Should She Stay Or Should She Go?

Remember when my biggest concern was whether or not my crummy tenant would leave when I started an eviction?

I do. I recently read through a smattering of old blogs and thought, "Holy cow! I put up with THAT?"

Of course the reason I put up with "that" is because at the time it was the lesser of evil. My choices reflected the circumstances. I can honestly say, the majority of the choices I made in the past few years I am happy with when it comes to my accidental business.

Times have definitely changed. My problem children are currently Ms. Kathy and Ms. Robin. Neither would have hit the radar two years ago. Ms. Kathy has always been Ms. Kathy-like, but two years ago she wasn't anywhere near my biggest annoyance.

Ms. Robin has only been an issue for the past few months. And, I know what caused her circumstances. She isn't a problem child, per se. She is in a problem situation. And, right now, Ms. Robin is my biggest going concern (given that I have another week to see if Ms. Kathy took my threat seriously).

Ms. Robin is in a tough spot. She is trying to get through their bills from when she was out of work. She is muddling through her own set of circumstances which has led her to where she is now. And, her circumstances are affecting me. Because if she is late on the rent, I have a problem.

Mr. Robin's solution would be to rent a less expensive home. He can find one I am sure, but probably not one as nice as the one they live in now. The home they live in is four bedrooms, quite large and a bit more pricey than most of the ones I own. If they move, I can probably get what I am asking right now. However, if they move, I would give it to Kirby and let him put it in property management. Hence, I wouldn't see as much money.

That led to an interesting quandary: do I let Ms. Robin go, do I lower the rent a bit to what Kirby would charge or do I do neither and find my own tenant and manage it on my own? I picked lowering the rent and seeing if Ms. Robin would bite.

I don't know if I can lower it enough to make Mr. and Ms. Robin happy. But, I took a stab. If it doesn't work, I will be back in the same place I am in now. But I will be doing it with a brand new person who I might not like nearly as much.