Our landlord recently informed us that they’re putting our apartment up for sale. We moved in less than four months ago.

I’m pissed, angry, annoyed. Did I mention we moved in less than four months ago?

I’m annoyed because this means we now have to open our home to strangers for showings… during a pandemic. We now have to keep our place spotlessly clean (we’re pretty clean but not necessarily clean-enough-to-sell-the-place clean). It also means we are now living in limbo while we try to figure out whether to stay or go – tenant laws do protect us because we signed a 1 year lease. However the landlord is sorta trying to negotiate us out – but not under very good terms. They basically just want us to agree to leave in a few months IF that’s what the buyer wants. That way, we can of course continue to cover their mortgage while it’s for sale, but they can tell the buyer “don’t worry, these people have agreed to leave early if that’s what you wish.”

Our building is brand new. We are the first people to live in our particular unit. When we first met our landlord he mentioned that they tried to sell it but covid hit so they decided to rent instead. I should’ve known better, but I thought that meant they wouldn’t list it again for at least a year, maybe even two. If I’d known they’d be listing it just a few months later I wouldn’t have rented it.

There are 2 lessons I’m taking from this:

#1 – If you’re going to purchase something, make sure you can afford it. Consider the worst case scenarios.

Our landlord called my husband, he said covid has really screwed him over, he hasn’t been working since February and they’re losing $500 a month on this apartment… aka our rent isn’t covering their mortgage.

I do feel bad for him, I do.

But I’m also shaking my head thinking – why the hell did you spend hundreds of thousands of dollars purchasing a brand new condo. Well we know why – like many other people they purchased it presale in hopes of flipping it and making a quick buck.

Mad Feintist spoke to this on one of his recent podcasts. He mentioned how he had considered purchasing a couple of investment properties pre-covid for AirBnB purposes as well as to live in half the year. Obviously now he’s happy he didn’t, as covid has turned the travel industry upside down. MF discussed the importance of considering ALL scenarios.

So what could, or should have our landlord done? Obviously I don’t know his situation that well, I don’t even know what they paid for our apartment, but I can assume if he was hoping to flip that he probably only put 5% down which would result in a pretty hefty monthly mortgage amount. Did he consider the possibility that they wouldn’t be able to flip it? Did he look up rent rates in the area to see what they would be able to charge if a flip didn’t happen? Did he consider if that would cover their mortgage?

I’m also pissed thinking – did they know all along they were going to list it again soon after we moved in? That way we could at least help to cover their mortgage while they then looked for a buyer?

#2 – Renting can suck

I’ve always rented. While we do own a condo in a different city, we only lived in it for two years before we moved and we now rent it out. I’ve been on the fence about whether home ownership is right for us for a few years now. Reading Millennial Revolution’s posts on home ownership will make anyone fearful of buying a house.

However lately I’m craving stability. We’ve lived in 4 different apartments in the last 6 years. I think we do eventually want a family. We want a dog. BUT – we’re not quite ready to be home owners yet… so for now I guess we’ll just get bounced around by landlords until we find something to own.