Loft Rental

As first time landlords, we wanted to make rent easy for our tenants (and us). None of us wanted to deal with checks.

How could we implement automatic payments without a lot of cost or hassle?

My husband Kevin and I bought our loft in Seattle in 2007, downsizing from a house. Life was full of business travel, and we liked the idea of simplifying to a smaller space in an urban area. Unfortunately, our market timing wasn’t great for a purchase, and the value soon dropped by almost half.

The upside was that we loved the space, but after years went by, we craved more nature and worked on a plan to move to Tiger Mountain. The value recovered, but we wanted to give it more time as an investment.

Living down the street from the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, we dreamed of keeping it and offering the space as a furnished rental for short term stays. We understood deeply how a place close by could ease the treatment process. The SCCA’s cutting edge research had provided the opportunity for me to donate my stem cells for my mother’s cancer treatment.

Unfortunately the association by-laws prohibited a short term rental, and we shelved the idea. Our research on how to have a successful long term rental began.

Our stars aligned twice.

Over four years we had two sets of tenants. Both couples moving in together for the first time, and each the first to tour the loft when we listed it for rent.

Just like we bought as soon as we saw it – they too fell in love with the space, and cared for it as if it was their own.

Watch,ca. 1820–35 by Watchmaker: Pierre Morel | Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Anonymous Gift, in memory of Lady May Fletcher-Moulton, 1926

Object Size: Diameter: 1 13/16 in. (4.6 cm)