The Rentish Podcast

Skyscrapers, Style & Sketchy Deals

• Zach and Patrick • Season 1 • Episode 15

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This week on The Rent-ish Pod, Zach and Patrick are back with a wild ride through real estate highs and lows. 🏙️🎧

First up: Tribune Tower. Once a historic Chicago newsroom, now a luxury condo building with castle vibes. We’re breaking down how this architectural legend became prime real estate — and what that means for historic conversions everywhere.

Then it’s on to the 2025 design trends shaking up rental spaces. From rich, earthy tones to space-maximizing hacks, we unpack the style moves that are actually worth it. Article mentioned: https://www.forbes.com/sites/terriwilliams/2025/02/28/the-best-of-houzz-2025-awards-reveal-the-hottest-interior-design-trends/ 

Finally, a real estate horror story you won’t believe: one tenant’s experience with trading work for rent — and how quickly that dream deal turned into a nightmare. Let’s say... free rent isn’t always free.

🎧 Tune in, cringe with us, and maybe learn what not to do next time.

đź“© Got a story for the pod? Email questions@therentishpod.com

Check Innago at https://innago.com/podcast/ to learn more. 

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SPEAKER_00:

What's going on everybody? My name is Zach and I'm here with Patrick. What up? We are just getting closer and closer to us being like early morning radio DJs. We're your hosts for the Rentish podcast, a podcast that's kind of about rental properties and hosted by two guys that work in the real estate industry and sort of know what they're talking about. But mostly don't. Yes, Patrick, mostly we don't, which is why you'll have fun hearing us talk to experts and learning with us or laughing along at how little we know. Today's episode's gonna be a good one, Pat. I'm so excited. We've been prepping, prepping, prepping, prepping, working so hard on it. Have we? Oh, yeah, we've been working real hard. Oh, yeah, both of us have, yeah. We've been working real hard doing the writing and the editing and the research. We do it all around here, you know? This week, we're gonna cover a couple different big topics. We got the Tribune Tower. We're gonna go back to Propetology and talk about the Tribune Tower. We're gonna talk about trading work for rent, which is a real estate story that we've got. And we're gonna talk about We're going to go through some news, the real news that you need to know about the hottest interior design trends of 2025. So it's going to be a good episode, Pat. How you doing? I'm pumped. I'm excited to talk about real estate. Pumped, pumped. Pumped. Pumped. P-U-M-P-T. P-U-M-P-T. P-U-M-P-T. Would you go on a spelling bee? How well do you think you'd do on a spelling bee? I did a spelling bee when I was in eighth grade. Get out of here. And like, yeah, I think I like spelled like muffin, like M-U-F-F-E-N or something. It may not have been that bad, but like, yeah, I didn't do too hot. Spelling was never my strong suit when I was a kid. So when I would watch the spelling bee on TV, I'd always be like, those kids are so much better than me. I'm a visual learner. Having to spell by seeing it in my head, I guess, or trying to imagine it and say it, I'm going to mess up. I totally agree. It's always baffled me. Every year I watch that stupid spelling bee and every year it baffles me. How do they get the spelling more accurate? By getting the country of origin or asking to use it in a sentence? What is that doing to help you? I don't get, it's like, it's still the word. You still have to spell the word. How is using it in a sentence gonna give you a better, maybe because you can picture the sentence in context? There might be like Latin roots and stuff. Maybe. Like root words, like, oh. Or it's like if you're using it in a sentence where you're specifically talking about someone, it's gonna reflect a bit differently because of the way that that sentence is said. I don't know. We're not spellers around here. Good thing, we just have to talk. I'm really good at spelling on Microsoft Word where it's got the red squiggly lines underneath it and I right click it. Yes, the squiggly lines. Yeah. You can spell it. I agree. You can have the computer correct me. Autospel. One of the best human inventions. Yes. Can we agree on that? I mean, actually, no. One of the best human inventions? It's convenient in a specific situation. One of the best tech inventions of all time. Okay. Yeah, sure. Well, come back to me in a future episode with a list of best tech inventions of all time. We'll discuss it. Patrick? Let's get into Propetology. Yeah. Today we're talking about the Tribune Tower. That's a Neo-Gothic. Oh, it's a cool word. Neo-Gothic. N-E-O. G-O-T-H-I-C. Use it in a sentence. The Tribune Tower is a neogothic skyscraper. That was good. That was fun. That was a good wit on that one. Yeah, it's located in Chicago, Illinois, stands as one of the city's most iconic landmarks. Completed in 1925, the tower served as the headquarters for the Chicago Tribune for nearly