Want to save some money on your water bill?

1. Wash out an empty bottle … two liters or milk jugs work well
2. Put a few rocks in it then fill the rest up with water
3. Replace the cap and place it in your toilet tank

If there’s a significant difference in your toilet’s water pressure, just adjust the size of the bottle. Once you find the right balance, you’ll start using less water each time you flush … and you can repeat the process for each of your potties.

So what are you waiting for? Do a number (#2?) on that monthly bill!

My basement is too wet … when it rains, the walls leak, and when it doesn’t, it just feels damp down there. Sure, the excess water usually goes right down the floor drains, but I’m pretty sure that I’d like to buy a dehumidifier to dry the place up and keep my stuff in good shape.

I’m guessing that I’d probably keep it on most of the time, especially after it rains, just running a hose straight into the drain. But i’m not sure how much electricity or wear-and-tear that kind of use would involve. I also figure that a new one is the way to go, that it’d be more energy-efficient than a secondhand one (regardless of the up-front cost savings). But many of the reviews i’m reading say that the cheaper ones (from Wal-mart, Best Buy, etc.) die within a year … not good.

Have any advice? Do I want to get one with a larger capacity (45-60 pints/hour), even if that requires more energy? Which brands (Whirlpool, Danby, etc.) are reliable? Which stores give good deals on quality appliances? How about something like this?

Cincinnati has had its fair share of negative press in the last decade … and then some. Stories of racism, violent crime, corporate greed, and poverty have dotted the headlines, and even many people who live here seem to like to talk bad about the city.

But in reality, the Queen City is a fantastic and unique place to live … I’ve only been here seven years, and every day it seems that I discover something new that I like about this place. So, without further ado, here are my top ten features of Cincinnati, in no particular order:

1. Lots of world-class fine arts, including opera, ballet, orchestra, and some pretty good museums. Having UC, Xavier, NKU, and Miami nearby provides quite a few opportunities too.
2. A beautiful riverside skyline … with a new skyscraper (it’ll be the tallest) on the way. If you’ve ever driven up 71/75-N into the city, especially as the sun is low over the city, you know that it is truly one of the most gorgeous cities in America.
3. A really vibrant religious community, with lots of faiths and churches that are actively involved in real good work.
4. A unique partnership with northern Kentucky, with lots of development along the river (i.e. Newport on the Levee and the upcoming Banks project).
5. A booming economy … it’s one of the top five places to buy a home right now (according to Money Magazine) and the third most affordable place in the nation to live well (according to Forbes). The new IKEA is also a great indication of the financial stability and prime location of Porkopolis.
6. Great sports … Bengals, Reds, the Cincinnati Masters, and one of the only non-profit community-building marathons in the world (the Flying Pig).
7. Amazing local foods like Montgomery Inn, Graeter’s ice cream, LaRosa’s pizza, Skyline chili, The Maisonette, Findlay Market, and UDF.
8. Lots of sweet history … it’s the original midwestern boomtown, the home of river steamboats, the first major inland city in America, and a big player in the abolition of slavery.
9. The home of Procter & Gamble, Kroger’s, Sunny Delight, GE Aviation, Macy’s & Bloomingdale’s, Convergys, Chiquita, Great American Insurance, Western & Southern Financial Group, The E. W. Scripps Company, and Fifth Third Bank. Cincinnati is actually sixth in the country in Fortune 500 companies.
10. Some of the most amazing people on earth … there’s just something about them, and it’s one of the only places I’ve been where people seem to leave and come back, where they not only miss their hometown but choose to return and settle down.

So what do you think … did I forget anything?

I spent a large portion of the day today fixing up small things around the house … adding insulation, putting some accent lights out front, decorating my Christmas tree, yada yada yada. Every time I crossed something off the list, however, two or three things were miraculously added. It was like the Fountain of Youth … except more like a Fountain of Never-ending-things-to-do.

