how they work, etc. Worked all over the work on many different plants: largest lube oil plant in US, largest wax plant in US, largest lube oil plant in Europe and many in the Far East.

Got tired of the travel and finished out with 4 years in Baton Rouge (largest wax plant in US).

Ralph

 

[forgeblast]

I started delivering papers also cut grass and shoveled snow, then
when I was able to drive I worked retail selling sporting goods and camping gear.
Summer from college I worked at a cd manufacturing plant driving forklifts.
I then worked at Boy Scout Camps as the handicraft director.
I then worked as an Art Therapist in Geriatric locked ward facility, in schools, and other locked wards.
Moved to NC for 3 years taught elementary art in Wake County,
Moved back to PA taught middle school art for 3 years, worked landscaping, and selling sporting goods,
and have been teaching elementary art for the last 10 in a small rural school district.
I also sell hand carved spoons, bowls, and chairs from my site (stormspoons.com) (since Hurricane Sandy)
I also work on our forested land doing crep and replanting trees.
Hope to build a timber framed barn on our property so I can open/teach folk school interests.
Have a bs in art ed, ma in art therapy, working on masters in curriculum and instruction.

 

[RetiredCarGuy]

Retired... and now doing anything that I want.

I'm also working on my bucket list. Any suggestions?

 

[dodge man]

Retired... and now doing anything that I want.

I'm also working on my bucket list. Any suggestions?

Yeah, find the guy that's the captain of the mega yacht and have him take your for a week long spin.:laughing:

 

[kiotiken]

Wow, some pretty interesting jobs/careers out there...

I'm a self employed IT consultant building web and desktop applications, primarily for the Gov. of Canada. I have doing it for 16 years, the last 14 have been self employed. My current contract has been going for 6 years with Industry Canada but is finally ending at the end of March. I'll be taking 4-6 months off to retrain and transition into a slightly more current technology.

I also became a landlord about 6 months ago. Lucked into some great tenants. I do a lot of due diligence, credit checks, employment checks etc. I'll leave it empty before taking a chance.

Worked for a general contractor building/renovating houses starting at 15. By the end of high school, I started a property maintenance company and grew it till the end of university. I came to a fork in the road, keep going with the property maintenance or start working as a software developer. Not always sure I made the right choice.

 

[paulharvey]

Wow, some pretty interesting jobs/careers out there...

I'm a self employed IT consultant building web and desktop applications, primarily for the Gov. of Canada. I have doing it for 16 years, the last 14 have been self employed. My current contract has been going for 6 years with Industry Canada but is finally ending at the end of March. I'll be taking 4-6 months off to retrain and transition into a slightly more current technology.

I also became a landlord about 6 months ago. Lucked into some great tenants. I do a lot of due diligence, credit checks, employment checks etc. I'll leave it empty before taking a chance.

Worked for a general contractor building/renovating houses starting at 15. By the end of high school, I started a property maintenance company and grew it till the end of university. I came to a fork in the road, keep going with the property maintenance or start working as a software developer. Not always sure I made the right choice.

How tenant friendly is The Peoples Republic of Canada? I know many of the more liberal states can be very difficult for the land lord.

 

[kiotiken]

How tenant friendly is The Peoples Republic of Canada? I know many of the more liberal states can be very difficult for the land lord.

It's absolutely unbelievable how tenants are treated here. Once they get the key, they have ALL the power, I have none. That's why it's so important to make sure you don't give the key to the wrong person. Anything you say or do in the screening process can lead to a human rights complaint so you don't say anything other than sorry, I can't rent to you.

It can take a year or longer to evict a bad tenant with them not paying a cent the whole time. You've hit a nerve, I could keep going on and on and on, but the short answer is there are a lot more tenant voters than landlord voters.

 

[grsthegreat]

It's absolutely unbelievable how tenants are treated here. Once they get the key, they have ALL the power, I have none. That's why it's so important to make sure you don't give the key to the wrong person. Anything you say or do in the screening process can lead to a human rights complaint so you don't say anything other than sorry, I can't rent to you.

