Collateral Damage

One of the downsides to buying a multi-unit property in which all units are occupied is having to decide what to do with the tenants. When Mike and I decided to buy our place, we knew at the very least the people living in the biggest unit would have to go, since that’s where we’ll live. We thought long and hard about the tenants in the two rental units, though. Do we want to keep them as tenants? Should we ask the seller to give them notice? One of the tenants in particular seems like a really nice guy who has had a hard life. We wanted to keep him because he seemed like he’s a good tenant, but he was paying well below market rate for his apartment and couldn’t afford to pay much more. In the end, we gave notice to all the tenants and we will close 48 hours after the last tenant vacates.

This weekend, Mike and I drove past the property, as we do on occasion (to get an idea of what the neighborhood is like at different hours of the day, and to look at what we’ve gotten ourselves into), and there was a sign tacked up to the fence in front. “Moving sale this weekend.” The tenant we really liked, who we anguished over, was selling what looked like all his furniture. It was, for me, heartbreaking. I feel so terrible about putting this guy out, about making his already difficult life a little more difficult. And here we go by and he’s divesting himself of all of his possessions. Is it because he needs the money to get a new place? Is it because wherever he’s going is small and he won’t have room to take his furniture? Is it because he can’t afford to rent a truck to move the stuff to a new place?

In the end, it doesn’t really matter. We’ve given him notice and he needs to move. He’s in his 40s probably and will surely regroup, moving on with his life. He’s faced tough times before and muddled through. Why should this be any different? In the end, it was the seller’s decision to sell, and this guy (actually, all the tenants) is just collateral damage from that decision.

Or so I keep telling myself…