The Way Things Get Done

Inspirational song: Ride Like the Wind (Christopher Cross)

I have officially crossed the line into economic anxiety. We have two rental properties that supplement our income and make it possible for me to live the luxurious life of a middle aged woman with too many chronic illnesses to work full time. We are in the unenviable position of having our tenants in both units move out the same month. The condo and house are both vacant, producing negative cash flow. The condo is the income stream that keeps my lights on and trash picked up (it’s how I pay utilities, among other things). If I am cautious, I can make it through June on what I have on hand, but if I don’t find a new tenant by early July, I will have to rake out all of my savings to make it through the dry spell. I’ve had a bunch of inquiries about the condo, but everyone wants to move in after August 1, in time for the next school year. (I posted the listing to mostly grad students.) This wouldn’t freak me out so much if I hadn’t dug such a deep hole last year when it was vacant for three months.

I’m getting better at the whole idea of interjecting, “hey, I’m a realtor” into conversations, but it hasn’t proven to be excessively lucrative for me yet. I tried it this afternoon in conjunction with talking to some people we just met about our vacant unit. I started with “do you know anyone looking to rent,” and it smoothly turned into a chance to hand over my card when they said yes. Two years ago this process felt awkward and phony, like I was pretending to be something I wasn’t really good at. It’s amazing how even modest professional success files off the rough edges of self confidence. Now I need to keep practicing so it’s second nature to do this.

I liken the reluctance to name myself by my profession to how hard it was to learn to call myself a writer. I think throwing a few paragraphs to the citizens of the world every single night since early 2013 counts, even if I’m not getting paid for it. I still intend to put something out behind a paywall of sorts, and I’m developing more concrete plans on that front. It has made focusing on this space harder and harder while my head is stuck in the other worlds. I’ll get it done, sooner or later. And maybe then my light bill can be paid without relying on rental income.