It can take a year or longer to evict a bad tenant with them not paying a cent the whole time. You've hit a nerve, I could keep going on and on and on, but the short answer is there are a lot more tenant voters than landlord voters.

idaho is more landlord friendly. We have a 3 day pay or quit law. If they dont pay, cops will evict them. Personally, i vet all tenants. Have had great success. That and high rents help.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I am really enjoying this thread.

But, it seems that I am doing things backwards. Many of you started out mowing lawns......I'm finishing up in the lawn mowing business......

:laughing: Living on an acreage for 40 years, it's been an avocation for me!

 

[kiotiken]

idaho is more landlord friendly. We have a 3 day pay or quit law. If they dont pay, cops will evict them. Personally, i vet all tenants. Have had great success. That and high rents help.

We bought a brand new executive townhouse and the rent would be prohibitive for a lot of tenants. Hopefully that removes the deadbeats and leaves me with good tenants and fraudsters. My screening hopefully removes them.

Here, if you don't pay, I can serve an N4 after 2 days. the tenant then has 14 days to pay and automatically cancel the N4. If they still don't pay, I serve another form (that costs lots of $). The tenant can then contest it and gets a hearing date a few weeks later (and FREE legal representation) at the Landlord Tenant board. They usually say there's mold or some other problem and the landlord is disciplined, possibly fined etc. Even if they don't say something like that, the LTB will propose a payment plan. If they miss that, I can file again etc... After a VERY long process, if I finally get an eviction, I have to pay BIG $ to the cops to do the eviction. They will then schedule an eviction and must give the tenant 14 days (I think) notice that they will be there to do it. What do you think happens next?!? Lot's of damage and no money. The only way to go after tenants is in small claims court and eventually garnish their pay. If they don't have a job, don't bother going after them. Discriminating against them based on their source of income (govt assistance vs a real job) is highly illegal and will result in a human right violation but since I'd never rent to somebody I can't sue (you can't garnish govt assistance here), I simply say, "sorry, I can't rent to you".

 

[TomSeller]

idaho is more landlord friendly. We have a 3 day pay or quit law. If they dont pay, cops will evict them. Personally, i vet all tenants. Have had great success. That and high rents help.

Yes, ask for more than the going rate. I always do and get better tenants. The dredges of society seem to look for the least expensive property they can find. If you get a great tenant, you can drop the rate so they stay a long time.

 

[grsthegreat]

We bought a brand new executive townhouse and the rent would be prohibitive for a lot of tenants. Hopefully that removes the deadbeats and leaves me with good tenants and fraudsters. My screening hopefully removes them.

Here, if you don't pay, I can serve an N4 after 2 days. the tenant then has 14 days to pay and automatically cancel the N4. If they still don't pay, I serve another form (that costs lots of $). The tenant can then contest it and gets a hearing date a few weeks later (and FREE legal representation) at the Landlord Tenant board. They usually say there's mold or some other problem and the landlord is disciplined, possibly fined etc. Even if they don't say something like that, the LTB will propose a payment plan. If they miss that, I can file again etc... After a VERY long process, if I finally get an eviction, I have to pay BIG $ to the cops to do the eviction. They will then schedule an eviction and must give the tenant 14 days (I think) notice that they will be there to do it. What do you think happens next?!? Lot's of damage and no money. The only way to go after tenants is in small claims court and eventually garnish their pay. If they don't have a job, don't bother going after them. Discriminating against them based on their source of income (govt assistance vs a real job) is highly illegal and will result in a human right violation but since I'd never rent to somebody I can't sue (you can't garnish govt assistance here), I simply say, "sorry, I can't rent to you".

holy guacamole batman... here, if they dont pay you can serve them with a 3 day pay or quit notice. then you file eviction notice with court at end of 3 days. here court has to be held within 12 days legally (filing and court cost $166.00), and tenant notified of hearing (all you need to do is post notice on their door). the only way extension is allowed is if tenant posts bond equil to payments due in arrears. Loser pays all legal fees and costs. mind you all back owed fees have to be handled thru small clains court

 

[crackerjack222]

