Just hang on for the ride

Life is funny. I have been recently been working on trying to control less and trust more. Sure enough, Sunday afternoon I got a call from a realtor trying to get into my house so I ran over there. The couple was interested and said they were going to put in an application. I really didn't get my hopes up because we have been through this with several people. Well, Monday morning the app was in, Monday afternoon she was approved with a great score. My property manager told her she had 48 hours to get the deposits into the office, so by Weds afternoon. Tuesday morning, 9am she was waiting for the office to open to get in the cashiers check. She will sign the lease and get the keys on Friday and start moving in (and paying rent) on Monday.

So Sunday we leave for Washington! On time and with the best weather we can expect for February (partly raining the whole way up). We should be there on Wednesday so we can switch rolls and start OUR search for a home. Thank goodness for craigslist.

Now I just have to trust that this will work out too and we have a home that is just what we need for yet another chapter in our ever-changing life! So buckle up and try to enjoy the ride.

Renter Drama

So our house is for rent, and we are using a property management since we are leaving the state, but OH MY GOODNESS why do I always seem to attract people with family drama that they tell me ALL about?? This is what I have dealt with in the last few weeks:

• Lady #1: Had 3 kids, was real nice, even loved all my crazy paint, but....just divorced, forclosed on her house, filed bankruptcy and her ex was refusing to pay child support....
• Family #1: EIGHT adults and 1 kid, wanted to turn our bonus room into a place for their band, actually laughed at the paint with my husband standing right there while they spoke Spanish as if we didn't understand. And they smoked. (My son has one lung, if we move back, we can't have any residual smoke in our walls)
• Couple #1: Seemed nice enough, moving here from Utah.... with their SIX boys and 4 dogs. Wanted to turn the bonus room into another bedroom. Just quit their jobs and only the husband had a job..... my yard is only 14.5 feet deep and the width of my house, can we say "bursting at the seams"
• Lady #2: 2 teenage boys and the teenage girlfriend. REEKED of smoke, left cigarretes in my driveway, but chewed gum so I wouldn't smell it on them......SERIOUSLY, do people not get that non-smokers can smell you from a mile away??? Then when questioned about their dog, she skirted the question, called it small. When pushed for the breed, she hemmed and hawed until the boy spit out "he's a pitbull!" They walked out, I went upstairs to turn off the lights and the bedroom STILL smelled of smoke, yuck.
• Man #1: Fast talker, was losing his home that lost half its value, that is understandable, the housing situation here is beyond terrible. He wanted to downsize and stay in the same school district (so he lives a few blocks away). He touted being a Christian and being a "good person". Admitted to bankruptcy and forclosure, but forgot the part about not paying income taxes. Admitted to 2 dogs, but forgot the part about the cat (my husband is severely allergic and again, we might move back). He bragged about stashing away 15k in a safe to hide from the bankruptcy but was actually mad that we asked for double the deposit because of his history. We tried to compromise by refunding 1/2 after 9 months of paying on time and then he wanted the 1st two weeks rent free and the deposit split over 2 months. We said okay to that but then he didn't want to pay ANY money (the deposit) until the first.....WHAT??? You are now debt free, you claim you have a large amount of cash, clearly aren't trustworthy and you want to be moved in before you pay us?? How far do you really think you can push it and how desperate do you think I am? We cut him loose and he came back with, "If I pay the double deposit, can I still get the first 2 weeks free?"
• Lady #3: Nice, has a stable county job but is either renting the house for her and her fiancee and his girls... or her dad and her teenage boys will live there. Apparently the dad and her boys hate the fiancee and his girls and they all live together, or will be living together?? I don't know, all it translates to me is family drama that may end in the lease being broken.

My head hurts from all of this. We have 2 more weeks till Greg finishes his C school. If we don't have a renter, he will leave us behind until the house is occupied. In the meantime the kids, dogs and I are staying with my SIL with only enough stuff to fit in the back of our van. And I started a new college class yesterday.

Here's to finding a normal renter who will pay the rent on time and take care of my house!!!