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 3rd….”This is not a Shawna rule, this is the way of the world. Rent is always due on the 1st 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 5th 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!
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