Home For Rent Sign Shows Housing Rental
I’ve always said everyone should own rental property in their lifetime. “Why?” might you ask.
For one thing, you’ll have stories to write a blog about, and another, you wouldn’t believe the excuses people come up with when they don’t have the rent. More on the last one later, but first a story.
One of the houses we once rented out was right across the highway from us. It sat on two acres and had two beautiful Magnolia trees out front with limbs that touched the ground.
A really cute couple moved in with a six-month-old baby. The wife, Amy (names have been changed), decided the baby needed to be drinking goat’s milk. So she bought a milk goat.
We stopped by one day, and there the goat was, tied to the back door. Stepping around droppings, we knocked, and Amy came to the door.
She was really excited about the goat until my husband told her she couldn’t leave it tied to the back door. She would have to move it. Amy couldn’t quite understand why, but she agreed.
The next time we drove by, Amy had moved the goat. To the front door.
Another time we had an older couple in the house. Remember the huge, old Magnolias? They decided they didn’t like the limbs that draped to the ground. One day we drove by the house and were aghast to discover they had cut all the limbs as high as they could reach. They had totally ruined the Magnolia.
As I said, everyone should own at least one rental property in their lifetime. 😉 And lest anyone think I’m disparaging renters, I’m not. I was one…more than once, and I didn’t always have the rent on time. But I did try to take care of the other person’s property.
That said, now for the excuses people give for not having the rent.
That is our Mystery Quiz this week. Three statements were given for reasons not to pay the rent and one is FALSE. Which excuse is the one I made up?
- “I don’t have our lease handy, but I’m pretty sure there was something about not paying rent when we are not here… We was on vacation for 2 and a half weeks.”
- “I was going to pay on the 1st, but you upset me by sending me a reminder to pay. You don’t need a reminder to pay your mortgage, do you?”
- “I’m two months behind. Can I pay you this month and we’ll call it even?”
- “We paid our rent money to the vet. Our ferret needed medical attention.”
Okay Mystery Sleuths, one of the above is false. Which one is it? Leave your answer in the comments to be entered in a drawing for Susan May Warren’s Wild Montana Skies.
And now for the answer to last week’s Mystery Question:
There are four accident reports and six choices. Your assignment if you choose to take it is to choose the correct answer:
- “A pedestrian hit me and went under my car.”
- “An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my vehicle, and vanished.”
- A truck backed through my windshield and into my wife’s face.”
- “I thought my window was down; but found it was up when I put my hand through it.”
- They are all correct.
- They are all incorrect.
- One is False and it is __.
And the answer is…#5. They are all true. Can you believe people really report these things???
Don’t forget to leave your answer to this week’s quiz in the comment section! And tell me if you’ve ever owned rental property.
[tweet_box design=”default” float=”none” inject=”#giveaway”]You won’t believe the reasons people give for not paying their rent. Which is the false one?[/tweet_box]
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Comments 34
I’m guessing #4, but l love #3 I’ve daydreamed of having rental income, but so far my husband hates the thought of cleaning up after renters.
Author
Oh, think twice, Elaine, think twice! 🙂 And talk to me. I can tell you some stories. lol Not that everyone was bad. We did have a few people who treated the house like it was theirs and took care of it. But they were few and far between.
Well, with my husband in the same camp as you I’m kind of doubting it will ever happen. Just love the idea of extra income, though who doesn’t?
I’m guessing #4 also. I would never want rental property. I’ve seen what friends go through with renters. Usually costs more to repair damages than they received in rent. Not to mention the stress!
Author
Pamela, how right you are. One time, we had to take a shovel and scraped the carpet off the floor and once I even had to crawl up under the house and change out a pipe from the kitchen sink because the lady poured bacon grease down the drain every morning. Seventeen feet of pipe. :-/ And this was from a lady who was NEVER late on her rent.
The only one that sounds like it might be true would be # 4. I could see someone doing that. The others make no sense to me. I guess because I don’t own rental property? Maybe I could borrow one of those and see if it works? #1 and #3 sound almost the same. They are getting out of paying lol. I’ll go with #2 as false.