a century, reflecting Chicago's resilience and rich architectural heritage. Patrick, you're our resident describer, and you said you're a visual learner, so describe this building. It's tall. It's kind of light gray And I think Gothic is a really good way to describe it. I don't want to describe the definition with the definition, but it's kind of got the... I don't know where Gothic even comes from, like Germany or something. But like... Country of origin. That's their other spelling bee joke. How about that? Oh, boom. Country of origin. I'm going to look up Gothic etymology. It's kind of like the... I mean, I think everyone pretty knows... Oh! What? Patrick. Is it German? From French. Oh. Gothic. You want to give me a French on that one? Well, TH isn't even like a French sound. That sound doesn't even exist in French. It was used in the 17th and 18th centuries to mean not classical, i.e. not Greek or Roman, hence to refer to medieval architecture. It did not follow classical models. Got it. Late Latin of origin, but French is the... primarily the way it started deviated gothic gothic I kind of think like Dracula a little bit with gothic oh totally yeah yeah yeah I think of gothic architecture I think of I think of gargoyles gargoyles that's a good one yeah like the Disney animated show gargoyles is the first thing that comes to my mind yeah this is basically that in like that kind of architecture in skyscraper form yeah it's kind of got like at the tip of each one of like the spires at the top it's kind of got that like really ornate sort of like pokey architecture. Right, pokey. I don't know if there's like a better, there's certainly a better more, a crown. Kind of like a crown. Producer Moussey says a crown. I think that's very apt. Very detailed and elaborate, you know, especially in the tops of the buildings. For sure. Very pretty. I like, so we've talked about all sorts of buildings and we're going to keep talking about all sorts of buildings as we do the show because that's what the show is. Art Deco is probably one of my favorite styles of buildings. That style is so cool to me. Gothic architecture I think is awesome. So cool. Such a cool design. I personally love this. I mean, where are you at with the design? Oh, I'm a big fan. I like Chicago. I mean, so I went to Chicago a few times, but I went recently, actually, like two, three months ago. Saw this building, obviously. Yeah, yeah. I just think Chicago's vibe and architecture is really cool. It is very cool. Yep. No wonder they used it for Batman. Yeah, it really does give off Batman vibes. That's my favorite. So I love Chicago, too. It's probably one of my favorite cities in the United States. Every time I'm there... One of the pieces of music I'll listen to is just the Hans Zimmer soundtrack from the Nolan movies. Oh, okay. Because they literally shot those movies in Chicago. And so when you're at the trains and everything, and it's just like, oh, it feels so right. And so I look at this building, and I hear the Dark Knight themes. I like the animated shows theme. Yeah. Yeah. The original Tribune Tower, a little bit of history for you, was built in 1868 but was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Rising from the ashes of this tragedy, the Chicago Tribune sought to rebuild a headquarters that would be both grand and enduring. In 1922, to commemorate the paper's 75th anniversary, the Tribune launched an international design competition, inviting architects from around the world to propose designs for, quote, the most beautiful and distinctive office building in the world, end quote, which is quite praise there, quite high praise. The competition offered a total of$100,000 in prize money. That's probably, that's a lot for 1922, by the way. With$50,000 awarded to the winning design. The competition drew over 260 entries. Some of the more unconventional designs, including a Oh, that would have been sweet. Okay. I like this building, but I would also like to see a cash register building. I would also like to see that too. Sounds a bit gaudy, but I'm sure they would have done a decent job. I'm sure it would have been just like, aesthetically similar but not like literally I'm picturing like a giant cash register just plopped in the center of the big city but yeah the honor ultimately went to New York architects John Meade Howells and Raymond Hood whose neo-gothic design was inspired by The Rhone Cathedral in France? You want to give me a France check on that one, buddy? I've never seen it. Rhone? Rhone? Really? Of all the ways that I would have predicted how to say that word, that is not the way that I predicted. Rhone, maybe? I don't know. I've never seen the word. Rhone? I'm trying to think what the O-U-E sound would make in French. I have no idea. We'll get a French expert on here. You're a French expert. Yeah, but I've never seen that word. It's like if you give me a word, I've never seen the English. I don't know how to pronounce. I'm not going to like. Sure. That's fair. That's fair. I'm sorry to heat check you on that, buddy. I didn't mean to get