Ah, the house. It’s been empty since Kristy and the kids moved up here to Wisconsin. It was on the market, for sale, for months. We dropped the price a few times, but had no bites. Other similar houses in the neighborhood were selling for $20,000 less (thank you, Atlanta housing market). Finally we took it off the market and registered through a property management company with the intent to rent out the house and at least recoup some of the money we flush down the toilet every month on the mortgage and utility bills.

Well, yesterday we approved a renter (based on her background and credit checks), and today she paid the reservation fee to the property management company. Assuming all goes well, she’ll sign papers and be an official renter as of 11:30 on Monday.

This great news, but when we purchased the house two years ago, it wasn’t our intention to become landlords. A lot happened that year that we hadn’t planned on (including me losing my job and then accepting a new position here in La Crosse, 1001 miles from Roswell, Georgia). Time will tell what happens to our “investment,” but this renter is definitely a breath of financial relief.