Crossroads, Part 6: New Considerations

Every once in awhile, life just gets intense! Right now there have been so many things going on all around me that it seems a bad time to be adding this decision into the mix. I realize that these decisions I find myself faced with are of my own choosing, and that nothing worthwhile comes easy, but I feel it's an important enough move not to let it go. That said, I've come to a point where decisions need to be faced...reality starts to set in, and the clock is ticking.

A couple of weeks ago, I thought I had decided to rent my house for awhile in the hopes that maybe in a year's time my situation will get better and I can reassess my circumstances regarding my house. Since I have a history of bad decision-making, I'm trying to be very careful with this one. I've been spending a lot of time considering my options and of course, with each new option comes more questions and more decisions I need to make:

Becoming a landlord

Never in a million years would I ever have seen myself becoming a landlord. Though I know that there are people out there who make their living doing this, I never felt that I had it in me to do it myself. There are a lot of things to consider when renting out a property to strangers:

- Finding renters - Finding responsible people willing to rent your property can be a daunting and tricky task, especially when you are renting to complete strangers. There are many things to consider when searching for prospective tenants, such as credit history and personal references, and even then there's probably a little luck involved. (I've seen the movie Pacific Heights and frankly if one of the renters looks like Michael Keaton, I'm not accepting him.) Running the risk of a missing rent payment or damage to my home is a risk worthy of great consideration.

- Handyman - For all the time I lived in my house with my ex, he was the one to fix things whenever they broke. I am not a handyman by any means, as anyone can tell by looking at my caulking job around the bathtub or my paint job on the ceiling of my bedroom. Having renters in my home means that when things go wrong they must be fixed. That's the biggest responsibility of being a landlord and for someone like me, the potential for disaster is clear.

Becoming a tenant

This is another circumstance I hadn't really thought about realistically until I started checking out apartment ads on a recent snowy day. Before we bought this house, my ex and I rented five different apartments in seven years, and we were pretty good tenants at that. But that was a long time ago and going from owning a place to renting one will be a difficult transition, for sure.

- Amenities - As I perused the classifieds I began picturing myself as a renter again, possibly having to live without all of the amenities I enjoy now in my house. I'll probably have to give up having a washer and dryer, a dishwasher, and other such luxuries. It's not that I didn't know this before, but seeing the advertisements for rentals sure had me thinking about it more realistically than I had before and if I'm going to make the move I must realize that this will be the case.

- Dylan and Diego - not long after I bought my house from my ex, I adopted two kittens. Dylan and Diego, like any other pets, are my family, and when I first considered this move I thought about giving them up. That would probably be one of the hardest things I'd ever have to do. Even though I put those thoughts away awhile ago, looking through apartment ads revealed a common theme: no pets. Aside from the fact that moving them from a big, three-floor house to a much smaller space can't be too good for them, my options in apartments are limited and so giving them up might just have to be an option again.

From what I've said here, many would think it obvious that I just forget all about my move and stay put. I share them here as a means of self-analysis in the hopes of making an informed decision. I haven't decided yet how I will proceed, but I know from looking more closely at renting out my home that the short sale must still be an option. The bottom line is that this move is important to me and I still plan on following through with it. I knew it wouldn't be easy from the start and I hope that by looking at things this way I will go about my move in the best way possible for me. I'm just learning to consider all of my options thoroughly before I decide how to proceed. Thanks for reading and stay tuned...

For previous entries in this series, please see:

Crossroads: Striving for a Change or Settling for Status Quo

Crossroads, Part 2: The Decision

Crossroads, Part 3: First Step

Crossroads, Part 4: Justifying My Decision

Crossroads, Part 5: Words to Live By

The Real Estate Short Sale: Answers to Essential Questions