August Owner Letter
August 5, 2025
Hello Everyone! Welcome to the last month of the summer. I'm SO HAPPY August is finally here. I do NOT want to wish my days away, but I'm glad this summer is coming to an end and we are nearing the fall season! Marching bands, Dallas Cowboys, less HVAC issues, you know—-the usual.
Unless you're a brand new Red Apple owner, you should see your payment post in T minus 27 seconds. IF you've never been paid by us before, it will be 3-5 days before you see the money drop into your account due to verification reasons from my bank and from your bank. I know most of you are tired of reading that message, but I didn't add it last month and I should have! This message will be like the garage sale on S. 40th street: perpetual, always happening, never ending, occurring repeatedly.
July was a trying month; Lots of hardships and heartaches. We had to move some tenants out of a rental due to an attic fire. The culprit? The squirrels chewed through some electrical lines and dang near burned down the whole back room. They were displaced for about a week before we slid them to another home….I’m talking about the tenants here, NOT the squirrels. We lost a dear friend and contractor to an untimely death; (RIP Mike Gomez, 50 years old.) Mike was a roofer and contractor and had done MANY jobs for Red Apple and for my own family. I referred him to each and every one of y’all when you needed someone to tackle a big job or do a fun renovation. The aftermath of his passing will be noticeable for months and years to come, not just because he was a good guy and will be missed but because of many loose ends left behind. And, we had to let our new girl go bye bye. The employee we spent weeks and months training is no longer employed by Red Apple. All the money and time and time and training and money and time and time and time......gone. Poof. Into the ether. I know it's the nature of the beast, but we really counted on her to be good help. Never fear, we are already tracking a new apple and we are 100% positive this one will be a good pick.
On a good note, we finally got a new phone system installed. I don't know if it works or not because we can't figure out how to set it up. hahahaha! (This reminds me of a story from long ago when my cousin was little: "Natalie, do those new shoes fit?" She says, "I don't know. I can't get them on."). When we get our training done on this "Office at Hand" phone system from AT&T, we will be rock stars. Until then, we can take 4 different callers at once before a call goes to voicemail. Always text or call my cell if you need me directly. And if your call goes to voicemail, it will be promptly returned within 24 business days. (!yes, I meant to say DAYS, not minutes!)
Another good bit of news: We have a new addition to the family: We have hired Drew Spencer as Head of Maintenance. He has great ideas up his sleeve and will be on-the-ready for quick repairs, updates, deliveries, etc for Red Apple and no other. You'll see his invoices labeled as "Inhouse Maintenance".
We continue to have a lot of rental showings and we also continue to second guess our attempts to show occupied homes. We are so wishy washy with this. We've decided that if we get push-back from an existing tenant that is over the top, we will wait. If the existing tenant allows us to set up a showing and the home does not show well, we will wait. In these cases, we will post the home one week before expiration so that we can set up an immediate showing once the home is clean and empty. I've only been doing this for 20 years, yet it seems to feel like my first day on the job every. single. day. We will never figure it out, but we will continue showing your rentals every chance we get!
School starts in Abilene on August 12.... just a few more days 'til freedom!
Your friends,
Shawna, MKynzie, Marissa, Drew, Megan & Krysti
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