Divemedic

Rent Increases were Predictable

News of large rent increases are coming in from all over the state of Florida. Orlando, Jacksonville, Orlando, and Tampa, to name a few. Rents in Florida are up 29% year over year.

The causes are obvious. I’ve been warning of this for more than a year. The eviction moratorium was killing landlords. Many landlords are leaving the business, while tons of northerners are moving to Florida in a bid to escape the increasingly socialist policies up north. This is increasing home prices, so many rentals are now being sold. Taxes and insurance rates are climbing.

On top of that, there is inflation to deal with. Florida minimum wage just increased 17 percent over the 2020 rate. The increased costs, increased risk, increased demand, and falling supply has combined with record inflation to put a lot of upward pressure on rental prices.

Tampa has decided that they are going to do an end run: a voter referendum declaring a housing emergency and enacting rent control. This will be the Democrat issue for the 2022 election. Expect a State constitutional amendment on the ballot for rent control.

If rent control is enacted, there are steps I can take: Each year, I will raise rents by the highest permitted under the new law. On top of that:

  • I will no longer provide lawn service as a part of rent. That will shift $900 a year of expense to the tenant.
  • I will no longer provide a free washer and dryer. I will recommend a company that will rent the tenant one at an additional cost, if they don’t have one. That company will be owned by me. The going rate for that is $144 a month.
  • I currently pressure wash the outside of the property twice a year. I can push that off to the tenant, and make it their responsibility as a part of cleaning.

There are many ways that I can maintain profitability. Just taking the three steps above will have the effect of increasing the cost of renting by 15 percent without increasing the rent itself.

Landlords will have to be creative.

By Divemedic, ago

Is the fix in?

The 2020 election had some odd forewarning. Just two weeks before the election, my wife and I took a road trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway. On the way, we saw tons of Trump signs and stickers, almost no Biden ones. I mean, it was running ten to one. I thought to myself that there was no way that Biden was running a good enough campaign to win. We all know what happened next.

The 2022 midterm elections will tell the tale. This is how we know whether or not the 2020 election’s shenanigans will be a permanent feature. Historically, the sitting President’s political party does poorly if the economy is also not well.

The President’s popularity has much to do with this. According to Gallup’s polling history, presidents with an approval rating below 50 percent have seen their party lose 37 House seats on average while presidents with a 50 percent or higher approval rating have lost 14 on average. Only two U.S. presidents have seen their party gain House seats according to the American Presidency Project – Bill Clinton in 1998 and George W. Bush in 2002.

Meanwhile, Biden has an approval rating that is somewhere in the low 40 percent range. Congress has an approval rating of 21 percent.

Now here I am, looking at all of this with only ten months to the mid term elections. Note that the Democrats don’t really look all that concerned. Sure, they are SAYING they are worried, but if they were really concerned, they would be doing their usual preelection rush to look centrist. They aren’t trying to change course, aren’t really DOING anything about the situation. The actions continue to show that they are still following the hard leftward course. It’s like they know the fix is in and have nothing to worry about. I really home I am wrong with this one.

By Divemedic, ago

Marcinko Dead

Richard Marcinko died Christmas day. He was well known as the creator and first commanding officer of SEAL Team 6.

When I was in the Navy, he was tasked with forming a fake terrorist organization to test Naval security. He called it “Red Cell.” He terrorized the Navy by embarrassing Admirals with the stunts he pulled.

His team managed to kidnap the Admiral in command of the North Atlantic Fleet by stealing an ambulance after tying up its crew, then using it to enter the Naval base (which had been forewarned of the “test”) and kidnap the Admiral, who was not amused.

He was a real pain in the ass, mostly by exposing the ineptitude of Navy Admirals. This meant his career was capped at O-5.

By Divemedic, ago

Completing Gaston

I had a lot going on this week, but managed to get in a bit of shop time. I used it to get the slide for project Gaston finished.

I used this slide from Ninex19 at a cost of $320, a Glock 19 slide parts kit from Brownell’s ($50), and a Faxon barrel ($210). That makes the total for the upper half $580.

Assembly was easy. I used this video as a guide:

It isn’t the best video, but it got the job done. One thing I wanted to note: the slide came with a brass striker channel, and I used that one instead of the one that came the parts kit.

All I need to do is set the TFO sights on the pistol and it’s done. I think it looks good, but it will be a week or so before I get a chance to test it at the range.

The total cost was $790 plus the $95 for the sights- a total cost of $885, or $45 over budget. A bit more than a factory G19, but I get the extended barrel and the RMR cut. Plus it looks great.

By Divemedic, ago

Panic

Imagine a disease so dangerous that it requires testing to know if you have it.

  • The only COVID-19 symptom that doesn’t show up with a common cold is the loss of smell, Barrett said, but that’s not a “useful tool to differentiate between the two.”
  • That’s why self-diagnosis is not a safe option for finding out if you have COVID-19. Getting a COVID-19 test is the best way to determine if you’re infected with the omicron variant.

If you are diagnosed with it, you get locked in your home and can’t go to work. The best course of action is: don’t get tested.

By Divemedic, ago