Ricky Called to Tell Me How Much He Loves His Kitchen
We bought this home as a foreclosure several years ago and started showing it to prospective tenants a few days before closing as we often do.
This one generated some enthusiastic followers and many were anxious to fill our applications, especially since I pointed out to them that the quicker you get your application in the quicker you can be approved and moved to the top of the list.
The day of closing I went straight over to this house where one of my sons was holding the final open house for this home.
I was surprised to see a large crowd here, especially considering the fact that we still had not made any of the repairs or completed the cleaning that is always needed in a foreclosure.
A few hours later I called the top two applicants who had submitted applications before the closing.
I was still trying to determine which of these would be a more stable tenant.
Rick and Candy were enthusiastic young people, not students at the time but planning to go back to school, while working at minimum wage type jobs serving food. And their application was in first.
The other couple were what at first seemed to be more stable, a retired couple relocating from the Twin Cities to be closer to their daughter and her family, who all came along for the showings.
But then when her daughter was out of the room, she revealed that I would get a slight surprise when I checked her credit (which I already had checked), that they did not really sell their home in the Twin Cities, they had at the advice of their accountant dumped an underwater mortgage on some poor banker who was foolish enough to trust them and their character.
This got me thinking, if these people will break their word and a contract this easily, will they also break a lease if they find something they like better down the road?
So since Rick and Candy were first in line and the others had me nervous, it became clear and we were signing leases a few hours later.
The night was busy for the boys too, cleaning carpets, replacing frozen pipes and other repairs that are needed for new tenants in a home that has been abused in a foreclosure.
The next day the repairs were complete and Rick and Candy were moved.
As with most foreclosure homes, when I get a call from the tenant I wince a little knowing that there will be repairs to be made that we have not noticed yet.
And then we spend months making little adjustments and repairs until all the hidden issues are resolved.
A week after moving in I got a mid-morning call from Rick, immediately I thought, “time for a repair trip”, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Rick had not called to complain about any issues; rather he called to tell me how much he enjoyed his kitchen. How he liked to drink coffee while staring at the coffee mosaic on the kitchen wall. How nice it was to sit on the deck in back and enjoy the back yard, and how nice it was to step just beyond the back yard to take his dog to the dog park.
In general, he just called to share his enjoyment in living in a perfect home.
Here we are several years later and Rick and Candy are still with us, still great tenants, still happy with their home, and they have called a half dozen times this month about renewing their lease early.
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