Cooperatively Uncooperative

A couple of days ago I wrote about a home I have listed for sale. The owner wants the tenants to stay and pay her mortgage while she is trying to sell. As you can imagine, this is not a recipe for success. I advised her (in writing) it would not be in her best interest to go this route. Instead, she should ask the tenants to leave (their lease is up June 30) and sell it when it is empty. And like most frustrated real estate clients of past and present, she doesn't take the advice she is paying for seriously.

Part of the reason why she opted to allow the tenants to stay while the home is for sale was because the tenants promised to be cooperative. "Sure, no problem! You can show the home any time!" Of course that sounds absolutely ducky in theory. But there are so many outside factors that make this a loose-loose situation. For one thing, these folks have nowhere to go. There are no rental homes available anywhere in the greater Phoenix metro area. That may sound like an exaggeration, but it isn't.

So, to put this picture together, tenants who are quite happily living in their rental home have agreed to allow strangers walk through it on a random basis so the owner can kick them out. Right?

Well, thus far, the tenants have been cooperatively uncooperative. When I call and nail them down for a time a buyer can walk through (if they acknowledge I am contacting them--and for the most part, I am now just knocking on their door), they say, "Yes, feel free to show it Tuesday between 2 and 3. Wait! I need to clarify, 2 and 3 a.m. on the second Tuesday of the third full moon. And by the way, please have the buyers only knock on the door and not use the doorbell. That way nobody is woken up. Also, please tell them not to go in any of the bedrooms or turn on any lights. My kids will be sleeping."

That kind of cooperative.

In addition to quirky hours they allow people to see the property, my sign has mysteriously disappeared twice. My custom signs are pretty pricey. I just bought them. This does not make me happy. I did find one sign in the bushes by their home. The other one is probably being used as an oil pan for their car--at least that's my guess. I would go look, but I don't have permission to enter the property, and I prefer to be sleeping at 2 a.m.

In addition to trying to sell a home where buyers have to use their imagination to know how the inside looks, the tenants happen to be clients of mine. I am (in theory) looking for a rental home or perhaps a home for them to buy. However, thus far they review my e-mails I am sending, but have done nothing to demonstrate any interest whatsoever to look for anything. And why would they? They are quite cozy where they are right now.