you so riled up there. We'll do some more research on that one. Hood would later go on to design the famous Rockefeller Center in New York City. So there you go. Oh. So probably that's a tough one. Tribune Tower is a very iconic building. What do you think, that versus Rockefeller Center? I'm looking up the Rockefeller Center right now. Maybe design-wise, I think the Tribune Tower probably has a more iconic design, but the Rockefeller Center is like, that's a place a lot of people know about. Bless you. Really? Yeah, that's right. So it's houses now. I dislike that. I like it better as the headquarters for a newspaper. Yeah, you show me the outside of that building, I think that's either a headquarters for a newspaper or Bruce Wayne's residency. If it was Bruce Wayne's residency, if Bruce Wayne is one of the residents, I'm okay with it. Sure, that makes sense. I'm not sure if you're looking at the news doc, but do you have a guess for me? 162 luxury residences. The renovated tower has high-end amenities, including a rooftop terrace, a private fitness center, a spa, an indoor golf simulator, and three-bedroom, four-bathroom condos. 3,200 square foot rents for how much per month? Are you looking at the doc, or did you spoil it for yourself, or do you want to guess for me? I have no idea. Take a shot. Three-bedroom, four-bathroom condo in Chicago. 3,200 square foot rents. That's so much. That's a lot of space. In Chicago, which is cheaper than New York, but that's still a lot of space per month. 15,000. You are so close. Higher. 20,000. A little lower.$18,500 per month.$18,500 to be able to rent per month one of these condos. No thank you, everybody. I'm going to go ahead and say that's not in my budget. How many people are renting those versus owning them outright? That's a good question. I actually don't know. We don't have that information here for you. That's still crazy. Maybe they have them leased on a yearly basis and this is just like the monthly breakdown or something like that. Wow. That's crazy. Still pretty crazy. A couple of fun facts for you about the Tribune Tower. Embedded in the lower levels are about 150 stones and fragments from historical landmarks around the world, including pieces from the Great Wall of China, the Parthenon, the Berlin Wall, and the Taj Mahal. Wow. Which is... Oh, wait. I feel like I remember that. Remember that from what? When I went to Chicago, there's just a bunch of stones on the... Oh, yeah? Yeah. So you were that close. You were so close that you could touch it because I've only ever seen the building. I kind of forgot that it was that building. But, yeah, there was– I went with my friends and there was like a rock from Put-In-Bay from Ohio. Really? My buddies and I, we had gone to, and we were there in Chicago together. Like, oh, Pun Bay. Love Pun Bay. Yeah, of all the rocks to have. Yeah. Also, Great Pyramid, Abraham Lincoln's tomb, which is a wild one. Not sure how you acquire a piece of Abe Lincoln's tomb, but they got it. Notre Dame de Paris. Did I get that? Yeah, that was pretty good. Notre Dame de Paris. I can't with the phlegm. I'm not very good at that part. And petrified wood from the redwood forest. That's pretty sweet. So all sorts of stuff there. I would love to... That alone... the cost of acquiring all those materials, it's gonna factor into this building. Yeah, it's like$1,000 worth of rent. Exactly, yeah. From 1999 to 2011, the tower even housed a moon rock brought back by Buzz Aldrin on loan from NASA. The tower's crown is illuminated at night, showing its gothic-inspired buttresses and adding a striking element to the Chicago skyline. Above the entrance, there's an engraved quote that reads, give the world the best you have and the best will come back with you. Reflecting the Tribune's philosophy of the time that's a sweet quote is it should that be this should that be the slogan for our podcast no give the world the best you have and the best will come back to you you don't think that's a good quote no i don't put out positivity get positivity back He's looking for an argument. He's trying to ruminate on an argument there. A couple more fun facts and then we'll wrap up. The Tribune Tower once had a secret bar called the Crown Room, which is so cool, hidden behind a nondescript door on the 24th floor. It was a favorite spot for Tribune employees and Chicago elites. So imagine going to a secret bar only for Chicago Tribune employees. At that time. That's cool. We need one of those for the rent-ish pod. Yeah. Just our office here, like a little rent-ish pod office. We have a secret bar. I want to like touch this lamp or like lift that up and it opens up a secret compartment where we have– free alcohol afterwards. I would also like free alcohol afterwards. That sounds great. And the building's lobbies adorn with carved depictions of great writers and thinkers, including Shakespeare, Benjamin Franklin, and Dante. You know, lots of legacy at the building. I think it's cool that there are so many aspects of it that just takes on the spirit of something like a newspaper, like