The Rent Came Through Before I Filed for Eviction
A Fremont tenant paid before I filed for eviction. What happened, what the outcome does not prove, and the Ohio notice and screening issues worth understanding.
Read the noteDay job · Rental doors · Real life
Building a portfolio after the workday ends.
A full-time career, a family, and a growing rental portfolio in Northwest Ohio. This is the honest work that happens before 9, after 5, and on the weekends.
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Honest numbers, ordinary houses, and the decisions in between.
A Bed Bug Call at One of My Co Living Rentals
A bed bug call at one of my co living rentals, the response I described, and practical lessons on treatment planning, follow-up, and Ohio landlord duties.
Read the noteHow I Compare Rents in Tiffin and Fremont
How I moved from guessing rent to checking local listings in Tiffin and Fremont, with a sample comparison, vacancy math, and limits to rental estimates.
Read the noteWhy I Moved Rent Collection to Innago
Why I switched from chasing rent checks to Innago, why I cover ACH fees, and what small landlords should check about costs, payment timing, and setup.
Read the noteRates Are Up. Sales Are Down. Prices Barely Moved. What Is Going On With This Housing Market?
Mortgage rates are near 7%, sales are slowing, and prices are holding up. What the latest numbers mean for homebuyers and rental investors in Northwest Ohio.
Read the noteDon’t Learn the Hard Way: Credit and Background Checks Are a Must
A professional screening report is where I start. Local court records, careful identity checks, and a consistent written process are what complete the picture.
Read the noteDon’t Learn the Hard Way: Collecting First Month’s Rent and the Security Deposit
The payment can look good and still fail. Verify the funds, document what you received, and handle the security deposit under your state’s rules before the keys change hands.
Read the noteWhat Being a 9-to-5 Landlord Actually Looks Like
The day job ends. The landlord shift begins: one property, one repair, and one decision at a time.
Read the noteWhy I Replaced Carpet With Vinyl in a Pet-Friendly Rental
The flooring choice affects the tenant, the turnover process, the maintenance budget, and how the property performs for years.
Read the noteThe Real Math Behind a “Cheap” Rental House
A $60,000 house can look impossible to pass up. Then repairs, holding costs, reserves, and the value of your time enter the calculation.
Read the noteAbout the landlord
A day job. A real portfolio. No shortcut.
I work full time in higher education, teach, and still find time to build and manage a rental portfolio in Northwest Ohio. My wife and I own homes across a few nearby counties, mostly in the kinds of towns where people still know which house you mean by who used to live there.
9 to 5 Landlord is a running account of how that actually works: rehabs squeezed into evenings, tenant decisions between meetings, numbers that do and do not pencil out, and the occasional lesson I would rather have learned the easy way.