So this past week seemed to be the toughest yet that we have faced in our rental property business. The history behind this endeavor - upon graduating college several years back, I at that point had a choice to find an apt and pay rent or try to purchase a home. The obvious choice with my father being in real estate was to purchase! And so we looked and found a solid 2 unit in the Zion, IL, area where after deducting the upper floor's rent from my mortgage payment, I would end up paying less than most anyplace where I could have rented AND be investing into a long term asset of my own. Completely SOLD on that idea and it worked out fantastically well for me during the single years....and finding in my husband Larry a similar bend where he's naturally gifted at fixing things, a handyman extrodanaire (thanks to the 1 on 1 training from his Dad). And so on we went, and several homes later, have a full fledged real estate rental business going.
This week's situation involved the house that we lived at personally last and holds several emotional ties as well because of that - mainly as we really did all of the work ourselves there - even down to the sanding and staining of the hardwood floors. And we had our first child there Josiah!
The tenant that moved in there almost 2 years ago completely trashed the house with an utter lack of regard for another person's property and even that at telling us over and over again at the beg of our relationship of how much she loved the house, that she thought sit was so beautiful, that she just had to have it and would take care of it. After falling behing in rent, we tried to work with her as graciously as possible as we've always believed that all of what God has given us to manage is HIS anyways and nothing of our own accord therefore we hold these things loosely - however in the midst of this situation feeling loss over the treating of God's property in this way.
So in all this, knowing that it is hard but yet knowing as well that God's fairness is not the world's sense of fairness. This came to us recently at a church meeting and even though it doesn't 'fix' the scenario we know in it that God is still going to be and will always be faithful to us His children.
We have a court date scheduled at which point we'll schedule a damage hearing - have found the address of the tenant and are going to pursue the past rent due along with damages from her. But in the meantime we are scheduling for everything to be repaired and working hard to get it put all back together.
As this post was started last week, praise God that we just got the house rented out yesterday and had the people put down a deposit - and rec'd raving reviews from their past Landlord of 3 years. They in turn want this to be their last house / move and we might even explore the option of a rent to own agreement with them as well.
OK so we covet your prayers in this - in getting the place fixed up and in having justice served! But all the while knowing the we trust in God no matter what compensation we receive back, if anything from this circumstance...
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