the Chicago Tribune, like being able to not necessarily, you know, it's condos now, it's a place for residential. They're able to also take a lot of inspiration from what the building originally was, and carry on that heart, and And I think that that's really, really cool. That's it for Propetology. And yeah, we're gonna talk about some other stuff now. Well, let's shift gears. So in terms of inviting home offices, our producers have placed a very I think appropriate image here of another modern home office, 2025 kind of like style and layout. You want to give the audience like a little visual descriptor? Yeah, it's like pretty light colored as well, a little more blue. I had time to prepare on this one too, and I can't. Yeah, you're just. I'm really bad at this. It's got pillows on the right-hand side on kind of like a nook or a reading bench or something. Sure, that's good. I like this. Keep going. It's got a desk. It's got a grayish. What kind of desk? What's a desk? Big desk? It looks impractical. I don't know. It looks real nice. I don't know. That is a professional-looking, thick, heavy desk. You could do some work on that. You could set a pen down and it wouldn't roll. That's the kind of desk that I'm imagining is just firm, solid. Yeah. It doesn't look like it has any shelving for you to put your junk, though. But that's what's behind it. Again, I was going to call out the built-ins. Oh, it's got shelves. Good, good. Like you can display all those like cool little things. Like I would have so many Batman comics. Toys. Yeah. Well, these decorations are just kind of like, like, what are these? It looks like stuff that you would buy at like in the clearance aisle of Hobby Lobby. Yes. Because it, All of the set decoration here that we got for this photo, it's like empty vase. The wicker ball there on the top right is cracking me up where it's like that is such a thing that you would see in Hobby Lobby. Where it's like twine roped ball that's just like there for decoration. Or my favorite. Did you ever see these growing up? I would go over to friends' houses and some of them would have the clear bowl with the fake grapes in it. Oh my god, that's my mom. What is that? What? My mom had lemons, oranges. She would change– she would keep things fresh. Just like decorative glass fruit. Yeah. Oh, yeah. What are we doing here? I don't know. I agree. I think that trend has largely gone by the wayside. Not in my mom's house. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. Would you work out of this office, Pat? Out of this office? Yeah, the modern office, the one we were just looking at. Yeah. I mean I wouldn't feel– I wouldn't feel like at home in any way. Just not your general style. No, but I feel like I could be productive on that desk, I think. I could definitely work at it. I would change some things around and personalize it to be more like me. It would be definitely a lot more like geeky and kind of just like a little bit more poppy and colorful. But I think that this great room, lots of natural light, I think that that seems to be what a lot of people are looking for. This one looks a little less modern than the last. Yeah. Maybe it's just like the type of furniture. Maybe. I don't know. All right, we got a couple more to get through. Powder rooms, your favorite thing. I know what these are. All right, we're going to rip through this one a little bit quicker because we need to try and get through a couple extra things here. Bold colors, unique wallpapers that make a statement, artistic fixtures and creative tiling for added personality, and compact yet luxurious designs that maximize style in small spaces. Patrick, powder room description, go. Oh man, there's some crazy optical illusion wallpaper. That's a good way to put it, okay. Like I feel like I'm being hypnotized. Like granite countertop. Yeah, thick granite too. That's like a slab of marble right there. Yeah, gold plated mirror. Yeah, lots of gold accents. That's a good call out. Fake flowers. How do you know those are fake? I think they could be real. They definitely seem fake. They look fake. Yeah, I mean, I could brush my teeth here, I think. Yeah, it's nice. The wallpaper is not my favorite. It's a little disorienting. I think that a more simplistic wallpaper is probably where I would go. But yeah, I like the gold accents. I actually think it makes it look very classy. And that mirror, I actually think that mirror is legit. It's kind of got like a floating design. Like it almost kind of feels like it's like, because they've got these exterior kind of borders that's just kind of hanging there. But all in all, very modern bathroom. I don't know, your ideal powder room. What's the 2025 interior design powder room for Patrick? A bidet is a must. Bidet is a must. It's a must. Okay. Yes. Do you have a bidet? Oh, my goodness, yes, I have a bidet. I've installed a bidet at my mom's place, at several friends' places. Okay. It has been life-changing ever since I got a bidet in 2019. Before, it was, like, cool in America to have bidets. I've been on the bidet train. Okay. Do