After months of certified letters, emails, phone calls and face to face meetings that accomplish nothing we’ve finally decided to ask the landlords to release us from the lease come May 1st.

We decided that asking to be released from the lease was the better way to go. If we needed to get a lawyer and present all our documentation supporting their breach of the lease we could. It is just that starting the legal battle takes much time and lots of money we didn’t really want to have to fork out if not necessary.

So, N made the phone call to the landlords this morning. He is the professional one who can present things in a non emotional way. I just tend to be blunt and rude about things like this and say stuff like F-you, you are an idiot. LOL…

Anyway, N got a call back about 10 min. before we had to leave for my chiropractor appointment be we figured that would happen and were ready.

During the call he outlined our frustrations with the rental situation. Talked about how paying them rent has been an ongoing challenge as a result of them changing banks and addresses monthly.

He brought up our health concerns over the mold and the fact that we asked them to take action back in November to help remedy the mold issue but they ignored our requests.

He talked about how we’ve sent multiple certified letters that they’ve refused to pick up and he basically said that we would like  to be let out of our lease, penalty free so we find a more stable home before baby Tater comes.

Her response was “Okay, we just need to get the owed rent from February and March first”… She didn’t even care about us wanting to be let out of the lease!

We recorded the phone conversation for our records and we’ll be typing up a letter stating that we’re being let out of our lease by the landlords that she will sign.

We’ve also placed a stop payment on the previously issued checks from February and March per her request and have turned those in to one big cashiers check to give her when she signs the “early release from lease letter”. Thank goodness we are out of here!

Basically we get the keys to our new place on April 1st and will have a month to get out of our current place and to tidy it up before the move out inspection here on May 1st.

We are super stoked and feel like a huge burden has been lifted from our shoulders. We are still trying to be sure we keep good documentation of all of it just to cover our butts but essentially it should be all done and over with now.

We found our new place, got released from our current one and are pretty much on track for getting all this madness taken care of before Tater comes. Yay!

For those of you in similar situations with unresponsive landlords you may find the following posts and references helpful. Read all about our moldy, indiana rental and what we did about it in these posts (arranged from newest to oldest):

• The Filter Queen, a cute country home and more landlord drama…
• Checketty, check, check those things off that list! The landlord comes a knocking
• Slumloards, credit scores and a prenatal chiropractor [in a pear tree]…
• Bubbling with anticipation and watching the world blow by…
• Getting the holiday ducks in a row and not looking like a hobo anymore! Mold test photos.
  
• In Indiana breathing mold is okay but home birth is not, just an FYI.
• I am just a tad angry right now! The saga of the first certified letter.
• Good morning all, got a flood? We do!

You may also find the following external links helpful:

• How to write an early termination letter to your landlord.
• Sample Letter: Breaking fixed term co-tenancy: all co-tenants vacating
• SAMPLE ONLY – Letter Breaking a Lease
• Mutual release from contract/ lease form

The post The final chapter of the crappy evansville landlord drama. appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

We looked a two other home possibilities today and both were basically a waste of time. One was decorated like and also smelled about as good as a nasty no-tell-motel room. You know the cheap indoor/ outdoor carpets in the most disgusting color and the wafting cigarette smoke/ someone died in this place smell?

Yep, that was the first place we looked at. We literally walked through the living room, in one bedroom and we’re ready to get out of there as fast as possible!

The next house was much more expensive and looked much newer and more promising based on the listing photos. Too bad it wreaked of cat piss/ spray at the entryway. The living room was bright and open but the kitchen was tiny with limited cabinets and bad decor. The bedrooms were closet sized and had all sorts of nasty stains on the carpet. Basically it was super tiny and had cosmetic issues. Not worth the $1175 they were asking per month.

So we headed back home feeling defeated. We are scheduled to look at a patio home tomorrow that we suspect we’ll be able to settle on. It’s not as big as we would like but we already know we like the floor plan as we’ve toured other homes on the street with the same floor plan. It is $100 less rent per month than we are paying now and the owner is offering a lease/ purchase option on it. We’ll see if it works out for us tomorrow…

Once we got home from our home touring I began working on a family member/ business owners site. If you look at the photos on his site you’ll see some very nice looking living areas (he remodels homes). Looking at those beautifully finished remodeling projects just makes me hate this house more and more!

