Name Your Poison-Part II

Part II

Occasionally I would drive by the house just to check it out from the street. It was clear that they took no pride in where they lived as the yard was often littered. I noticed the vertical blinds on the front window had slats missing. Ultimately, they replaced the vertical blinds with a poorly hung, fitted sheet in a nice Hunter Green color.

I guess I was probably never landlord material. Someone told me once that I had to consider my rental a "business" and not get emotional about when others didn’t care for it like I had. It was my first home in this community after my divorce and I took great pride in being a homeowner again. After many years in my "new start home" I was able to build my dream house and I managed to keep that one as a rental. Having lived there, seeing it as an investment was difficult. But I knew that it would eventually appreciate in value. Plus, I felt that I was helping out their family and after all, I was getting the house payment made each month. Sometimes just getting the rent made it all worth it as I had been through plenty of other bad tenants who’d skipped out on the rent, leaving me broke, and lot of damages. So, I thought, how bad can it be inside?

Once my dad and I dropped by and knocked on the door and an angry dog began barking. The door was opened quickly by one of the children, then shut in our face without comment. A minute or so later, Donna appeared at the door, opening it slightly. Protecting his territory, a giant German Shepherd pushed past Donna and lunged at Papa’s face. One of the kids snatched the crazed dog by the collar, just moments before he could take a tasty chunk out of Papa’s cheek. Horrified, we turned and left without being able to remember why we had stopped there in the first place.

I paid $55,000 for that old house back in the mid 1980’s and it was slow to appreciate, but it was finally happening! Last summer, I had a market analysis done and was informed that it was worth about $80,000 and I toyed with the idea of getting rid of it because it was just too much trouble over the years. But, as long as the rent came in, I held on. And, wasn’t it kind of amazing that they never really bothered me with any maintenance problems.

Beginning in January of this year, our little corner of the world, a beautiful mountain community, was discovered by the city folks. Paradise! It was like a gold rush! Houses were appreciating by 5 to 10 thousand dollars a month! My son, who loves to dabble in real estate, came for a visit and suggested that we look at some property. Our wonderful realtor suggested that I sell my rental and roll the money into another rental, just a bit newer and in a better neighborhood. What she said made sense, and she informed me that my ol’ rental house was now worth…::gasp:: $125,000! Where do I sign!

I informed Donna that I intended to sell the house, and asked her to start looking for another place to live. She indicated she’d be cooperative. My realtor told me that we really needed to give the house some "curb appeal" and it would really be better to wait on the multiple listing until the tenant was out and the house was spruced up.

One day, my real estate agent called and said she had an investor that was very interested in my property, and she asked if Donna would allow them to take a quick peek. I provided the agent with Donna's telephone number and they worked out the details.

Shortly, after the house was inspected, my agent telephoned me and said, "There’s a terrible mold problem in both bathrooms! You’ve got to see it for yourself! The house stinks and it’s going to need some major work before it can be sold!"

She was right, I had to see it for myself and I made arrangements to do so right away.

I walked up to the porch and noticed the mailbox was missing. The porch light was hanging by one blue wire and the door bell mechanism was pulled out of the stucco, dangling against the wall. The front door, was filthy and the brown paint that covered it, appeared to have been peeled off intentionally. Trash littered the yard, which was devoid of any forms of plant life. Water ran from underneath the garage door and down the driveway.

I knocked on the door and stood back, hoping that the guard dog would not be a problem. Fortunately for me, he was locked in one of the bedrooms, they said. When the door opened, I was overpowered by the stench. I just couldn’t determine exactly what I was smelling.

(to be continued)