We’re either doing something very right or very wrong

It’s nearly impossible to keep up with our housing shenanigans. We bought a house in ’10 that we have managed as a rental. We bought another house at the end of August ’11 that we intended to flip. It was on the market, under contract, back on the market, under contract, back on the market, under contract…. We started calling it the “flop house”, but never mind about that. Just before we put it back on the market our son-in-law approached us about renting the house from us. We succumbed.

In a twist of fate, our tenants moved out of our rental property in November. Because nothing’s ever easy, the ex-tenants decided to get crafty in their efforts to get something out of their security deposit. You can’t blame them for trying, but I wish they’d at least cleaned the toilets and done some other basic housekeeping when they moved out. Also, they never paid a pet deposit and they clearly had a dog, as evidenced by dog poop in the back yard, pet odor and stains in the carpet (the professional carpet cleaner signed a statement to this effect), and other damage. Since they didn’t give adequate notice of their intention to vacate, they nullified the contract. However, the ex-tenants had someone call and try to bully Mr. H, as the “appointed representative” of the ex-tenants. I did a reverse look-up on the phone number and identified the rep as an apartment manager. Mr. H. sent certified letters to both parties (the ex-tenants owe for damages and unpaid rent). We haven’t heard a peep since. He’s considering taking the ex-tenants to small claims court.

In December, our daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren moved into the flip house, so it became a rental property, and Mr. H was well into the rehab of the ex-rental property, making it a flip house. I joined him for some clean-up efforts, as well as some minor landscaping, planting bushes and flowers in front.

As of January 3, the “new” flip house was put on the market. On January 4, we received an offer. Today we accepted that offer.

Keep us in your prayers!

EDIT: The Buyer was missing a page in the contract. Before they could correct their error, we received another offer, with better terms! Alleluia!