First real jpb was working in a cannery at 82.5 cents per hour, 7 days a week, 11.5 hours per day. Pretty good summer job for a hi-school soph. Also worked part time for a tv sales/repair shop, mostly installing tv antennas and making deliveries. After college I went to work for a co that mfg mass spectrometers, gas chromatographs etc. After a couple of years was part of a group that bought the chromatograph product line. We then began building the analyzers in our shop in Houston. Sold that co, new owners sold again, next owners began ruining the co. Started another co doing the same thing. "retired" at 50 with some commercial rental property and a ranch in so-cen TX. Have since sold the rental property, just before Obummer tax increases.
Also have part ownership in two family ranches, one about 120 miles away from home the other about 180 miles.
Now: play at cow-calf ranching, spoil the grand-kids, spend some time at our place in the mountains, try to become better at welding....pretty much do whatever strikes me as interesting (except when something breaks down).
God and EOG have been good to me.

 

[kiotiken]

holy guacamole batman... here, if they dont pay you can serve them with a 3 day pay or quit notice. then you file eviction notice with court at end of 3 days. here court has to be held within 12 days legally, and tenant notified of hearing (all you need to do is post notice on their door). the only way extension is allowed is if tenant posts bond equil to payments due in arrears. Loser pays all legal fees and costs. mind you all back owed fees have to be handled thru small clains court

Man, that sounds nice. All the tenant activists go on and on about bad landlords and lack of affordable housing and want the rules tightened even further. They don't realize that if the rules protected tenants but were fair for landlords, the rental supply would go up, bringing prices down and offering a lot more choice.

Do you guys have rent control? I'm part of a loophole so I'm not subject to it, but another sore point for landlords here is the low increases they can apply every year. Last year I believe it was 0.8%, this year might be 1.3%.

 

[grsthegreat]

Man, that sounds nice. All the tenant activists go on and on about bad landlords and lack of affordable housing and want the rules tightened even further. They don't realize that if the rules protected tenants but were fair for landlords, the rental supply would go up, bringing prices down and offering a lot more choice.

Do you guys have rent control? I'm part of a loophole so I'm not subject to it, but another sore point for landlords here is the low increases they can apply every year. Last year I believe it was 0.8%, this year might be 1.3%.

no rent control. heres quote forom idaho tenant/renters handbook
Rent Increases

Rent can be increased only after proper notice. In a month-to-month tenancy, a written notice must be given at least fifteen (15) days before the end of the period and fifteen (15) days prior to the date the rent increase is to become effective. If a rental agreement, whether written or oral, specifies the amount of the rent for a set time, the rent cannot be increased during the time specified, without the mutual agreement of the parties.

There are no federal or state rent control or rent stabilization laws that apply in Idaho. As a result, there are no legal limitations on how much or how often a landlord can raise the rent.


my tenants always pay ontime. im never going to raise the rent

 

[kiotiken]

no rent control.

I'm moving

 

[DFB]

First real jpb was working in a cannery at 82.5 cents per hour, 7 days a week, 11.5 hours per day. Pretty good summer job for a hi-school soph.

:shocked:

Wow what year was that...my first full time job paid $56 for a 40 hr week.

 

[grsthegreat]

I'm moving

i wouldnt have rentals if the laws were like yours. i didnt realize Canada was so anti landlord

 

[kiotiken]

i wouldnt have rentals if the laws were like yours. i didnt realize Canada was so anti landlord

It's province by province, but yes, Ontario is bad. I've done a lot of research, belong to a landlord forum and learn a lot there (just like the education I received about tractors from TBN) and I'm careful. There are a lot of speculators who never bother to really understand all the rules and are victimized by professional tenants looking to score their next year of free accommodations. I can't guaranty I'll never have a problem, but if having stringent screening makes a crook to move on, it doesn't have to be perfect.

 

[MoKelly]

Well, I think I read all the prior posts and looks like I am the only accountant so far.

Spent 5 years as an public auditor and the next 30 years with 2 Fortune 100 companies.

My wife is much more interesting being the owner/operator of a tennis club.

MoKelly