redapple

August Owner Letter

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 19:30:17 GMT

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. 40 ^th 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

September Owner Letter

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 19:03:00 GMT

September Owner Letter

September 5, 2025

Hello Owners,

It feels like 100 years since I’ve last written you a cozy little letter. It feels like this week alone has lasted 100 years. One of our workers was out of town and it was the first week of the month AND we took Monday off to celebrate Labor Day. (Why is it that days off aren’t so much fun anymore? Why is it a LOT of work to be gone? Why would we rather NOT go on vacation for fear of what we might return to at work?) Please don’t answer these questions. I cannot possibly hear the answers right now.

If this is your first time to get a payment from Red Apple, you will have to wait an EXTRA 3-5 business days for you money. I’m sorry about that. It’s a banking rule, not a Shawna rule.

(I’ve said that a lot lately to tenants who are late: Your rent is due by the first of the month, but Red Apple offers a bit of grace and let’s you pay through the 3 ^rd ….”This is not a Shawna rule, this is the way of the world. Rent is always due on the 1 ^st all over the world.” The responses we get: we’re only human; you’re so nit-picky; can’t you give us a break?; someone stole my debit card….and the list goes on.

This letter will be a short one since it’s already noon on the 5 ^th and I’m just now getting to your payments….so sorry…. The temperature of Abilene rental market at this moment in time is like that of a CAT 5 tornado…..it’s like a earthquake registered at 5 on the Richter scale….. Deaf-Con One (or is it Deaf Con 3? What’s the worst?) RED ALERT…you name it. And instead of comparing this to destruction, we are comparing it to AMAZING-NESS! I do NOT know if we will be able to get these rent amounts again, but we’re gettin’ em now, so we are going with it. We don’t want to drive away any hard-working, on-time-current tenants, but at renewal, we will inch up. I told one lady that her rent was going up by $50. She called me, SOBBING. “Well I guess I can sleep in my car.” I told her to decide if she wants to stay or not AND if she chooses to live in her car, “please don’t tell your friends the rent will be $800 because if you move out, the rent is going to $1295.” She quit sobbing. (Trailer house tenant; been there for years, owner has a soft spot for her and so do I…..) I told some new owners that I’d list their home in Buffalo Gap (fabulous home) for $2195…oh but wait…..I decided to list it at $2495. That was last week. The new tenants will move in today. Crazy. Weird. Expensive. We’re doing it. It may not last forever, but it’s happening now. (And I’m gonna live like a 2 year old: in the moment!)

We had a ton of move ins this week and also a TON OF DELINQUENCIES. I know we didn’t reach out to every one of y’all to tell ya that your tenant was/is a slow pay, so you’ll have to show us some grace this time…..if you didn’t get rent, your tenant didn’t pay. We posted 9 move-out notices and I’m 99% positive that 7 of them paid this morning. So, that leaves 2 of ya not getting any money today. We are working on it. I promise.

Also, (it’s not 1:30pm) and I’m about to hit the PAY OWNER button. After that button gets hit, I’ll be emailing some of you that owe Red Apple a lot of money. A fast calculation shows that I’m $16,000+ in the red. I cannot afford to front that kind of money for 0% interest. I cannot afford to front that kind of money for ANY amount of interest. If your ledger shows a “please remit balance due”…..please remit the balance that is due. I think I shared a timeline on when I’ll quit financing repairs for $0 (Is it 2026?). I can’t recall, but none of these vendors are letting me finance your repair, so I don’t know why I keep paying like a slot machine but getting crickets on the other end…… (Truth!)

Have a great fall, y’all. The West Texas Fair is in Abilene this upcoming week, so that means we will be getting some rain. No fair goes on ‘roun here without some mud. We will welcome the rain like we will welcome those reimbursements!

Your friends at Red Apple,

Shawna, Megan, Kynzie, Marissa, Krysti, Drew and Lalaya!

October Owner Letter

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 18:56:08 GMT

October 6, 2025

Hello Owners!

Welcome to October 6th….”the business day closest to the 5th”! We all love this day!

It’s Monday here in Abilene…..not sure what day it is at your place, but gosh. It’s only midday on Monday and I already need it to go away QUICKLY.

When folks ask me how the real estate market is, I always say, “it’s a little shower in the fall…” But I’m not saying that this fall. It’s a fast rental market, that’s for sure. It CAN BE a fast sale market if your home is priced right. I was scheduled for 2 closings this morning, but only one of them happened. Hoping that Tuesdays are better than Mondays for closings….

If you’re looking for more rentals to buy, please let me know. I’m about to have a list of about 4 Abilene homes PLUS one of our owners is ready to unload any of his homes in his portfolio of 14 rentals. AND I have an owner who wants to sell a WHOLE STREET in Clyde! Yep, 8 homes in Clyde all on the same street. EASY! All these homes are RENTED and PRODUCING INCOME, so let me know if your money is ready to put into a home that works similar to a pump jack pumping oil……….mailbox money.

Here are some frequently asked questions that I need to go over with y’all: (I’ll keep my answers simple so I can hit the “pay owners” button and get you some mailbox money TODAY!

FAQ 1: Why haven’t you talked about your tiny house project lately?

ANSWER: No comment.

FAQ 2: Hasn’t it been a year since you moved the tiny house onto your property?

ANSWER: No comment.

FAQ 3: Why did I not get paid this month?

ANSWER: If you’re a new owner and this is your first month to get paid, there are “verification days” that come with your first payment. You will see your payment in 3-5 business days depending on the rules of your bank.

FAQ 4: I’ve had my home with your company for a few months now and it got rented last week, why do I have so many deductions?

ANSWER: Once you get your statement in your email, you’ll be able to take a look and see what the charges were. If your home has been listed with us for a few months, we have been paying for water, gas and power for you. We most likely hired a cleaning company and, if you have carpet in your rental, we hired the carpets to be cleaned, too. If you didn’t have KwikSet Smart key locks on your doors, we added them for you($60+ per door PLUS a $125 installation fee). Your first payment from our office will have a LOT of deductions.

FAQ 5: I’ve got my 3rd payment from you since I listed my home for rent in August. I still have utility bills listed on my statement.

ANSWER: As soon as your tenant moved in, we canceled service. It takes weeks to finally receive the final bills. Since owners get paid on the 5th day of the month, those final bills obviously came after you had already been paid. We try to note “FINAL BILL” on your statement so you’ll know that bill has made its final appearance, but sometimes we forget. All bills paid on your behalf are uploaded to your portal. You’ll always have a link to match your charges with an invoice or receipt.

FAQ 6: Why are you avoiding talking about your tiny house?

ANSWER: Well, because I am so mad about that. I can’t seem to get my paperwork filled out concerning the foam insulation. I can’t move forward on anything else until the foam insulation is done. And even if I get it done, the guy that does all my foam insulation work is IN JAIL. I don’t want to put MORE ANGER into this project than absolutely necessary. I need to regulate my temp and this tiny house makes the blood pressure sky rocket! I’m wasting time on getting this one done and RENTED. I am 100% positive that I can rent it for $1495-1895/month and I’m not joking. I need to get my paperwork done and FIND ANOTHER PERSON to do the insulation, right?

OK, I think we’ve covered all the FAQs for today. Please let us know if you have any more questions!!! Call: 1-800-ANGRYGIRL for more help. OR check out the website: www.WhyIs ShawnaSoMad.com (Tha'ts a joke....not a real number or website!)

Happy October!

See you next time,

Shawna and the apples