At about midnight, it was time to call it quits, so I sat down in front of the electric drug (the TV) to wind down a little. My butt had barely hit the couch when I heard some banging out on the front porch … someone was going in and out of my tenants’ front door, over and over. Eventually I got up to see what was up … and I discovered that it had been left open, on one of the windiest nights of the year. Yeah. One tenant had come down, bewildered, and was trying to pull it shut.

A quick glance revealed that the screen door had been bent by the wind, and the inside handle had broken off from my tenant’s efforts to rein it in. Argh … and here, I suppose, is exactly the kind of situation that everyone had warned me about when I decided to become a landlord. Honestly, I’d rather have clogged toilets than broken doors … but at midnight it’s all about the same!

In denial, I just got out my screwdriver and took the door off, figuring that I could deal with it tomorrow. And as I skulked back to my bedroom to retire, my cell phone rang. It was another tenant, asking me to come to the door. At 12:40am.

I did, expecting to find a collapsed porch or car protruding through my living room window or [insert dramatic catastrophe here] … but when I opened the door, he was simply standing there with a small present and a Christmas card. How fantastic! I ran and got the gift that I had prepared for him, and we chatted a little about our Christmas plans before heading off to our respective rests.

Ok, maybe I can do this.

So … how do you move a pool table?

Well, the dust is finally starting to settle over here … I’ve closed on my house, moved in with all my stuff, and started the process of unpacking and organizing. It’s been a crazy process … so many details to set up and get rolling. I can’t imagine doing all of this with a whole family!

Special thanks to Kourtney, James, Bethany, Kelli, Jamie, and Christina for their help in moving my piles of stuff on Saturday … other than the guardrail we ran over and the electric cable we ripped off of my neighbor’s house with the moving truck, it went pretty smoothly!

Now I’ve just got an anonymous wall of Rubbermaid containers and cardboard boxes to sort through in my guest bedroom. I’ve also got to get my hands on some furniture and figure out how to decorate the place … and there are a few projects I’d like to do before winter sets in as well. Hopefully things will continue to fall into place and some of those details will take care of themselves!

As far as landlording goes, I’ve finally met all of the tenants and they seem pretty cool. One works at the Gap, another manages a Pizza Hut, the third does safety and security at the Ford plant, and the last works at a lighting manufacturer. I’ll have at least one spot open in January, so I’ve started to advertise and figure out the legal stuff … hopefully I won’t step on too many toes (or rusty nails) as I stumble through this process!

It’s pretty widely known that the biggest key to good landlording is attracting and keeping good renters. Doing so protects your property, minimizes costs, provides stability, and gives you the greatest possible income. It also, in my opinion, gives you the unique ability to build relationships and trust … one of the big reasons why I’m doing this thang.

So I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how to find these “good renters”. The current situation in my home is pretty unique … four tenants are living under separate leases and sharing a common area upstairs. Though not an ideal situation for a family, this setup is great for a young professional or college student who’s trying to get ahead without having to live in the proverbial “parents’ basement”. I’ve been there myself for seven years, so I can appreciate the finer points of sharing a space and keeping the rent low.

When my current tenants’ leases run out at the end of the year, I plan to keep this same strategy (with some tweaks) and hopefully the same tenants (if things click). But I’ve already got to start thinking about how to fill the space quickly and with the right people if a spot opens up.

My location is one of the big factors here … I’m about a mile and a half away from Kenwood Towne Centre, one of the nicest malls in Cincinnati, so it would only make sense to try and connect with both mall employees and customers. I’d probably use roadside signs, bulletin boards, and (of course) a website … but I need your help to choose a domain:

So what do you think? Which one is the most likely to attract the right people? Which would be the most memorable to someone driving or walking by?

Well, it’s official … after a two-month-long hunt, I have finally found a home that I really like, bargained for a fair price, and set a closing date (November 28th, four days after my birthday and three days before Louie’s). I’ll make a post a little later on about why I’m buying a home … but for now, I’ll just give you the what.

