All Forum Posts by: Jamie Scharbrough

I live in NC, and window units vs HVAC are dependant on neighborhood. My current place has central heat and air (thank the Lord), but my previous house did not. Both houses are sub 1000 sq ft. I've found I MUCH prefer HVAC (and ours is brand new) and so far our electric bill isn't crazy (the hot months haven't really hit yet though, so time will tell). 

I think it really depends on the neighborhood, the climate, and the cost. 

My husband DOES have a gun. In fact, our gun safe is currently right by the door. He's also a former soldier so...yeah, she's lucky. 

This whole thing is weird. My husband just mentioned yet ANOTHER realtor showing people the empty side (are 3 realtors a lot? I do not know if they're all from different companies). AND he mentioned the main front door is now messed up. The main front door opens into a little foyer and then there are two doors, one for each side. He's sending me and our landlord a picture. He's almost positive the realtors somehow messed it up, because we use our back door. 

If I can, I'll show you a picture once I get it. 

Thanks Paul! I hope you're right!

Hi everyone,

I apologize for being absent; we had a death in the family and I was dealing with that. I haven't had a chance to go back and read all the questions, but I saw a couple that I can answer now. 

The realtor did not stay in the house for more than 10 minutes, according to my husband; she didn't even move from just inside the door, so unless she wanted to filch the ugliest, creepiest 1950s style ashtray ever, I think we're okay on missing items. 

On Sunday, ANOTHER realtor was in the unoccupied side of the duplex and he stopped at our door and TRIED a key. He had either 1 person or 2 people with him. I made the landlord aware of this as well. The key did not work and he left. 

However, not 30 minutes ago, my landlord texted me and asked if he could enter the house on Thursday, as he had a strong buyer. We're going to be looking over the lease, but thank you to the person above who pointed out that in NC, they have to honor the lease as long as we're not violating it. 

Unfortunately, this means that if these buyers are successful, they may not renew in 10 months, so we have to pack everything up and find somewhere to live. I know 10 months is a long time, but it'll go by in a blink, and we JUST got moved in. 

I'm pretty upset about the whole thing. 

Thank you, again, to everyone who's offered advice and help. I'm going to go read your comments now, just wanted to give an update. 

 Ack, Michell, I didn't think about that! It's a good idea. I know what brokerage they're from though, so I'll be contacting them.

 Dawn, I agree, but it sounds like my landlord originally gave her a key, then rented to us and forgot to get it back? I'm not sure. 

But could they early terminate if we're in good faith and standing (ie, still paying our rent on time)? 

According to my husband, who spoke to our landlord, he'd also just rented the other side and they're moving in next week. (I forgot to mention this, sorry all.) So I'm not sure how profitable it would be for a potential buyer to have a filled house with leases set in place (I mean, unless they're getting into the landlord business). 

I'll check the lease in regards to showing when I get home. We had no notice of any kind, and our landlord specifically said the realtor should not have had a key to our side anyway. 

The whole thing is just a little weird. If he's trying to sell the other side, okay, but trying to sell a house that already has tenants who've just started their leases? Unless you're actively looking to get into the landlord business, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

I was at work, but my husband works from home. We live in a duplex. Our landlord is awesome, but I noticed the other side of the plex wasn't moving. We have a signed year long lease. 

My husband was sitting on the couch and working (and fortunately he decided today was a good day to wear pants instead of pjs) when our front door was unlocked and a woman walked in, with a prospective behind her. 

To say my husband was stunned is an understatement. We just moved in a couple months ago, and are actually still unpacking (the joys of being bookworms), so our side still doesn't look that great. 

He asked her what she was doing and she explained she was a realtor. My husband, thinking maybe our landlord had hired a property management company to do the showings of the other unit, explained that this side was rented and she wanted the other side. 

Then she demanded--DEMANDED--to know when our lease was up. My husband told her to leave. She got snotty with him. He told her to get out or he'd be calling the police. She left and he called our landlord.

Landlord was rightfully pissed off and explained that the realtor should NOT have had a key to our side and that he'd be fixing it. 

My question, BP, is this: if the house does sell, and they want us out, can they break our lease? I'm pretty sure they cannot. I also know NC does not have the "owner or immediate family" clause. 

We JUST moved in, we have ten months left, and I'm frankly, kind of alarmed that a real estate company thought it was okay to not only just come into our house with no warning, but to think they had any right to demand information out of us. 

Besides making our landlord aware (which we did), is there anything else we can do?

I'd also note that a lot of people have been peering in our door window for WAY too long when they were clearly looking for the other side. (I timed one dude, who kept staring in for five minutes.) We put up a curtain over that window...ironically before the realtor barged in. 

Short of putting a sign up on our door, what can we do?

As a renter, I wouldn't give this house a second glance, mainly because there are NO appliances. I saw that you said you can get some, so do it. Drop a fridge and stove in there pronto. 

One other thing that I see no one has mentioned: sentence structure. Your ad in Zillow is jammed together, sometimes there are no spaces in between sentences or words...that makes it very difficult to read.

"Winter Move in special $100 off first month rent if lease signed by Feb 28.Updated floor plan in this well maintained, clean, 2 bed 912 Sq ft. home in Burton.Bendle schoolsWith newer flooring, cabinetry, plumbing and heating. Fresh Paint.Located on quiet family neighborhood street with freeway access near main streets and shopping areas. Living room opens to large eat in kitchen and dining area.Plus large front and back decks for entertaining.Main bedroom is 11x13 with large closet.Spaciousbathroom with plenty of linen and clothing storage. Driveway and large oversized shed.Laundry storage with Washer/Dryer hookup . Negotiable appliance package.High Efficiency Furnace saves on heating costsNO pets Rent $6501 /1/2 month security deposit."

See what I mean? Fix that as well. 

@Steve Babiak : No, sorry. We just really enjoyed our time in that place and we want to make it as easy as possible for our landlord. 

@Beth L. Thanks! I'll get some of the plaster stuff from Lowe's then. 

@Ryan Dossey Thank you! I doubt we'll be in St. Louis, but if we are, I'll be sure to look you up!

(Also not sure why some of the names get highlighted and the others don't. This forum has a funny way of doing it.)