Our summer took a quick turn in the road, when my husband told me a couple of weeks ago that the property next to us was up for sale. It included three acres of irrigated pasture land and a doublewide on a permanent foundation. Should we buy it? We thought about it and prayed about it alot. And then Doyle made an offer on it. The offers were bids, in that we had no idea how much anyone else was bidding. We did however, know how much it sold for a few years ago (a steal, not to be repeated) and how much we were willing to pay for it, knowing how much irrigated land goes for in New Mexico. So, we made an offer and waited. The investors counter offered and so did we, and a week or so later we were told we had the best bid and they would sell to us. So, last week, we got the keys to the home and inspected it. What a mess! The place needs a lot of work, punched holes in the walls, broken trim and missing trim, burned carpet (how in the world did the home not burn down?!), cat pee stain, etc. etc. The weeds outside the home were so high you could hardly see the house in places! You can just imagine! The stove was so filthy, it took Lucy six hours of solid cleaning, and she still isn’t satisfied with it (I told her it would do! 
. But, Doyle and I have worked on places like this all our lives and we knew we could make it presentable and hopefully rent it out. I told him to put an ad on Craigslist and see if we got any nibbles before we made an offer on the place, and we got a lot of nibbles! So, we figured we could rent it without too much trouble. So…..with Doyle and Elrond working last Thursday tearing out carpet and who knows what all, and then on Friday and Saturday, Pete, Doyle, Lucy, Junior and I working 8-10 hour days, we got a lot done. Monday and Tuesday, Lucy, Junior and Doyle and I worked another 8-10 hour days and today, we started moving tools out, finishing up the painting, hanging mini-blinds, etc . In between all of this, Heather fed us on Friday and Saturday and canned at my house, (the garden waits for no one, as we all say), and we interviewed a few prospective renters. It looks like we have a young couple, to rent it, if they show up on Friday with some money, it’s theirs. Did, I say, I’m tired, and I’ve painted enough these last few days to have a very achy back? Are we crazy? Maybe! Are we insane? Probably! Is it scary? Absolutely! But, in the Meyer family, I’m afraid “risk” and hard work are two things that go hand in hand!
Comments (1)
What a beautiful place! It sounds like it was a lot of work to just get it fixed up, for sure. We think that owning rental property will be a good solution to supplement our retirement income when that day comes, too. I’m glad you were able to rent it out quickly. How nice that it has all worked out for you so well! It is scary to rent a place for the first time. My elderly mom now has one rent house, but it has been an excellent way to bring in some additional income for her, since the costs of assisted living aren’t going down any time soon.