Also, we just can’t believe how insanely different homes are here compared to those homes in Arizona that we are used to. Things are just so small and old here and most people don’t take care of their homes so they are also pretty much trashed. In Arizona you can find lots of new construction that is both affordable and also a good investment. Here nothing seems to be worth the asking price within our price range and houses are supposed to be cheaper here!

Oh, we enjoyed watching American Idol that we recorded last night. My old choir buddy Scott MacIntyre was on and he had a pretty good performance, yay! We’ll watch tonight’s recorded episode when N gets off work to see if Scott makes it on to the top 12, I hope he does!

N got the power back on in the bathroom, dining room and kitchen today. He had to completely unwire an outlet just to cut power to the garbage disposal. Cutting power to the disposal was the only way to turn the darn thing off. The disposal is so old it’s wired directly to an outlet as opposed to being plugged in to one and it has no reset switch.

So we’ve undone and taped off all the exposed wires from that outlet and have left the outlet plug disconnected. We have power in all three rooms now (just not in that one outlet). Yay for having power again. Now I can use the dishwasher, washer, dryer and bathroom lights!

Well that is pretty much all we have to report here. I am off to make the blog rounds now. I still have like 40 unread items in my reader and I have a feeling my commenters aren’t showing love because I’ve been such a slacker. Hopefully I can get caught up on blog reading today.

The post Um, did someone die in this house? Man it smells! (Evansville rental home search continues…) appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

Sometimes renting an actual house is better but finding them is never easy! I thought it would be helpful for others if I complied my rental home resources. This is not a sponsored post but I have had the opportunity to to business with several companies on the list and will link you to the posts made when I lived in homes under the particular company’s management. Hopefully this list is helpful to some and our experiences can aid you in finding the right property management company for you!

Flagstaff, AZ Rental House Resources:

• Pollock Properties (http://www.pollockpropertiesinc.com/rentals.html) – We leased a home out in Kachina Village through them. Ann Pollock was very good to us despite the unfavorable situation we got ourselves into. We rented a home on a month to month basis, it was on the market and we had to show it whenever a Realtor had an interested buyer. The home owners were sneaky and shady but Ann was honest and helped make things right. We lived in one of their managed properties from about September 2007- February 2008. You can read about our experiences by checking the pollock properties tag (click the link).
• Coldwell Banker Narico (http://www.mattbrydenthal.com/ or http://www.flagstaffrentals.com) – Again we leased a home out in Kachina Village through them, we signed a 6 month lease, 3 months later we were told the owners wanted to put the home back on the market and that we would be forced to show the house for the remainder of our lease or until the home sold. We lived in one of their managed properties from February 2008 to September 2008. You can read about our experiences by checking the coldwell banker tag (click the link).
• AZNorth (http://www.aznorth.com/rentals.asp) – We had never used this company.
• The Ginsburg Group (http://www.theginsberggroup.com/rentals.htm) – We had never used this company.
• Levitan Properties (http://www.flaglips.com/) – We had never used this company. Specialized (when we were looking for rentals 2004-2008) in pet friendly apartment communities. No additional pet rent, deposits are fully refundable and often utilities are paid. Great for families with pets looking for apartment living in Flagstaff, AZ.

Evansville, IN Rental House Resources:

• Evansville Homes For Rent (http://www.evansvillehomesforrent.com/search.php) – I called them and they seemed very friendly and accommodating, I told them I had emailed them and would like an email response. I also emailed them prior to calling them to ask if anyone would be able to assist us by taking photos of homes we are considering renting since we wont be able tour the home prior to move in. Nobody has responded to me via email or phone.
• Fetter Property Management (http://www.fprent.com) – I emailed them to ask if anyone would be able to assist us by taking photos of homes we are considering renting since we wont be able tour the home prior to move in. I also called and left a message asking for a returned call or email. Nobody has responded to me via phone or email.
• Lowe Realty, Inc. (http://324125ji.topagentsites.com/all_listings.html) – I emailed them to ask if anyone would be able to assist us by taking photos of homes we are considering renting since we wont be able tour the home prior to move in. Nobody has responded to me.
• Given & Spindler (http://www.given-spindler.com/invenrn1.html) – I emailed them to ask if anyone would be able to assist us by taking photos of homes we are considering renting since we wont be able tour the home prior to move in. Nobody has responded to me.
• Corrier Press Newspaper (http://www.courierpress.com/realestate/) – Displays listings for rental properties and contact info but did not have property photos or extensive property information. Not a good resource for those looking for rentals from outside the state.
• F.C. Tucker Emge (http://www.fctuckeremge.com/propertymanagement/index.htm) – Displays listings and property info on their site. Homes are nice and the staff DOES respond to your emails, they are willing to help.

