Not exactly a picnic . . .
As some of you may know, I rent two apartments here – the one I lived in since 1994 and the one I live in now (next door) which I moved into five years ago. The reason I keep on the two apartments is because I’m still hoping one day to use that space next door for my office/biz stuff, should the clothing biz ever take off. And meanwhile my landlord doesn’t mind me subletting the other place because he knows I’m a very responsible tenant. In fact, whenever any apartments come up for rent here he always asks me to find a good tenant for him. It’s a nice deal. Well, except when I don’t have enough tenants next door (I rent out the three bedrooms individually) and I have to make up the lost rent myself. But so far I’ve been pretty much breaking even. And I’m loathe to give the place up as it would be so perfect as a work space.
Anyhow, two of the three tenants who spent the last year next door have now left (the third one is staying on for another year – she’s away on holiday at the moment) and I now have two new ones … including one that moved in at the beginning of August. And she came over the other day and said … “You know, the apartment isn’t exactly clean “. I told her not to worry because I usually do a big ‘summer clean up’ and I’d be doing it this week. Well, gaaaaa! I mean, when I pop in next door now and again I don’t overly scrutinize how clean the place is (though I will from now on!) … as it usually looks okay at a glance and I leave it to the tenants to maintain a certain level of cleanliness about the place. Though I always clean and tidy up the new tenant’s bedroom. I should have been tipped off by me having to wash the floor in one bedroom three times to get it looking clean again – I don’t think that girl washed the floor even once in her time there.
But man! I was shocked when I finally took a good look at the main bathroom and kitchen. Meanwhile, the new tenant decided she couldn’t wait for me and tornadoed her way through cleaning the main bathroom a couple of days ago (I left her a bottle of nice rioja as a thank you gift). And yesterday and today Nog and I spent HOURS scrubbing down that kitchen. I mean, when I did this last summer it wasn’t nearly so gross, but you know how it is once you start cleaning … and we’re talking floor-to-ceiling wall tiles that needed scrubbing. And man – it was like nobody had actually cleaned the cooker in an entire year! The whole kitchen was covered in a greasy film of gack. Why??? How can people live like that?
So I’m thinking I’ve been a bit slack in my ‘sub-letting landlady’ duties. By naively assuming people are responsible. So maybe I should insist that every time a tenant leaves (because they don’t all stay for the same length of time) the place should be left looking as clean as they found it – which means the other tenants will have to do their part as well. Just so when I do my usual summer cleaning I’m not trying to get old grease off kitchen surfaces that feels like chewing gum (ick!). Hell, it took me almost half an hour to scrub all the built up grease off the kettle! And so if the place isn’t sparkly clean when they leave I’ll take a chunk out of their security deposit to make up for the time I spend cleaning up after them.
Well, the time Nog and I spend. He was fabulous and didn’t mind helping me out at all. Even though next door is actually my responsibility. But there he was up on the rickety ladder while I handed him the long-handle squeegy-mop to get the gack off the kitchen walls – bless him. And with this team work we got it done in less than half the time than if I’d had to do it all myself.
And so … nice way to spend our holidays. Cleaning up after people who make sure they dress well and look nice but leave the place they are living in looking like a total pit. Grrrr…
casa azahar 
God I hate tenants like that. I can’t tell you the amount of time I have spent cleaning and painting apartments owned by my sister when I was managing them. There were people who left their dogs in their homes all the time and NEVER cleaned up after them, people who would simply pour their full ashtray onto the carpet rather than walk over to the trash basket 8 feet away, people who….. Oh, I can’t go on.
I’m with you. How can people live like that? It is beyond disgusting
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Oh dear! I haven’t had it that bad (yet). Perhaps it helps that it’s all marble floors next door – no carpet. And aside from one short-term tenant/friend who twice brought her very well-behaved chihuahua (she was actually quite adorable) pets aren’t allowed.
The place was painted (by me and Nog) a couple of years ago but it looks worse than my place that was painted five years ago. And I had to tell one of the new tenants that bashing holes into the walls to hang mirrors and posters really wasn’t *okay*.
Anyhow, I’m giving the place another year. If I’m not in a situation by then to actually afford to use the place as an office/workspace then I’ll probably let it go.
It’s just that other office spaces I’ve looked at cost twice as much for half the space … and they also don’t happen to be next door.
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Sounds like a horrible way to spend your break time. Mind you, I’ve low standards myself towards housecleaning, but there’s nothing like a sense of obligation to other people to get someone cleaning up. Now I clean up not for me, but for my roommate.
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Well, if I didn’t have the whole month of August off this year I’m sure I would have felt more ‘hard done by’ having to spend two whole days cleaning up after others next door.
To be honest, housecleaning standards at casa az are a bit hit and miss, though we tend to be more untidy than unclean. Even though things like dusting and window-washing are usually left until they can’t be ignored any longer. Also, there are always stacks of papers and books all over the place. But keeping the kitchen and bathroom clean and mopping the floors once a week (more often in the kitchen and bathroom) is basic maintenance that always gets done.
Yes, when I used to live next door I always had a roommate and this would motivate me to keep things both clean and tidy.
I actually used to do a weekly cleaning next door until I started getting longer-term tenants and it felt a bit intrusive for them having ‘the landlady’ come in all the time, which I could understand. I mean, if you’re just there for a month or two it’s quite nice having the place cleaned once a week. But if you’re there for 6-9 months it feels more like your own space and home, which is also why I had to stop leaving my bike there and put it into storage as there is no place to leave it in my present place.
Anyhow, I do hope things change for the better this next year so that next door will become affordable as my office and studio space. Wish me luck!
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