» DREADLOCKS cause DEAD-LOCK

DREADLOCKS cause DEAD-LOCK

Far out! Can’t decide … am I in a foul mood, or am I excited?! Days like today can make me swing between sheer Nirvana, and total despair. Why? Well … what would you make of this?

Dreadlocks

“Nice” home in a “nice” suburb. No, I misspeak: “well-to-do” suburb. Current tenants give notice. One very switched on property manager gets her ducks in a row and lines up new tenants, just before Christmas I might add, and with no advertising costs for the landlord, for a property that is sufficiently far enough out of town to not be on the “hot” list for a majority of our prospective tenants. Bonus! It’s all coming together for a quick change of tenants, no additional expenses, no loss of rent. Woop Woop!! [raise palms in pumping action]

The new tenants are loooong term tenants of Allens, they have always paid their rent and expenses on time, they always look after the properties well, they always keep us informed of any maintenance issues, they are not party animals, there have never been any party/drug dramas, and they don’t annoy their neighbours … please, call me on 09 430 0075, if there is a property managers’ desired tenancy trait I am missing!

Great tenants – indeed … Oh darn, wait … I forgot to mention one thing: the husband has dreads …

So the landlord met, no, I should say: caught a glimpse of the tenant, and questions are now being asked of us … Do we really have to offer this couple a lease renewal? And how often can we do inspections?

Hmmm. … Hmmmmmmmmmmm …

Personally I would let these people rent my home. I would entrust them with my property investment, my reputation (and in the same neighbourhood). Hell – I would even let them have my teenager!

As a Property Manager myself, and as a human being, I am simply and utterly astounded. As is the Property Manager looking after this particular home. And it isn’t like we didn’t keep the owner up-to-date … we did. But we simply said, “great tenants”, “your home is in safe hands”, “your mortgage will be paid”, “the gardens will be loved” … Should it be a pre-requisite to physically describe them too?

So we discuss duty of care. Personal and company responsibility. My personal integrity mutters persistently in my ear: “take your well-to-do property and …” (well, I’m sure you know the rest). However, as always, a chat with my boss centres me – refocused, the scent of Nirvana wafts by … What if… (really, seriously) …what if we can take these people and reassure them. Protect the tenants as best we can, defend their rights, and at the same time take these owners and gently lead them to a new world … What if we can teach them about acceptance and tolerance?, What if we can teach them that it’s ok to be different?… What if we can get them to relax and breathe out – to the extent that in three months time, when an offer of renewal, or confirmation of vacate date, needs to go out, they say “yes, yes…it is ok to give them another six months”… ? How would we have changed several people’s vision on life at that point? Wouldn’t that be cool? Wouldn’t that be Nirvana?

Yeeaaahhhh …