If you’re a “visual” person, you can check out this nice virtual tour of the property (with fancy music and everything). If you’re more of a “literate” individual, here’s some information on the place from a recent email that I sent to my family.

It’s a solid old (built in 1905) two-family home in Silverton, Ohio (about 15-18 minutes from school) … here is the listing with lots of photos and here is an aerial view. The outside has a two car garage with new doors and one new opener, the off-street parking can fit 4 cars, it has a covered front porch and walkout patio with a level yard, and it has new replacement windows, roof, carpet, and exterior paint. The basement is dirt-old … stone walls and everything … but it seems pretty solid and could even become the future home of a ping pong, pool, or fussball table!

The first-floor unit (where I will live) has been completely remodeled … 1078 square feet, 2 bedrooms and one bath, a master bed with 2 closets and a bay window, a new kitchen with tile floor and corian counters and wood cabinets, and hardwood floors throughout. It’s pretty nice, and the second bedroom is perfect for another renter or to just keep as a nice guest bedroom (come and visit me!).

The second unit, 1478 square feet, has 2 bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms on the second floor and a remodeled loft bedroom (converted attic) on the third floor. It has a kitchen and a living area too … and currently all three bedrooms are rented under separate leases (the renters share the living room and kitchen and bathrooms).

The two units have separate (and new) gas heat/central air systems, separate utility bills, and share the washer/dryer in the basement. The second floor could use some work (old bathrooms and kitchen), but the current renters seem pretty content and I would probably only touch them (the units, not the renters) if I needed to.

I’ve got a lot to do in the next week … find the best mortgage, get the place inspected, go over the contingiencies, arrange the utilities and insurance, meet the tenants and figure out how to best approach landlording, and get all of my things ready to move.

It’s pretty sweet … the path in front of me is lit, and I’m stepping out!

I’ve been spending a lot of time lately digging up details, hitting the road, and crunching numbers for my home hunt. When you’re a perfectionist like me, it can be an exhausting process … especially when you’re still learning the ropes and double and triple-checking your facts all the time.

Here are three of the current leading contenders, in no particular order. You can see their locations on this map or click on the links below to see more details about each home.

10650 Robindale Dr
This single family home in Sharonville has 4 bedrooms and 2 baths and is selling for $119k. It’s a foreclosure that’s lender-owned, so the price is right and maybe even a little bit flexible. It would require some work … landscaping, carpet, finishing the basement … but would probably resell for at least $140-150k. Sharonville’s about 10-12 minutes from school, it has great parks and a rec center, and the property taxes are the lowest that I’ve found anywhere nearby.

6819 Ohio Ave
This 2-family home in Silverton has a beautifully refinished 2 bed/1 bath lower unit and an occupied 3 bed/1.5 bath upper unit. It’s got a lot of square feet, brand new utilities and innards, and is going for $150k. If I lived here, renting out the second unit would almost completely cover my mortgage … an obvious advantage over single-family homes. This home (and the next one) is near Kenwood mall, a steadily growing community about 15-18 minutes from school.

4005 Deer Park Ave
This 3-family home has been meticulously updated by the owner for the past couple of decades … it features a 3 bed/2 bath unit upstairs, an occupied 1 bed/1 bath first floor, and an occupied efficiency in the basement. The price is high … $185k … but the renters have been there a long time and want to stay. I trust the workmanship here and like the flexibility of differently-sized units, but I’d need to get the price down significantly to seriously consider it.

I still don’t feel like I’ve found the “right” place … but I don’t now how long I’d have to wait for it to show up on the market. So what do you think? What are your initial reactions?

Dude. I wonder if this place is big enough …

Today the home hunt continued … my father and I toured seven houses in Cincinnati, four of which were repeat visits that I wanted to show him and three of which were multi-family homes. Yep, that’s right … I’m considering living in one unit while managing the other units!

