Down To the Wire

I've been doing the conversation experiments for the last couple of days and, for the most part, they've been fruitful. I record my conversations with people then listen to it later to analyze. My roadblock occurs when I try to develop a topic in conversation or prolong a conversation without bringing myself up. In other words, I want my audience to give up what I want to know without giving up any part of myself. I don't plan to write about the experiments on this blog much, just to give updates as I see fit.

I'm down to the wire with getting property Chi's upstairs rented out. I lowered the rent by $25 to $500 and the plan seems to have worked. Right now, I have a couple that appears to be a sure thing, but I have my reservations. The husband gets SSI and is currently in a legal battle with his current landlord. It's a bad sign when a tenant talks about how horrible his landlord is and the code violations on their current residence. It means that the tenant already knows the ins and outs of code enforcement and won't hesitate to call once they feel slighted. It's risky but my best option now.

The second couple isn't a sure thing but would be my favorite pick to get the place. The third couple is a couple of girls, one in which I find extremely attractive. She was flirting with me like crazy but I didn't return the favor. She seems like trouble as a tenant, but I would love to keep her around for other possibilities.

I can't be picky so I will definitely give it to the first couple if I can't find anyone else by the end of tomorrow morning. I only have one appointment for tomorrow, so I think I'll give them the place by Saturday afternoon. That is, if they still want it.

I also have to remember that I have competition. I went on craigslist and found that a couple of people are renting out property in better neighborhoods for $515 with utilities included, while mine is now $500 with nothing included. They are all apartment buildings so, if someone doesn't want to live with a bunch of other tenants, it's still my advantage since Chi is only a two family, rather than a 6 or 8-unit property.

I'm confident that I'll be able to rent it out before the 1st with the new lower rent, but I gotta be smart. Now is no time to be picky, but I still want the best tenant possible to avoid another "Laurie/Annie" situation. It's better to have a decent tenant than to have no tenant at all. I have to remember that.