Thoughts on the rental properties

Just got off the phone with Erica. She's going to cut checks now for the bills and then cut a check so that I can pay to have the locks replaced at one of the apartments on Thursday. We discussed canceling mom's internet service (her's is the slowest ever), as well as the auto insurance mom had maintained on her vehicle (which now has been transferred into Aaron's name - part of his inheritance). We discussed paying the homeowner's insurance on a monthly basis or for the next three months, until the disbursement is complete.

We discussed the apartments and I expressed my desire to have the 135 apartments rather than the 111.  The 134 apartments are in better condition, they have a current pest bond, and the tenants are older and there is less turnover; however, the 111 apartments bring in more money monthly. The 111 apartments need more work (at least on the exterior), they have no current pest bond (and have a "crazy ant" problem already), the tenants are younger, there is more of a turnover; however, they bring in a little over $200 more a month than the 135 apartments. Additionally, the 135 apartments have one current tenant, an elderly man, who mom promised never to go up on his rent as long as he paid on time every month. His monthly rent is only $295.00. I'd like to protect/honor his contract, and it is my understanding that Brenda intends to go up on everyone's rent. Further, our cousin has placed her mentally challenged sister-in-law in one of the 111 apartments. I'd prefer Brenda have the family member. I may dig my heels in about this one - I'm almost certain I'd like to have the 135 apartments.

Aaron and I will co-own the apartments.  He will have 1/3 interest and I will have my 2/3 interest.  I will likely do a majority of the work and management and he will simply get his profit check at the end of each year.

Eventually, Roy and I would like to establish ourselves in this field and obtain additional rental properties.  We're both kind of excited about this.

Disbursement in progress: Phase 1

I've gotten my head wrapped around Brenda and Erica's proposal: Erica gets the house, Brenda gets one rental property, and me and Aaron get the other rental property.  I've discussed it with Aaron and he is on board with it as well.  The income potential is a smart move for all of us.  Roy and I would like to eventually acquire additional rentals in the future.

We have hired an attorney and the probate process has begun. 

Erica flubbed at the bank and told them that mom had passed away. The bank has now frozen mom's personal account. The business is account is still open as it is a different bank. Lesson learned. We will manage to pay the bills until we get the Letters of Testamentary which will give us the ability to manage the estate matters and begin disbursement.

Last Saturday, Brenda and I met up at mom's to clean and empty cabinets.  It was weird for both of us.  I had Googled ideas about estate disbursement and came up with one that included colored sticky dots.  Each beneficiary is assigned a color.  We put our dot on all items of interest (no matter the level of priority). Anything with only one dot is claimed by that beneficiary.  Anything with more than one dot is put aside to sort through later.  I feel that we will be able to come to agreements on those things with multiple dots.  Nothing in the house is worth so much money that a battle would be warranted.  I also feel that we all are aware of how easy it might be for us to fight over stuff, so we are all bending over backwards to avoid just that. (I hope so anyhow.)  Brenda and I went to purchase dots and then began in the kitchen. We decided not to wash everything as it meant a lot more work to do so. We simply pulled stuff out of the cabinets and placed on the counter-top for easy view. Some things, such as utensils and silverware, were placed in boxes and put on the ground. Brenda and I began placing dots on things as we worked. At times we had to talk each other into putting dots on things, reminding each other that we are only noting things of interest, and we can prioritize later. (I hold back a lot. This will be a process that may last several weekends.) Brenda and I discussed again how she, like me, was upset about being left out of the disbursement of dad's property after he passed.  We discussed the apartments some and our long term plans for them (I think it's cool how we have that in common). Brenda suggested that she and I split the money in the business bank account. I hem-hawed on this. Hadn't thought that far in advance. Initially, my concern was tax issues. After sitting on it, I feel any money considered profit should be divided equally between me, Brenda, and Erica (with 1/3 of mine going to Aaron). I think that's fair and I think mom would want Aaron included this way too. We worked only until lunchtime and then called it a day. Kaitlyn, Brenda's daughter, was on her way to meet her so I made myself scarce so that Kaitlyn would be comfortable walking through and finding something of interest to her.  All in all, it was a good day but I wish Erica had been there too. I worried that she may be absent because she's upset as opposed to her excuse that her husband was off work and she simply wanted to spend time with him. (I'm probably worried for nothing.)