I Don’t Like White People
That’s not quite the first thing I said to the grandmother, daughter and child I found waiting for me as a arrived Saturday morning at my accidental rental property in Liberty. No, the first thing I said was to remove their car from my driveway, so I could pull in. I was not about to allow any presumption until we’d had a conversation.
I calmly asked them questions and when I was satisfied the grandmother had a job and sufficient regular income less expenses to pay the rent, I allowed them to look inside. I acceded to requests for pets, made the offer and they said they’d be back for the key with the first month’s rent.
The previous tenant left a good looking dog tied to a tree out back. However, he left a good sized kennel and the neighbors had been keeping him fed and watered. For the second time, I called the tenant and left word that the situation was unacceptable. I also warned him that someone may tire of the cruelty and call to have the dog picked up. I’d heard someone was planning to take him, so I bought some food and agreed to continue a wait and see attitude about it.
I set about pruning the trees and bushes and removing honeysuckle vines after putting away the For Rent sign. When they didn’t return in 30 minutes I figured they’d gotten cold feet and put the For Rent sign back out. A few minutes later, they arrived with a truck bearing mattresses. A financial exchange occurred and they started moving in.
So, once again I chickened out on getting a deposit, given that she has considerable initial costs beyond the rent. And because she has no credit, I again agreed to bill her for the utilities. As the phone had not exactly been ringing off the hook to rent in the God forsaken town, I was as glad to have them as they seemed to have the place. And since she doesn’t have a mower, I’ll take on that chore for the time being. I’ve still got a couple of accounts down there and can justify the trips.
Back in Greensboro, the Twin Brooks property is re-hab’d and the new tenant is moving in. The Wife, who is at this point 40 lbs lighter due to MediFast and an iron will power, spent a few days cleaning and I hauled three yards of mulch and can now tell you where to get it and how much it costs. Again, because it’s a single mother, and although the association hires out the mowing, I’ll budget some time for regular maintenance.
So, we miraculously replaced the tenants in both our rentals in a month. We are very fortunate, but worn out.