Author
Oh, yes, Sally. The excuses start to sound just alike. And they are trying to get out of paying you. lol Thanks for stopping by.
Just to be different I choose 3. Never owned a rental property. Never owned a house! Always rented or had base housing or a parsonage. And we’ll celebrate 48 years on the 28th!
Author
Paula, I would have loved to have you as a renter! And it wasn’t all bad. We made a lot of friends, even those who didn’t always pay on time.
I’ve had rental property for over 10 years now. We could definitely share stories. It’s been an eye opening, but good experience for our kids. Shows them how NOT to act, and how to treat other peoples things with respect.
I’m going to go with #3, but I could see every one of these happening.
Author
Thanks for the comment, Tima. Many of our renters were good. It’s just a few of the characters who made bad impressions. Some of them have even ended up in my stories.
I think number 3 is false. The rest are so stupid, they have to be true. My daughter and I have rented houses a couple of times. I’m happy to say that I believe I was a good renter because I always got my deposit back and the owners were happy with the way I’d taken care of things. Whew!
Author
And I’m not at all surprised you were a great renter, Jan! Thanks for stopping by!
I’m guessing number 3 is the false one, though they all sound sadly likely for renters to say! So was #5 actually the right answer from last week? (You said they were all correct, which was answer #5) I’m just eager to see if I actually got an answer right for once! 🙂
Author
Jerusha, I forgot to go back and see who got it right last week. lol The correct answer was #5. All the statements last week were actual statements on claim forms. Dana and Lisa got the correct answer. 🙂
Oh, that’s right. I guessed all were false, I think. Oh, well. 🙂
Author
I went back and made it clearer, Jerusha. 😉
I’ve not owned rental property. I’m guessing #2 is FALSE.
I hope it’s #1, not paying rent when you’re not there. I know how totally goats strip everything, and I sure know my current renter better not let anything eat my magnolia!
Author
Last time I looked, your magnolia looked good, Delores. 🙂 We’ll see next week if you’re correct.
My parents have several rental properties and have had good experiences for the most part, but I have heard a few stories from them!
I say #1 is false
Author
I’m so glad your parents have had good experiences, Patty. And thanks for stopping by.
I think #2 is false. For some perverse reason, I want the others to be true. LOL!
Author
That’s funny, Johnnie. We’ll see next week. Thanks for stopping by!
I’ve never wanted to be a landlord! For the very reasons you’ve listed, tenants can do some pretty strange things & plus if they do any damage to the house, you have to fix it! I’ve heard too many horror stories 🙂
For this weeks question: tough one…again! All of these sure could ring true, don’t you think 😉 I want to say #1 or #2 and I just can’t decide…lol!
Author
Hi Trixi! Yes, tenants can be strange. They can also be nice and we did have nice ones sometimes. So glad I’ve made it a little harder this week. lol
I’ll go with #2. Hub and some guys had rental property at one time so I can relate to the “bad” experiences!! lol
Author
Hi Jackie! I’m sure you can relate. 🙂 We’ll see next week if #2 is the answer. Thanks for stopping by.
25 years ago I married a man who was & still is, a land lord. It’s truly amazing how some peoples minds work! Any of them could be true, but I’m picking #2. Thanks for bringing me a smile today!
Author
I’m glad I made you smile, Robin! Thanks for stopping by. We’ll see Tuesday if you’re correct. 🙂
I think they are all true, plus many others, but you just haven’t heard them all. 🙂 My parents ran a business and a woman promised to pay her bill the next Friday when she got paid. She failed to do so. Later she returned wanting to buy more on credit, so mother asked about the first bill. She told the woman she had promised to pay on payday. The woman’s response was something to the effect: “Oh, I just said that but a promise doesn’t mean anything.” Since you want me to pick just one, I’m going with #1.
Author
Yeah, Edward, they definitely could all be true. But I promise, I made up one of them. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
I have had rental property and it is a nightmare. I will guess #4
Author
I understand, Stella! Although we did have some who were great tenants. Thanks for stopping by!