coats of paint

our new tenants moved into main street tonight. i was surprised to discover that it feels weird to think of other people living there. and when i go by tomorrow to drop off the keys, that i will need to knock on the door and wait for them to come answer it. i think it'll be ok though. it's the start of us establishing our new normal.

it seems the house we didn't end up buying has reappeared on the market with a new realtor and a new higher price. i'm really glad we didn't buy that house though. our brant house is so much better for us, and we LOVE the park out back.

i struggle sometimes with worry that our tenants will be unhappy and that they'll resent me if the house is in anyway disappointing. i wonder if i'm a little bit of an overachieving landlord because of a desire for affirmation from them. i think i need to work through this and set some landlord-tenant boundaries. it's reasonable for me for strive to be a good landlord, and keep the house(s) in good shape. ultimately i want to take care of our rental spaces so that if i lived there, that i'd be happy with their condition, etc. but it's easy to seek approval when i shouldn't. since we plan to be landlords for a long time, i'm gonna have to work on said boundaries.