On the fence about this potential tenant

[Amy L.]

We are first time LL with a 3/1 SFH. From our ad in the local paper we received two calls and the second caller passed the phone screening. She is retired military with a disability (SS), going thru a divorce. The house is totally new construction and aside from doing some landscaping and installing porch railing, we've had to do little else. Potential tenant saw the house, filled out the application and passed the background check. Notified her that she passed the background check, I said we should meet at the house to do the walk thru and sign the lease. Said she was in another town trying to sell a vehicle and would be available yesterday afternoon. I called her yesterday morning to set up a time to meet in the afternoon, left a message and never received a text or call. The alarm bells are going off in my head! I'm wondering if she's going to be this way when it comes time to pay the rent or am I being paranoid because we're new to this game? This is a small farming community (pop. 3500), so there isn't a lot of rental traffic; no apartments, or duplexes only houses and trailers.

Thank you all for your input, it is most appreciated.

[Colleen F.]

You left a message yesterday morning,  keep showing to other prospects.   If you hear from her and it sounds like a reasonable reason to not return the call in 24 hours then go ahead and set things up to proceed with the rental. I will say that my experience with people in the process of getting divorces is that they are very flakey so there is a good chance she is moving on or decided to do something different , get back with the spouse etc.  Could also be miscommunication between the two of you.  In any case keep showing until you have a deposit in hand.