A Tenant!!!

It's hard to accurately describe the satisfaction I feel knowing that my personal efforts have given somebody a new home.  It's a two-way street for me in my properties.  I seek to provide families with the best housing, and they pay me to provide this housing!  I LOVE IT.

Well, after a couple of "no's," I finally found my first tenant!  I had an interested party come take a look at the property, but they wanted me to give them a steal (insert loss for me) on the monthly rent.  Actually, I had two interested parties.  One had actually taken a walk through the home when it was For Sale in foreclosure status, so she already knew what the inside looked like (and liked it!).  But both of these parties were limited in what rent they could pay ($800/month).  I would literally be losing money on the house.

It was a hard decision, but I said "no."  It's hard because I know that EVERY day that goes by means I essentially lose $26 ($800 over 30 days)!  By holding out for higher rent, I might actually be losing money if I get the higher rent later!  But I did the mental math, and I realized that if I held out for $900/month, that would give me an extra $1200/year...and at $26/day that meant that I had 46 days to find that tenant before I really started losing money.

Well, within 7 days, I had another interested tenant!  And guess what!  This one was willing to pay $900/month.  She had a small pet which I wasn't thrilled about, but I have learned that sometimes you have to loosen restrictions to get what you want and need.

So starting November 15, this project is essentially complete.  The hard work (and it was hard at times!) has paid off.  And without getting ahead of myself, I am expecting to receive $10,800 over the next year.  Again, it's hard to put into words.

A worthless house.  An ugly house.  An unwanted house.  An unloved house that sat empty for two years.  A house that was only good enough for hornets and termites.  Now back to providing for a young family.

And providing for me, too.

This is the definition of fulfillment!!!  :)