The first two multi-family homes we visited were junk … old homes in bad neighborhoods with sketchy situations. But the third was fantastic … a three-family place in the middle of Kenwood (a growing area) that had been meticulously redesigned and maintained. It’s a little beyond the price range I was considering, but it has two longtime renters whose monthly payments would go a long way towards eliminating that discrepancy. All in all, it’s the best option I’ve encountered yet!

So here’s the deal … I need to learn as much as I can as quickly as possible about being a landlord. Have you done it? Do you know someone who has? If so, what advice can you give me?

Good news for all of you Cincinnatians … IKEA is coming to West Chester!

IKEA West Chester will present nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items, three model homes, 50 room settings, a supervised children’s play area, a 300-seat restaurant serving Swedish specialties such as meatballs with lingonberries and salmon plates, as well as American dishes. Other family-friendly features will include a ‘Children’s IKEA’ area in the showroom, baby care rooms, preferred parking and play areas throughout the store.

“Now that construction is underway, it is exciting to see actual physical progress towards the future IKEA West Chester,” said Michael Maier, IKEA real estate manager. “We will be bringing our unique family-friendly shopping experience closer to more than 100,000 IKEA customers in the Ohio Valley who currently are driving great distances to shop at our stores. This location also will attract new customers from Columbus, Dayton, Indianapolis, Lexington and Louisville as well as from the Cincinnati area.”

When the store opens in Spring 2008, IKEA West Chester will welcome 400 new coworkers into the IKEA family. Candidates interested in working at this employer of choice should look for all positions online at www.IKEA-USA.com, where they will be able to apply for diverse positions available in: home furnishings sales, interior decoration, customer service, safety and security, cashiers, maintenance, goods flow, receiving, warehouse and stock replenishment. Also, setting itself apart from other retailers, IKEA West Chester will offer approximately 60 food service opportunities in its Restaurant, Swedish Foodmarket, Café Bistro and coworker cafeteria. IKEA has been ranked in FORTUNE’s annual “100 Best Companies to Work For” list (three years in a row), Working Mother magazine’s annual list of “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers” (four years in a row) and Training magazine’s annual “Top 125” ranking of companies that excel at human capital development (five years in a row). IKEA will create 500 construction jobs and generate significant tax revenue for local governments and schools.

[via hp]

As some of you know, one of my big goals this fall is to find and purchase my first home. I’ve spent a lot of time getting my finances in order, learning about the process, and figuring out just what I’m looking for. And now, after six years of saving, I’m finally starting the hunt!

Today I went around with Kim, my real estate agent, to look at seven homes that I was interested in near my school. I’m mostly concerned with resale value, so all of these homes were moderately-priced, had at least three bedrooms and two bathrooms, and featured both a garage and a basement. Of the seven we looked at, four were easy to dismiss … and the other three were interesting for different reasons.

The first, a 3 bed 2 bath home in northern Sharonville, featured a big yard and tons of space indoors. It had a huge master suite and bathroom, some nice woods in the backyard, an above-ground pool, and was pretty close to CHCA. But it had some old siding, lots of years of living, and was in a neighborhood that didn’t seem very appealing. When I checked it out on the county auditor’s website, I found out that they were listing it $29,000 above the 2006 appraised value. But even though something didn’t sit well, I couldn’t quite cross it off of my list just yet.

The second, a ranch brick home in Loveland/Symmes Twp, featured a huge backyard and deck, a new kitchen and bath, and some nice woodwork. Rebekah (my sister-in-law) said that it would be a “safe” home … and Kim echoed this thought, explaining to me how nice ranch homes could be very popular, reselling well especially to older people. But it seemed cramped and had a terribly-designed basement, had some really high taxes (~$1500), and generally gave me the feeling that I’d spend most of my time in the backyard.

