With my half-assed renovation at Property 2’s downstairs apartment completed, it was time to get a tenant. Considering how good the neighborhood was and the brand new windows throughout the apartment, I really thought this was gonna be easy. Hmm.
The first few prospective tenants were black women. Beautiful black women. The first was from the south side and left a ton of information of her application missing, so I took her application fee and didn’t botherdoing a background check. The next was gorgeous but didn’t seem interested. The third was… Ashley.
When I saw Ashley for the first time, I was truly stunned. In my 35 years of living, I have never been so attracted to a woman. NEVER! Everything about her drove me absolutely crazy and I could barely control myself. She filled out the application, paid her application fee and then left. She worked as a nurse and certainly made enough to afford the apartment, and her neighborhood wasn’t bad. But there was no way I could give her the place. The reason? She would have complete control over me. I’m not over-dramatizing that statement. The thought of me saying no to her was… ugh!
Because her application was good, I drove by her current address, which is something I do all the time. If the place looks like crap, then that's how my place will look. The difference now was that I was actually looking for reasons to deny her application. Thankfully there were toys all over the floor and she was outside on the phone in a loud argument. I drove away with a smile, knowing that I could justify to myself denying her application. When the time came to call her, it was tough. I looked at her number and stared at it. I've never felt that way about calling a prospective tenant to deny an application. Finally I grew some balls and did the deed, using some stupid excuse like someone beat her to the apartment or something. She wasn't happy, and the more she argued with me the better I felt. If she were really nice about it, I probably would have caved in. Whew!
After Ashley, I got discouraged. The nurse working two jobs? The single guy making 60K? None of them were interested. The only people who submitted applications were the ones with assistance. How was that possible in this neighborhood, I thought to myself. After all the repairs and the new windows, what’s the problem? Finally, a young couple with a roommate submitted their application. The girlfriend was the one who was seriously in love with the place. I felt I had finally found my tenants, so I called her to give the approval. One day before they were to sign the lease, I got this text from her:
“Is it going to be okay if we just do the security deposit on Saturday and get the rent to you by the end of the week?”
I knew I was fucked. I said yes, but I knew what was going to happen. Sure enough on Saturday morning, I get the dreaded text:
“We are not going to be able to sign the lease I’m so sorry. The kid that we were moving in with just came over and told us he couldn’t do it. I’m sorry for wasting your time. If you have any 1 bedrooms available I would love to see them.”
I was pissed off. Not at her but at myself. I should have gotten a deposit to hold the apartment after the approval like I usually do. I broke routine because I thought she was a sure thing, and I ended up with nothing. After this, I had three choices:
I eliminated Option 1 because if I’m gonna take an SSI tenant, I’d rather take one person than an entire family. Option 3 would have been the best choice and I would’ve been proud of myself, but I had to eliminate that as well. I simply didn’t have the money or the mental energy to focus and finish the job. So that left Option 2, and I chose the Native American girl, Gianna.
Gianna is an unemployed fat with medical issues who lives on a reservation. Her father is a retired sheriff's deputy, and she was recently approved for SSI. I’ve never had a Native American tenant before, but I’ve had a few with SSI. I honestly don’t think things are gonna work out, but I’m gonna try. Apartment inspections every three months and a month-to-month lease should be good enough to keep things smooth for a while. If I can make it through the coming winter with Gianna, then I’d have to consider this a good choice. But right now, I have little faith in Gianna’s tenancy.
P.S.: Gianna's face kinda creeps me out. She's got the brown skin and big flat face, but with eerily bright blue eyes.
The first few prospective tenants were black women. Beautiful black women. The first was from the south side and left a ton of information of her application missing, so I took her application fee and didn’t botherdoing a background check. The next was gorgeous but didn’t seem interested. The third was… Ashley.
When I saw Ashley for the first time, I was truly stunned. In my 35 years of living, I have never been so attracted to a woman. NEVER! Everything about her drove me absolutely crazy and I could barely control myself. She filled out the application, paid her application fee and then left. She worked as a nurse and certainly made enough to afford the apartment, and her neighborhood wasn’t bad. But there was no way I could give her the place. The reason? She would have complete control over me. I’m not over-dramatizing that statement. The thought of me saying no to her was… ugh!
Because her application was good, I drove by her current address, which is something I do all the time. If the place looks like crap, then that's how my place will look. The difference now was that I was actually looking for reasons to deny her application. Thankfully there were toys all over the floor and she was outside on the phone in a loud argument. I drove away with a smile, knowing that I could justify to myself denying her application. When the time came to call her, it was tough. I looked at her number and stared at it. I've never felt that way about calling a prospective tenant to deny an application. Finally I grew some balls and did the deed, using some stupid excuse like someone beat her to the apartment or something. She wasn't happy, and the more she argued with me the better I felt. If she were really nice about it, I probably would have caved in. Whew!
After Ashley, I got discouraged. The nurse working two jobs? The single guy making 60K? None of them were interested. The only people who submitted applications were the ones with assistance. How was that possible in this neighborhood, I thought to myself. After all the repairs and the new windows, what’s the problem? Finally, a young couple with a roommate submitted their application. The girlfriend was the one who was seriously in love with the place. I felt I had finally found my tenants, so I called her to give the approval. One day before they were to sign the lease, I got this text from her:
“Is it going to be okay if we just do the security deposit on Saturday and get the rent to you by the end of the week?”
I knew I was fucked. I said yes, but I knew what was going to happen. Sure enough on Saturday morning, I get the dreaded text:
“We are not going to be able to sign the lease I’m so sorry. The kid that we were moving in with just came over and told us he couldn’t do it. I’m sorry for wasting your time. If you have any 1 bedrooms available I would love to see them.”
I was pissed off. Not at her but at myself. I should have gotten a deposit to hold the apartment after the approval like I usually do. I broke routine because I thought she was a sure thing, and I ended up with nothing. After this, I had three choices:
- A boyfriend and girlfriend with two kids. The girlfriend is on SSI and the boyfriend makes $9.00 an hour part-time.
- A Native American woman, whose waiting to get on SSI while her retired father would be paying her rent.
- Leave it unrented. Don’t accept low quality tenants. Take a few hundred bucks to finish the job, and then get it rented out to the higher quality tenants.
I eliminated Option 1 because if I’m gonna take an SSI tenant, I’d rather take one person than an entire family. Option 3 would have been the best choice and I would’ve been proud of myself, but I had to eliminate that as well. I simply didn’t have the money or the mental energy to focus and finish the job. So that left Option 2, and I chose the Native American girl, Gianna.
Gianna is an unemployed fat with medical issues who lives on a reservation. Her father is a retired sheriff's deputy, and she was recently approved for SSI. I’ve never had a Native American tenant before, but I’ve had a few with SSI. I honestly don’t think things are gonna work out, but I’m gonna try. Apartment inspections every three months and a month-to-month lease should be good enough to keep things smooth for a while. If I can make it through the coming winter with Gianna, then I’d have to consider this a good choice. But right now, I have little faith in Gianna’s tenancy.
P.S.: Gianna's face kinda creeps me out. She's got the brown skin and big flat face, but with eerily bright blue eyes.
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