Becoming a tough landlord

[Cassidy Burns]

Hey BP,

Just wanted to share my first bump in the road as a landlord and how I handled the situation.  I received this email Friday evening.

"Finally, we bought a house!! Randomly, we saw a place online Friday afternoon, had our agent get us in Friday night, and put in an offer Monday. We heard last night we were the successful bidder. We've requested (and the seller is okay with) a 60-day close. So our closing date is set for December 9. I know we have a six month lease with you and we are very honest people. So a couple questions:

1) Would you be interested in moving in sooner (assuming you still plan to move in here)? Our thinking is we would pay through December (assuming you're okay with this) and move the week before or the week after Christmas.

2) Our agent has another family similar to ours (dual income parents with two young kids who are selling their place) that need temporary housing while they stage/sell their place in Tacoma Park and buy a new place. They would be willing to take over our lease but would potentially need it longer than thru Feb. Like us, their timing is dependent on selling their place and buying another. I realize uncertainty of timing isn't ideal."

These tenants are great people.  They have treated my place better than I would.  This is how I responded.

"-First off, I appreciate you giving me sufficient notice for your move out, and for sourcing a prospective replacement. Unfortunately, moving into the unit by February isn't going to occur for me. I am inclined to select option two under the following condition:

1. You will pay through the month of December, and I will also keep the security deposit for breaking the lease early.
2. I will need to connect with your agent and the potential tenants in order to interview them, and also to communicate with them that they will need to also sign a 6 month lease under the same conditions so I can renew in the summer months.

You and Casey have been great first tenants and I am grateful for your honesty, because that's not always easy to come by. "

Feedback?  Thanks BP