The third home, which seemed the most promising, was a tri-level home in the heart of Sharonville. It had mostly hardwood floors, more bathrooms, pretty spacious rooms, great curb appeal, really cheap taxes (~$500), and a few chances for easy updates and remodeling. It was a bit small, though, and the backyard went right up to the parking lot of a big church (I’d have to plant some big firs for privacy). Best of all, it was located in a fantastic neighborhood, within walking distance from a great community center and in a nice neighborhood with mostly bigger homes.

Because many of you have probably purchased a home before, I’m going to keep posting the details of my search online (at webel.net/home), hoping for some good advice and guidance throughout the search. Feel free to leave any comments or links that you feel might help. I’d really appreciate it!

Well, I’m now home, safe and sound in Cincinnati. The trip wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Sure, it was long … but it seemed like a piece of cake compared to my countless experiences on Chinese trains this year. I guess that I’ve been toughened up!

I flew from Changsha to Beijing to Los Angeles to Charlotte to Lexington. And when I finally arrived at the Lexington Bluegrass Airport, I was delighted to find both Rob Lansdale and Kelli Faust waiting there to greet me! They helped me cart my things to the car … to Louie, my Mazda who I had missed so dearly. Then all four of us hopped on I-75N to Middletown.

Along the way, we stopped at Applebee’s for lunch (how glorious!), the bank and License Bureau in Middletown (to transfer Louie back into my hands), and Rob’s parents’ home. We then made a trip out to Pleasant Vineyard, where they were in the middle of their last week of camp … and let me tell you, it was awesome to see those people and that place. Then we had dinner at Great Steak and Potato Company before parting ways.

I then drove down to Cincinnati to the Outzs home … I’ll be renting a room from this family until I find a more permanent place to live. It was so fantastic to take a nice hot shower. And it looks like it’ll be a great place to crash and get my head on straight while I’m adjusting to American life.

In the next four days, I’ll be running all around Cincinnati, assembling my life. Tomorrow I’ll get a cell phone, arrange my financial life, update my address, and find some car insurance. But first, for the first time in four days, I’m going to bed. In a real bed.

Good night!

My cousin Erica has encouraged me to write more stories online. She’s right … my busyness and disinterest lately have turned this blog into a blahg. Hopefully this choice morsel will help.

A couple of days ago, I was going to the post office to mail two packages back to America (a four-hour ordeal that deserves its own story). I carried one of the packages to the front gate of my school, returning a couple of minutes later to retrieve the second package. When I entered my apartment through the door that I had left ajar, however, I heard someone moving in my bedroom.

Now in America, I would have been pretty cautious and “smart” in this situation. In China, however, I’ve become pretty bold … I’m generally bigger, stronger, and louder than everyone else, so I’m rarely afraid of confrontations. Plus, people simply don’t have guns. So I immediately walked toward my bedroom to take care of the problem.

As I entered my office, I saw a little girl, about 6 or 7 years old, pulling up her shorts and underwear. Ok … weird. I looked at her face to try to gauge what was happening, and I saw that she was a little surprised, but not scared at all … in fact, she was smiling pretty broadly, like she was proud of herself.

Then I looked down and saw the puddle.

Yeah … this random little girl was grinning because she had just had peed on the floor in the middle of my office! I was pretty helpless … I couldn’t ask her any questions or talk to her about it or anything. So I took her hand and said, “wo men zo” (let’s go), walking her outside towards the front gate of the school, where I was going to try to explain to the guards what had happened and find out where she belonged.

During our walk, I noticed that her demeanor was calm … she still wasn’t frightened at all, as most children would be when “caught” like that, especially by a foreigner. She just looked around and smiled. In a way, her behavior actually reminded me the children with autism who I worked with in college.

As I tried to empathize with her bizarre behavior, we rounded a corner and ran into a man who I could immediately tell was her father. He asked her where she had been (she didn’t answer) then thanked me profusely. And that was that. All I could do was walk home and continue my day, as if nothing had ever happened.

At least I hadn’t yet given away my mop. Or my bleach.