Sell My House and Move Back Into My Rental Condo

Buying & Selling Real Estate
10yFollow

Sell My House and Move Back Into My Rental Condo

Chris Mercer
Rental Property Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2015 · 13 posts · 1 vote

Hi There, 

I live in Denver and own a rental condo in Littleton.  The lease on the condo is up later this year.  The current renovations on my house are just about complete.  My agent ran comps for me on the house and I can pull some pretty good equity out of it.  I like the house.  It needs some more work to make it "pretty", but I don't think the extra investment will buy me much, given my diverse neighborhood.

My hangup is that i live next door to the cat lady.  Dozens of feral cats.  They use my yard as their bathroom.  They spray my house, porch, truck, fence...everything.  My dogs eat their poop, then get sick.  I've tried many different agencies and self-mitigation, to no avail.  I like that i can let the dogs out before and after work and don't have to walk them all the time (time is very important to me). But the cats....

My condo pulls good rental income. The mortgage is super cheap, as i got a great deal on it.  

I have to weigh the balance of no longer having to deal with the cats vs having to walk the dogs all the time again (and the fact that the house will continue to rise in value in the coming years...do I want to miss out on that).

Thoughts? 

Thanks! 

Chris

0Reply
36 views

Most Popular Reply

Bill S.Pro Member
Moderator
Rental Property Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2013 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes
10y

@Chris Mercer where I grew up in Wyoming, you wouldn't even have posted this. The rule of the land is, you keep your critters on your property or they disappear. While growing up a neighbors dog kept coming into our calving pasture during calving season. My father left the carcass where it fell in the middle of an open field. It was easily visible from the county road. To my knowledge, no one said a thing.

The way I understand the law is that you can trap an animal that comes onto your property and turn them into the local pound. If they are unlicensed then the owner would face a fine. If they are licensed then the owner would be contacted and they would have to pay to have the cat released from Kitty jail. 

Personally I would deal directly with the Cat Lady. I would have a nice discussion with her. I would be nice and tell her that her cats are messing with my life by coming onto my property. It would a nice verbal warning. If it continued, then a written letter with a picture of one of the cats doing it's business on my property. After that, the traps would go out. In summary, she can keep her cats at home or find them at the pound. How she does that is her business. It's even fair game to bait the trap.

You could also offer to purchase her property. Maybe that's a new item for driving for dollars, the property with lots of cats gets a door knock or a direct mail piece. 

2Reply
See this reply in the discussion

5 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Matt M.
    Realtor · Denver, CO · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    10y

    Animal Sprayer - Deploy a couple of these bad boys around your yard. Or trap them.

    What would you do with the money? I'd say keep both and expand, but that's just me. 

    Animal control won't help?

    0Reply
  • Bill S.Pro Member
    Moderator
    Rental Property Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2013 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    10y

    @Chris Mercer where I grew up in Wyoming, you wouldn't even have posted this. The rule of the land is, you keep your critters on your property or they disappear. While growing up a neighbors dog kept coming into our calving pasture during calving season. My father left the carcass where it fell in the middle of an open field. It was easily visible from the county road. To my knowledge, no one said a thing.

    The way I understand the law is that you can trap an animal that comes onto your property and turn them into the local pound. If they are unlicensed then the owner would face a fine. If they are licensed then the owner would be contacted and they would have to pay to have the cat released from Kitty jail. 

    Personally I would deal directly with the Cat Lady. I would have a nice discussion with her. I would be nice and tell her that her cats are messing with my life by coming onto my property. It would a nice verbal warning. If it continued, then a written letter with a picture of one of the cats doing it's business on my property. After that, the traps would go out. In summary, she can keep her cats at home or find them at the pound. How she does that is her business. It's even fair game to bait the trap.

    You could also offer to purchase her property. Maybe that's a new item for driving for dollars, the property with lots of cats gets a door knock or a direct mail piece. 

    2Reply
  • Tripp Howell
    Real Estate Agent · Denver, CO · Member since 2016 · 58 posts · 24 votes
    10y

    If you don't need the extra cash, it's not worth giving up for a few cats. If for some reason nothing works to get the cats off your land, maybe you can find tenants who like cats and lease the house to them?? Can you put up a fence? 

    0Reply
  • Evelyn Roper
    Investor · Oklahoma City, OK · Member since 2016 · 98 posts · 51 votes
    10y

    A neighbors cat used to come in my yard to do her business in my flower beds.  I searched online and learned that if you sprinkle cayenne pepper on the ground, cats will avoid it. I had good results but my area of concern was pretty concentrated to the flower bed.  It may not be feasible since you have such a large area to cover but it is cheap and worth trying.  Spraying cats with a warehouse is also pretty effective :)

    0Reply
  • Evelyn Roper
    Investor · Oklahoma City, OK · Member since 2016 · 98 posts · 51 votes
    10y

    *water hose.

    0Reply
Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.
Log InJoin for Free