you have a bidet? I don't. Oh. I guess I'm living in the past. You are, yeah. Okay. Well, bidets, certainly modern. I still feel like they're not common in a lot of American households. They've gotten more so, but yeah, I agree. I feel like they've gotten more so popular because they're easier to install and easier to buy. There's companies on Amazon. You could just buy a bidet and install it yourself, right? Self-install? Yeah, that's what I've done. That's what you did? Yeah. Okay. All right. Well, that's the powder room. I know that you'll probably never, ever call it a powder room, but again, I want you to tell. The next time you're having family dinner, just stand up and say, I'm going to go to the powder room I'm going to try to make that a regular part of my vernacular because I think it's I've not heard anyone say that like ever excuse me mother I need to go to the powder room to relieve myself alright sustainable and eco-friendly choices hey the environment we like the environment here use of recycled and upcycled materials energy efficient appliances and lighting solutions and the incorporation of biophilic design elements such as indoor plants and natural textures yeah Talk about a word of the day calendar. I've never heard of biophilic. Yeah. You heard that one before? No. What does that even mean? I'm assuming it's related to biology, like bio. Bio. Phil. What does philic mean? Philic. Biophilic refers to the inherent human tendency to affiliate with nature and other forms of life. Biophilic design is an approach to architecture and design that seeks to connect building occupants more closely to nature. So it's incorporating more natural elements. into your personal space is what that kind of sounds like. Yeah, I was about to say, this photo of this living room, it's like, I feel like I'm in the jungle right now. You know what I mean? Yeah, no, I feel you. Like there's plants. Lots of plants. They even made the couch and chair green. Yeah. Yeah, it's a lot of green. I mean, the strong green color does contrast, though, I think nicely with the cream-colored wall. I agree. I think it's like a nice little, it's a cozy space. I can imagine and having a latte here and enjoying myself. This is definitely my favorite of the pictures that we've discussed. I would agree. What's the plant life situation in your apartment? I have a snake plant. A snake plant? Like one? Yeah, they're so easy. I got one. Those things are, it's like a tank. I don't water it. It's still alive. Water me, Patrick, please. It's like screaming at you every time he leaves the house. So it's just one plant. I just got one, yeah. Just one? What about you? Oh, hella plants, baby. Like at least three per room. Oh, wow. At least three per month. You're not messing around. Got to have green. Love that jungle vibe. I have a painting of a moose, though. What? That's not really relevant. I love the moose aesthetic. You know what I mean? I just have a painting of a moose above my Blu-rays. Whoa. Is it a real painting or a print that you got? I got it at a thrift store for like$15. I have no idea. It seems pretty legit. Like it seems like an actual painting that someone put on the canvas or is it a print that someone framed? I think it might be more of a print. I have no idea. Go look at it. Go look at it a little bit closer. How would I know? Well, you can get up close to a painting and you could pretty much... Yeah, you'd be able to tell if it was actually hand-painted or if it was a print. Yeah, I'll let you know in the next episode. Let us know in the next episode. Keep us posted on MooseGate. Next up, we got vintage and artisan accents, the revival of antique and handcrafted pieces, local craftsmanship and cultural influences, and unique one-of-a-kind decor items that tell a story. We don't have an image for this one, but I can kind of get the sense of what they're talking about here. Just kind of like... adding more classical pieces to your place. Not necessarily classical, like Baroque. Rustic is what I'm kind of getting. I'm a big fan of this vibe. Sure, me too. I'm a big fan of this. I got a rotary phone on my shelf. That is a great example. I've got a typewriter. Do you use the typewriter? I was a pen pal with my cousin who's 12. She had gotten a typewriter for her birthday and so we started doing typewriter and I gave her the wrong address so I never got her letter and then That kind of just ended after. Wow, you're a crappy pen pal. Pen enemy is more like it. Penemy. And then last up here, we got home bars or beverage stations. We already kind of talked about this with the bar cart, so we kind of predicted the future here. But yeah, another just example of so many, you know, modern houses having these kind of styles, like a collective space for gathering, like that's not a dining room or a living room. It's more like a space where you can come in and have glasses and bar stuff, make a drink, stand around and talk with your friends. Catch up. Have a good time. Come over to my home bar. Have a few laughs. Name that movie. Have a few laughs. What