Odd scenario; Would you consider me as a tenant?

[David S.]

Hi guys, I find myself in a unique predicament and need advice. Here’s the situation:

My wife and I currently have two homes, one is our primary, one a rental. Both homes were originally on one parcel which we’ve been able to divide into two separate parcels. We are listing the rental for sale July 1st as it sits on acreage and makes for a poor rental property. We also happen to be selling our primary home in August as we have a third child on the way and need more space (among other reasons).

We intend to rent for a year ourselves and see how the economy looks in another 10 months before deciding to purchase again. After the sale of our rental we will own our primary home free and clear, so the proceeds of our primary home will end up as investment capital as well as earmarked for our future home. My wife has a full time job that pays roughly $50k but I’m the stay at home dad who’s homeschooling our kids. We just dissolved a small business as well, so this is a fresh start for us. We have no debt, essentially perfect credit, and no other blemishes on our records.

In other words, we’ll need to lock in a rental before we close on our primary home but we’re relatively income poor, especially when most LL’s want 3x monthly rent for income, while at the same time we’re relatively asset rich with very low overhead.

The idea is to deleverage while the economy has had a long run, start investing in rentals out of state over the next year or two, and find a more suitable primary home while not selling and buying at the same time here in CO. 

What would it take for a LL to consider us for a 12 month lease if we’re talking around the $2000-$2300 a month range? I would be willing to put 6 month’s worth of lease amount in escrow and pay the typical first, last, and deposit. Is that a common thing to do or would most LL’s turn us down just because it’s an unusual situation?

We’ve always done things different which has paid off for us over the years, but that makes for some odd situations too. Last thing I want to do is put my family in a bind, but fortunately the baby isn’t due till December.

What would you do in my shoes? What would you require if I looked at your property and wanted to sign a lease?