In Search of a New Tenant

Ann moved to Dallas! Ann was our sweet tenant with a lovable and enormous golden doodle. She got a much better job offer in Dallas and just couldn’t resist. Plus, she was ready for a new scene.

We were faced with the question – do we sell or rent the house? And if we rent it, should we list it with a rental management company, or continue to manage it ourselves?

It seems silly to try to manage an Albuquerque rental from Tucson, but the last time we had a management company for a rental in Albuquerque when we were living in California, it seemed like dealing with the rental management company was just as much of a nuisance as dealing with tenants. If not more! They were charging us for the privilege of being a nuisance!

So off I went to Albuquerque to replace our tenant myself. John had to work in Albuquerque that week anyway, so the timing worked out.

Typically I’d get a rental completely ready before advertising it – professional cleaners, carpets professionally shampooed, yard cleanup by a landscaping crew, and a thorough handyman fix-all. There are always things broken – sink stoppers that don’t operate, a stove burner that doesn’t light, nail holes in walls, blinds that are loose or inoperable, stuck locks, drippy sink traps, grinding garage doors, dirty filters, etc.

This house had all the typical things needing fixed and I lined up the workers for the first few days of the week. Initially I figured it would take a week to get the house in shape, and another week to get it shown and a lease signed. But the market is very strong and I was in a rush to get back to Tucson. I decided to go ahead and advertise and show the house at the same time as all the cleaning and repairs were being done, and see if I could get it all done in under a week.

I felt apologetic while showing a dirty house with cleaning supplies and handyman tools and paint buckets strewn everywhere. I kept reassuring people not to worry, that it would all be done in a couple of days. But all the prospective tenants were like, “We don’t care, it doesn’t matter, please, please rent to us, please, please we want this house, tell use when we can sign, we can pay starting today, please, please, please.”

Typically that amount of strong interest (dozens of applicants) would suggest I priced the rent way too low. But I had marked it up by 25% and I just didn’t feel right about going any higher. I listed it at maybe slightly below market rate, but not that much lower. It’s a pretty little house, with a nice back patio in a very good school district. But it’s small. The problem is not my pricing – the problem is a shortage of housing.

Even though I know I’m lucky that it rented easily, it was a stressful experience for me. I don’t like turning people down, I don’t like disappointing people, I don’t like saying no. I felt bad for them all. I’ve been there myself when I was a single mom – trying desperately to find a house to rent in a tight market. I was nearly in tears when the applications started pouring in moments after the ad went live and I realized how bad the market was. And I was crying again as I sent “sorry” messages to everyone. I’ve been managing rentals for many years now, but for some reason I really took it hard this time.

It’s done now. The very first applicant (who contacted me literally seconds after the ad appeared) turned out to be highly qualified (I go by credit score). So I rented it to her. It’s weird – she reminds me so much of my previous tenant. It’s just coincidence, but they are similar-looking young women, both with a golden doodle. The neighbors are going to be like, “They only rent to single young women with golden doodles?”

I know you’re thinking that with so many applicants I could have said “no pets.” And that’s true, but it’s a house with a little yard and it’s so hard to find rentals that allow pets. And I think that pets are important – sometimes a dog’s love is all we have to keep us away from the brink of despair in the hard times. I want to allow pets; they are important for our mental health.

Particularly golden doodles 😉

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