movie is it? Come on. You got it. Hold on. Have a few laughs. Yeah, you can hear it, can't you? Oh, man. Oh, man. Oh, man. Hold on. Stop. What's the actor? Bruce Willis. Bruce Willis. I knew it was Bruce Willis. What movie? Die Hard. Yeah. Film card revoked, everybody. I love Die Hard, too. Yeah. Oh, that killed me. Yeah, so kind of just like wrapping up here. I mean... How do these trends reflect current lifestyle shifts? I mean I think that from what we've talked about, a lot of these places are becoming more like communal and homey and less like– I think that for a while there, there was an emphasis on like minimal design. But I feel like a lot of the stuff that we've covered, there's a lot of stuff going on. There's much more– like there's plants and there's things here and there's big– like lots of bold character I think is what I would say. I agree. I think each of those photos had character whether it was– it wasn't always the same. kind of character. They all had character. How can renters incorporate these trends without making permanent changes? This is a good one for both of us. We're both renters. How do you get this kind of modern 2025 aesthetic without actually having to take a hammer to a wall and make some built-ins? I've always been of the opinion that sure, you can't control the floor plan, but besides the kitchen and powder room, most of the rooms are empty anyways. I'm a big fan of Yeah. Of personalization with your furniture and your and your decorations. I'm a big decoration guy. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. Furniture, lamps, artwork. Lamps is huge. Lamps are big. I do think that like if you use overhead lighting by default, you're a clown. Yeah, I completely agree. And that got me. It's like it's always too bright and it's ugly. It's like just, you know. Yeah. No, you got to get warm lighting. I got some like some of those like I don't know if they're Christmas lights or what do you call it? Fair. String lights. String lights. And I've got like, it's an old building, so there's like a sprinkler system, and I've wrapped it around the sprinkler system. That sounds safe. In my living room. It looks sweet. Remember, Patrick and I are not real estate professionals. We don't kid, so I don't advise you to use sprinkler lights to wrap your string lights. Okay, and then, yeah, so the Best of House Awards 2025 trend highlights a diverse and innovative approach to interior Correct. Correct. Correct. Okay, Patrick, we're going to shift gears over to the Tenet Horror Story of the Week. This is one of my favorite segments because you get to really show off your acting chops. It's one of your favorite segments? It is one of my favorite segments. Okay. And for no other reason than just me. Then I just, you know, some might say, you know, have an undiscovered talent. You walk into a studio one day and you audition and then you just, you could be the next Leo DiCaprio. We just don't know. I mean, it's pretty discovered at this point since you guys make me do the voices. Well, If you're listening to this out there, feel free to share on social media platforms of your choice. And yeah, if you know anybody in Hollywood, please send this as a resume for Patrick. He'd be happy to audition for whatever role that you have there. But today's story, trading work for rent. Yeah, let's get right into it. Steve bought another property in Modesto, California. This property needed quite a bit of work, and he was referred to a handyman who was willing to trade work for rent. Steve is one who likes a good deal and barters quite a bit. He agreed to let the handyman move in and to trade a portion of the rent for the tenants' labor. Anytime the tenant needed to purchase materials for the project, the local big box hardware store would call Steve up for his credit card number and approval. However, not long after the work started, Steve got a call from the local big box hardware store. What is this big box hardware store? It just means like a big... It just means like one of the big ones, like not like a local... Like Big Box would be like a Big Box... Exactly. Got it. Big Box retailer would be like Home Depot, Lowe's, instead of like... Or Ace Hardware or something like that. Got it. If you're like John Smith's hardware on Elm Street, that's not a big box. Got it. Okay. Learn something new every day. They told him that the handyman seemed to be buying an excessive amount of material. To make things worse, the tenant's kids would come over into the store and some of the materials asking for a cash reward. I botched that. You were close, though. You just missed the word refund. To make things worse, the tenant's kids would come back into the store. Come back into the store with some of the materials asking for a cash refund. We got through that. Soon, the tenant's work progressed slow to a complete stop, and the tenant had to be asked to leave. Of course, the tenant refused, so it went to eviction court. There, the tenant claimed Steve was the absolute scumlord.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay,

