We rent out our old house because we purchased it before the market fell out and cannot afford to sell it.
This morning my Aunt called me and asked if we still had our rental house and when was the current lease ending. She is considering moving down here, from Saint Louis to Houston. I am thrilled to have my aunt close especially since she will be the only family in the area and with baby number two on the way this will be a huge help. The lease is up in March and the tenant is planning on renewing, but we could always tell her that we don't want to renew.
The dilemma: My mother and my aunt hate each other, and I mean hate. I have always gotten along with my aunt and were really close at one time. She backed off when I moved to Houston, my mother lives in Dallas. She says she did this so I could become closer with my mother. We have started talking again since I explained to her that my relationship with my mom and her are totally separate.
I know my mother is going to flip out if Michelle moves down here. (I posted recently about my mom crying about us picking the middle name Michelle) How do I handle this situation so there as little drama as possible?
Re: NBR: Rent to Family?
I'm not new. I just hate The Bump.
I have thought about this. But there are some small issues with our current tenant. When she first leased it was her and her boyfriend, now it is just her. She has requested to give us a chunk of money from her tax return to lower her monthly payments. This makes me think that she is having a hard time meeting the rent. Also any time something goes wrong with the house she calls us. I mean minor things, clogged toilet, pilot light out, ect. I know we are there to handle these things, but she can plunge a toilet!
DH works with a property management company and one of the unpleasant parts of his job comes every 4 weeks when he's the on call maintenance guy... so I get the annoyance of people like that. I mean I get that technically it's "a maintenance thing" but for god sake, you can change a light bulb, plunge a toilet, set a freaking mouse trap, unclog your garbage disposal, why do people have to be so useless?!?
If there are problems with your renter then I would not allow her to renew her lease, if you know your aunt will be a good tenant, pay on time, etc. then I would go ahead and lease to her. Ignore your mother, it sure doesn't seem like you're going to win either way like PP said so let her have her drama and just ignore it. Especially if this is the only way you can get rid of your current renter, guilt free.
CJ 05/29/2013