Hopefully this list provides some help to those searching for rental homes in Flagstaff, Arizona or Evansville, Indiana. If you have a site you want to add please do so in the comments field!

The post Finding rental houses (not apartments) online… appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

The showing was fairly quick and cordial so it was no huge inconvenience for me (other than having to wrangle the animals and clean the place). Yesterday we got a call from the landlords office to schedule another showing for this week, on Friday.

Then N calls me and says he just talked to J, our landlord, and it seems like the house is going to sell. The couple that came through last week made an offer on the house so it looks like we may not have to show it much more once it all becomes official.

Our lease is still valid through August so the new owners will have to let us stay till the end of our contract but it looks like ball will be rolling come August regardless of job prospects! We will be moving from this rental and hopefully to a new town where N is making more, we will buy a home, settle down and perhaps have a baby. Oh, yeah a wedding might fit in there somewhere but if it doesn’t we’re legally tied anyway.

Speaking of moving, we are toying with the idea of RVing the pets and ourselves to our new location when it is time to move. I am set on getting a beater RV, conversion van or similar that we can drive with the animals in it. We will sleep in camp grounds or parking lots on our way and it will be quite the journey! I’ll be blogging the experience of course and I expect it will be quite the adventure!

So we are looking for an RV that we can buy for under $2300, it will cost about $2300 to rent an RV and make the drive so I figure if we can buy something that will get us there that we will also own once it is all said and done it is a better investment! Here are some of the options we have found on craigslist phoenix, what do you think?

LOL… I love this one simply for the cow spots. I love cows so this is right up my alley!

Here is a cheap 1976 Ford Motor Home N found online:

The options are endless!

So, what do you think? Know any insider tips on buying an RV/ Motor home? Got one you want to donate or perhaps some money for the cause? He, he..

The post 3 months to go till we move, again! appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

You see the band/ guard spring tour is coming up. I am chaperoning since I am a staff member and it is in California so that means pool/ beach time. living in a cooler climate has a definite impact on tanning. I have this sweet farmers tan from getting sun in my t shirts and I wanted to try to even it out today since the weather is so nice! It is kind of hard to see the laptop screen with the shining sun and sunglasses, I’ll manage though!

Oh, we got an email from our landlord 1st night that said the owners of the home we are renting decided to put the house back on the market. Our land lord said “he would not put a lock box on the house but that he would have Realtors schedule an appointment with us to view the house if there was interest.

There is no damn way we are going to deal with showing the house we are renting, not again! The home we just move from was also on the market and we signed a month to month lease (stupid idea) and agreed to take appointments to show the house when buyers were interested.

That turned out to be not such a pleasant experience for us for a number of reasons. First, we have pets we need to wrangle every time there is a showing. Second issue was that the Realtors that came to show the place were ass holes! Some made appointments but showed up hours early or late and expected us to show the house. Others didn’t even bother making an appointment, they had the nerve to just walk up to the front door, knock and expect us to show the house right then and there, while we were eating breakfast in our PJ’s!

When we moved in here we signed a 6 month lease, there is no “the house is for sale you need to show the place” clause in the lease. I am fairly certain we are not obligated to show the house and that it is “tough titties” that they decided to put the house back on the market while they have a legally binding lease out on the house till august.

We are having a family member who is also a Realtor/ landlord take a look at the lease first but we are planning to tell our landlord that we will not show the place. I am fairly certain they can’t force us to… What do you think?

In other news, N is being sent out to Utah again tonight so I’ll be on my own, maybe I’ll finish a book or something. This weekend we are heading down to New River to visit my mom and celebrate mothers day and her birthday. I expect it will be a relaxing nice weekend, despite the landlords crap.

The post Getting a tan and blogging… appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.