SPEAKER_00:

renting out a home without a kitchen. The conversation in court goes kind of like this. Okay, so remind me who I'm playing. So you're the judge. I'm the judge. And I'm the tenant. So I got to get a judge voice out. Yeah, and I'm the eviction attorney at one point. Just heads up. Did you have a lease? That was actually so good. I don't know why I went a little Matt Berry on that one. No, I love that. Did you have a lease? No. Did you ever sign anything? No. At this point, the eviction attorney hands a copy of the lease to the bailiff, who hands it to the judge. Is this your signature? Yes, but the house doesn't have a kitchen. Your Honor, it's our belief that the property had a kitchen when the tenant moved in. Was there a kitchen in the house when you moved it? Yes, but I tore it out on the third or fourth day of living there. At this point, Steve's attorney turns to Steve and says, all this life as an attorney. Do it again. You got it. I'm

SPEAKER_01:

Batman. I'm Batman.

SPEAKER_00:

All your life as an attorney, you wait for a Perry Mason moment. This is it. Oh, yeah. The last line of the story is the judge affected the time.

UNKNOWN:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Great story. Great narration. Great job. Oh, man.

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So I guess the moral of the story here, would you ever trade work for rent?

SPEAKER_01:

Is that the moral of the story?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, not the moral, but I guess the main question, I guess, here. I mean, I don't know. What about you? Would you ever trade work for rent, or is it too risky? I think it could be worth it, you know? I don't know how you feel, but if you're going to be paying a handyman... like a bunch of money. And it might just be more convenient to then rent them out of space if you have the space. I don't know, though. I'm not in a position where I've had to do that. What do you think? So I actually have a couple interesting ways to kind of spin this for me personally. As a renter, I'm qualified to tell these stories. One apartment that I lived in in Cincinnati, it was like a single house building, but it was divided into three units. And I lived on the second floor of the building. The third floor is was the attic that was renovated into a single bedroom apartment. The landlord rented that out to his maintenance guy. And his maintenance guy, I'm guessing the trade-off there, I never learned specifics of the contract, but he would do any of the utility for the apartment building. So anytime I called the maintenance guy, it was the guy that lived upstairs that would then fix whatever the problem was or whatever was broken. So clearly the relationship seemed to work out for the two of them. I don't know whether he charged him any rent or if it was just live in this place and fix the place up as see fit. The interesting thing now is that the house that I live in currently currently part of the lease is that I'm actually responsible for like lawn care and stuff like that. So like mowing the grass and everything like that. But then there's been like little things around the house where it's like, you know, cleaned out the gutters. That's been a task recently with all the rain we've had in Cincinnati. I've had to go up and like scoop out some like gutter stuff to make sure that water's flowing away from the foundation of the building. And like I've been like pulling weeds and stuff and getting like the backyard, like the perimeter around the backyard just to make it look nice and clean. Yeah. Like doing some like Fertilization and everything like that for the yard to make sure that the grass is growing in right. So it's like little things like that. Like I don't know. But it's like I'm just doing as part of like, you know, I'm taking care of this person's house really. Like I'm renting their house. You know, I still pay them rent money, but it's like, I'm also like, I want it to, I want to be