When Good Renters Go Bad

RISMEDIA, Oct. 9, 2008-When good renters go bad. That’s a situation many landlords find themselves in when a rental home they worked so hard to prepare is not kept up by the new tenants.

For HomeVestors, the company behind the “We Buy Ugly Houses” slogan, meeting distressed homeowners looking to sell unwanted and abused rental properties is an everyday occurrence. As America’s #1 Home Buyer®, HomeVestors buys houses in all conditions and works with homeowners to help them out of ugly situations.

Susan Perdunn and her husband were all too familiar with this situation. The Perdunns owned a rental property in Kensington, Pa., near Philadelphia for 14 years, but renting it out had become more of a burden than a sound investment. Finally exasperated by the situation and ready to sell, the couple put the house on the market – where it remained for five years.

“I had been trying to sell the house for five years,” said Perdunn. “It was trashed with graffiti on the inside and out. The kitchen and bathroom were barely in working order, if at all, and quite frankly, no one dared to buy it.”

On a trip to her local tailor in the Philadelphia suburb of Drexel Hill, Pa. the owner told Susan, “look what opened up next door, the ‘We Buy Ugly Houses’ company. You should talk to them about your house.” And she did.

Unsure what would come of it, Susan set up an appointment with Mark Gibbons, the HomeVestors franchise owner, to visit the property.

“Mark was very professional,” said Perdunn. “I, on the other hand was a mess. I was so embarrassed by our house I was crying. At one point in time, my husband had spent weekend after weekend repairing and rehabbing the house. We had taken out a second mortgage on the home to pay for the repairs and now it was trashed.”

To make matters worse, because of its location and extreme state of disrepair, Gibbons didn’t think he would be able to sell the house if he purchased it.

A few days following their meeting, Gibbons phoned Perdunn and asked for the keys. He said he found an investor who was interested in the house.

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Perdunn. “For the first time there was a light at the end of the tunnel — that maybe someone would want to buy this house we had been trying to sell for five years!”

Less than two weeks after walking into HomeVestors, Susan Perdunn and her husband were relieved of their rental property.

“Susan is such a kind woman,” said Gibbons. “We enjoyed working with her and were happy to help. She even made her famous banana bread and brought it to the closing!”

Perdunn and her husband are thinking about selling the home they currently live in and relocating. “We won’t forget about HomeVestors,” said Perdunn. “They will be the first on our list.”

For more information, visit www.homevestors.com.