Saturday, May 20, 2006

For $20,000 you can be on my Christmas card list!

While Hubby is gone, I am trying to find us a home. His new job means we get to move into town, which is thrilling and exciting and all that, but as it turns out, I am not rich. I foolishly gave birth to children that need space. They have toys, and beds, and they take up so much room! Plus, they cost a fortune to maintain, and that leaves very little cash for the house situation.
Tonight, I called all kinds of ads from the newspapers. Until this week there seemed to be no options. Suddenly, I'm overwhelmed with choices!
1. The duplex ($1150) located on a street name I've never heard of. Oh wait. I have heard of that place, just in ENGLISH. I had a charming phone conversation with a lady from some far away place, and all I know is that I am going to view the place at ffr^&*eeh time on lgu*g7# day.
2. A 3 bedroom basement suite in a great part of town. It looks nice in the pictures, the woman on the phone (why is it always the women doing this?) spoke English, and it would be great...if we didn't have to spend $1500 to share laundry facilities, a front door, and the hallway between the bedrooms.
3. The next lady I called started off on the wrong foot. When I said "Is the place still open?" She said "Yeah...I gotta talk to my lawyer, cause, ya know, I'm buying my own place, ya know, so I'm not sure when I'd be leaving. So...we might have to double up for a month, ya know?"
4. There is a 4 bedroom house available for the oh-so-low price of $1200/month. I called, and the guy (no woman here) took my name and number, and gave me an appointment time to come fill in the application form. Then we drove past the place. I wouldn't let my dog live there. When I mentioned the address to friends tonight, they said "What? The crack house is for rent?" Yup. Local crack house is looking for nice, upstanding tenants.
We could rent a gorgeous house if we won the lottery. Rents here are currently higher than the mortgage on a new house. Scary thought. We actually thought about buying, but hey! A down payment! And closing costs! All told, we are only lacking $15 000. Chump change. Now I just have to remember where I hid that briefcase full of cash....

4 comments:

OldLady Of The Hills said...

It's really really so hard these days to find a nice place to live for a reaaonable amount of money. I hope you find something wonderful, and soon! (I know you do, too...lol)

Here from Michele tonight!

Mrs. Falkenberg said...

Mary: We looked at the no down payment, high ratio thing, and it's great....but we still would need to find $5000 extra cash that we just don't have. Plus, we want to move to Alberta in the next 2 years, and to pay off that mortgage before the 5 year mark would mean a LOT of penalty payment. Arghh. I'm lucky, I guess, because Ontario is even more expensive than here!

srp said...

I sold a house in Mississippi for a ridiculously low sum. The same house here would have brought at least twice the price if not more. So that is discouraging for the prospects of a new house in Va. Beach.
Here from Michele.

Good luck.

Anonymous said...

That does not sound good, Mom. What town is this?