It's Rented!

        Since 2003 we have been spending several months a year in our 5^th wheel trailer.  That year we were out almost five months.  Since then, it has been six, seven or eight months.  We spent five months traveling to Alaska.  We toured the Maritime Provinces.  Last year we spent five months in Oregon. 

 

        For at least the last two years, our stick house in Centennial has felt like an albatross—we had to return to clean leaves out of the gutter, do interior maintenance, make sure everything was OK.  We worried about it when we were gone.  Then, we returned to the house and wondered what on earth we needed all that space and all that "stuff" for. 

 

        On top of all that, it seemed like very bad stewardship of the wonderful resources God had given us to leave that investment empty most of the year.  Each year it made more sense to put that investment to work for us.

 

        Last fall we decided we would rent our house in Centennial and live on the road full-time.  We returned there in November and put all our energy into paring down, putting what we wanted to keep into storage and preparing the house for rent.  Our son Eric, who lives nearby and is experienced at managing rental property, was to be our manager.

 

        In January we started advertising the place for rent.  Finally, today, we have a lease agreement for two years!  They will move in May 1.  We can now really say we are full-timers because we don't have a house to return to or worry about.  The rent will cover the expenses of home ownership—taxes, insurance, home owner association dues, storage fees—and give us some extra income.  We are delighted and feel really free.

 

        And now Eric just has to collect the rent and deal with any repair issues.  He doesn't have to schedule appointments to show the house—which often results in a no show—or deal with people whose credit is so bad they couldn't pay the rent for a year, no matter how much they wanted to.

 

        Hooray!