Update on the Life of Bakari

[Bakari]

I'm sure some of the longtime hard-core MMM Forum readers have noticed that I recently went from one of the relatively more active users to dropping completely off the face of the internet.

Major life transition.

For the first time since I moved out of my mommy's house, I do NOT live in a house that moves.
That's right, I'm giving up the mobile lifestyle, and selling my RV.

I came across an even cheaper way to live, while staying in the San Francisco Bay Area without resorting to roommates.
I am now the maintenance manager of an 18 unit apartment building in Oakland, CA
I do the exact kind of work I did already, but my commute is a few second's walk, and the majority of the work I do whenever I get around to it.  My unit is fairly small - one bedroom, combined kitchen and living room - but then, I lived in RV up until now!  Plus I have exclusive access to the basement, with plenty of storage, and a finished room which I turned into my personal gym.  Good neighbors, good building owners. Sketchy neighborhood, but very close to my bikeshop and most of my regular clients.

I've been busy catching up on all the repairs that were neglected before I was hired (the owners who hired me only bought the building a few months ago), but it looks like I'll be doing very little work in exchange for my subsidized rent once I get the old stuff done - there has only been about 2 hours of work from new problems in the past month so far, for which I get $600 off the monthly rent, all utilities included!

[Jamesqf]

Not a bad deal at all, sounds like.  I confess that I've occasionally thought about something similar, like being a caretaker for a rural property, if I ever get fed up with the computer stuff.

[N]

sounds great and I for one am glad to see you on the board again.

[arebelspy]

Awesome living situation for someone with your talents.

Do you deal with tenants (re: screening, collecting rent, etc.) or just do maintenance?

[swiper]

sounds great and I for one am glad to see you on the board again.

Me too, welcome back

[Russ]

excellent deal for both you and the owners... skilled and hard-working maintenance guys are hard to come by

welcome back

[totoro]

Hey - that is great!  I did wonder where you were :)

[Bakari]

Awesome living situation for someone with your talents.

Do you deal with tenants (re: screening, collecting rent, etc.) or just do maintenance?

No screening, the people who pay cash bring it to me, but I never go asking for it.
Primarily just maintenance.

[happy]

Glad to here from you again:)

[Adventine]

Hey cool! Welcome back :)

[arebelspy]

Awesome living situation for someone with your talents.

Do you deal with tenants (re: screening, collecting rent, etc.) or just do maintenance?

No screening, the people who pay cash bring it to me, but I never go asking for it.
Primarily just maintenance.

That's a sweet gig then.

Your next move is to do that in your own building.   ;)

[Bakari]

Your next move is to do that in your own building.   ;)

That's the plan.  It'll be a few years though...

[rockstache]

Wow, congratulations on the great new setup! That sounds like a great deal.

[pachnik]

I wondered where you had gone.  i just figured you were working on your own stuff and you were!  Congratulations on your sweet deal!

[Nancy]

Sweet deal! You've been missed. Glad all is well!

[dude]

Having lived in NYC for many years, including in buildings with the live-in "building super," I always thought that was a pretty sweet gig.  Hell, the guy who was the super in one building I lived in was barely competent (but a nice guy), so I don't think the bar was very high (the majority of his duties seemed to be painting apartments in preparation for new tenants when old tenants moved out). 

Living rent-free in NYC is pretty huge (as it is in SF, I'd imagine), though I recall the building supers made a pretty small salary as a result of the living situation -- though for sure they had plenty of time on their hands to bring in side gig cash.  One of these gigs has always seemed to me ideal for the early retiree who is FI but wants to continue with some sort of work or wants to stretch out or supplement their nest egg.

[aj_yooper]

You are an interesting guy!  I am glad you are back.  Keep posting on this journey.

[Bakari]

Living rent-free in NYC is pretty huge (as it is in SF, I'd imagine), though I recall the building supers made a pretty small salary as a result of the living situation -- though for sure they had plenty of time on their hands to bring in side gig cash.  One of these gigs has always seemed to me ideal for the early retiree who is FI but wants to continue with some sort of work or wants to stretch out or supplement their nest egg.

Not rent free, unfortunately.  Just highly subsidized.  $325 for a $950 apartment (plus exclusive access to finished basement, and all utilities free).
On the plus side, though, there isn't much work to do.  It hasn't interfered with my real jobs in any way.  I just work here when I have free time.  And feel like it.  Its almost never time sensitive.  It just cuts into time I would otherwise have wasted on TV or video games or the MMM forums

[hybrid]

325 in the Bay area... well done!  I love that thinking outside the box mentality.  And welcome back.  Did you find the job or did the job find you?

[Bakari]

325 in the Bay area... well done!  I love that thinking outside the box mentality.  And welcome back.  Did you find the job or did the job find you?

I found it, but I wasn't looking for it.
I decided to split up with my girl, and I was trying to help her find an affordable place to live.  Browsing craigslist, happened to stumble across this place, but she doesn't have the skills they were looking for.  Then I realized, wait a minute - I do!
So she ended up staying in the trailer park, and I moved out instead.

[aglassman]

Had a similar gig for awhile.  I had to do applications and collect rent.  This was for some of the cheaper apartments in town.  You meet a lot of people.  All the way from the nicest people ever, to the biggest a-holes you can imagine.  Just hope you never get a hoarder.  I wish that upon no one.

[Bakari]

Had a similar gig for awhile.  I had to do applications and collect rent.  This was for some of the cheaper apartments in town.  You meet a lot of people.  All the way from the nicest people ever, to the biggest a-holes you can imagine.  Just hope you never get a hoarder.  I wish that upon no one.

In (one of) my paid job(s), I work as a hauler.  I have a couple clients who are hoarders.  Its kind of sad, but also kind of entertaining.
One of them said to me "I know, its too much, isn't it?  Its kind of like that show, 'Hoarders' - except, you know, its not that bad".
I didn't say what I was thinking - it really is that bad.  At least on some level she knows its a problem.
They hire me to move stuff from their apartments into storage spaces when the landlord or the city is planning on doing an inspection.  I encourage them to let go of anything that they indicate might possibly be unnecessary.  Sometimes they go for it, usually not.

[Cinder]

Should we call you Mr. Miyagi?