Good News/Questionable News on the Rental Front

On the rental front, there are some things to update. First, we are officially 'done,' if I can say that! It seems impossible, but I do think we are done. I'll post pictures soon, so you can see the wonders of massive elbow grease and this newfangled thing called soap! And carpet, tile, flooring, paint, etc. In other good news, we had the rental inspection this morning, and drumroll please....it passed!!! We even endured exactly ONE HOUR of listening to the inspector drone on and on about his property in Montana and how he can't live there because his grandkids are here and how he went to Colorado in 1968. We did this in the interest of passing inspection and being friendly to the inspector who could pass or fail us pretty much. What's one more hour of our lives spent over there anyway, when we have already put in more than 350 hours of manual labor to whip it back into shape, right? As far as the lease goes, well, that's a whole 'nother ball of wax. We have (had?) someone lined up; they were going to sign the lease last Sunday, then Monday, then during the week, then they wanted to send the lease to their attorney. TWICE. Who then wanted us to change all the language that protects us as landlords. For example, he wanted us to change the language to allow the tenant to break the lease at any time without penalty. All they would have to do is give 60 days and be gone. We declined changing 95% of the attorney's issues, but the guy didn't seem too upset about it. However, when we did change the few items, he sent it back to his attorney. After much 'I'll call you on....' and then never calling, the latest is that the daughter is (allegedly, possibly) in the hospital, and he'll call us Sunday. Well, yesterday was Sunday, today is the first, and still no word. We are surprisingly not too stressed about it, and are seriously considering the possibility of putting it up for sale if this falls through. The way the market is it could be several more months before we find a tenant. Now don't y'all want to run out and buy your own rental property?!?! I have heard that it can work out very well, but so far tenant-from-hell plus costly (both time and money) repairs plus lost rent plus a really bad market are not adding up too well for us. And did I mention that I am supposed to give birth here NEXT month and we don't need this aggravation?!