Serial Monogamy

Some of you know about our house in Iowa. We've had it on the market since May, but there have been no offers. So we decided to take it off the market and rent it out, again. Posted an ad on Craigslist and got a huge amount of interest. One family that is relocating to the area seems like the perfect match for us. They sent a relocation specialist to look at the house. Pictures were taken, questions were asked, phone calls were made.

Earlier today I called the wife to tell her we've accepted her family's application and would be thrilled if she and her family would rent our house. She was happy, no doubt about it. But she wanted to talk it over with her husband, see a few more pictures from the relocation specialist, and "sleep on it." And given that they'd be taking a lease out on a house sight unseen, I really can't blame them.

I told her that we think they'd love our neighborhood and the neighbors. Our families have a lot in common and so it would be comforting to know that our property would be in good hands. And those of you who have followed our "Great Adventures in Out-Of-State Land Ownership" know that we are great landlords. I told her that we were going to keep our ad open, that the house will be scheduled to show again Wednesday night, but that we'd cancel it as soon as we got a signed lease from them. All in the interest of transparency. And she seemed totally fine with all of this. I found our entire set of interactions (email, text, and phone) to be refreshingly honest. It felt like the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

So tonight I got home and noticed that our Craigslist ad was off the front page. I festered over it for a while, and then, worried that we'd lose this family and not have any traffic at the next showing, renewed the listing.

And now, I feel like we totally cheated on the potential renters. Even though I told her we would continue playing the field. Even though there is no expectation of monogamy, I am totally freaked out that the family will wake up in the morning with the intention of renting our house but that she will go to Craigslist anyway, see the renewed ad, think we decided not to rent to her, and call me to break up with us.

I can't go back and delete the second ad, because that would remove the original one, and if they don't take the house I won't have time to repost a new ad before the showing tomorrow night. What I really need is a good cover story; one of those "it's not how things appear" alibis that always seem to work in the movies and Law and Order episodes. Got any suggestions?