a good tenant and take care of the property. So, but you know, I don't know. It's interesting. Like, I don't know if I, like, I would personally be like down for, it's complicated. Like them, like a landlord saying like, if you, do X, Y, and Z, you don't have to pay this X amount in rent. I feel like that could complicate things a little bit. I think I agree as well. What if you do a bad job? Yeah, I think it would be more of like if you have a lot of properties and need a handyman or whatever. I feel like it's a case-by-case basis. I don't know whether I would either. Yeah. Would you have caught the excessive material purchases earlier, or do you trust tenants too much? So in this story– do you think that you would have caught it? I'm going to be so honest. I was so focused on the voices that I didn't pay attention to the story. Well, basically... Let me reread it real quick. No, remember there was the whole thing with the hardware store was like... The big box. Yeah, he was like using his credit card or whatever. Steve got a call from the hardware store. The handyman was buying a bunch of material. Yeah. And he ended up like, you know... Cash, yeah. Not using the money for like actual stuff. I mean... I don't know. I feel like when the tenant just gets started, it seems like this– it's not like the landlord and the tenant knew each other super well or that the tenant had really proven himself to be like a reliable and honest person. So I think that it would probably have been smart of the landlord to pick up on things a little sooner. Yeah. Again, as always, we consult our professionals. We have a professional on team that kind of like talks to us about what's going on with rental stuff because again– Patrick and I are not very– we're new to the market. We're new to everything. We're just kind of learning along with everybody. They basically said if you're going to get into a relationship like this with one of your tenants, making sure that you have clear rules in your lease that you sign with this person is a strong thing to do. Making sure that whatever the relationship is, all the specificities are underlined, that you're not just like assuming anything. I think that's it. Story time officially over. Thank you again for your narration. Yeah, no problem. You killed the judge roll. Yeah, a reminder out there. If you guys have a tenant horror story or a story that you want us to read on the Rentish podcast, you can always email questions at therentishpod.com with your stories. Please make sure to write characters that Patrick can play. But his range is pretty good. Unlimited. It's unlimited. I feel like that voice I did, I also did in a previous story. So I got to... I was getting a little like Grima Wormtongue kind of action in there. I don't even know what that means. He's Lord of the Rings character. Which one is he? He's like the snaky character for King Theoden. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah. Well, thank you all for listening to this episode of The Rentish Pod. Thank you for joining us. As always, I'm Zach. That's Patrick. We're here to talk real estate and property management with you guys. We're hoping that you're enjoying the show. Remember to follow us on all of the social feeds that are out there and double check your podcast platform of choice if it gives you the option to rate or review or give us a five-star rating or a 10-star rating or leave us a comment. We would really appreciate you if you did that because every little bit helps the podcast out. And share it with your friends. If you have friends that are into property management or just fun, goofy times, maybe send them the link. But give us a rating. We would appreciate you. And it would make sure that Patrick has the means to feed himself.

SPEAKER_01:

Again,

SPEAKER_00:

email questions at therentishpod.com if you want to ask us a question or bring a topic to us. We would appreciate you. Well, that's it. Have a great night, everyone. Bye-bye.