Crisis (Temporarily) Averted
Jan. 1st, 2006 09:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
judecorpJen and I looked at two apartments today - they were significantly cheaper than what we pay right now and let me tell you they were significantly crappier. Granted, we're incredibly spoiled by our renovated froo-froo luxury pad but we were willing to come down a couple of notches in the interests of affordability. The places we looked at had tiny rooms (which is okay) and no closet/cabinet space. The lack of space is a major problem because we are currently blessed with more cabinets and closets than should ever be allowed by law. What can we say, we love our place.
On the way home from our second spontaneous apartment visit, we decided that we didn't have anything to lose by talking to our landlords about our situation - namely that we didn't want to move but that there really wasn't any way we could pay the extra $75/month during the height of the winter heating bills, and that if we couldn't reach a solution, we were going to give our 30-day notice.
Jen and I talked in the car about how if they really needed the money, the LAST thing they would want is an empty apartment, and really, who wants to move in the winter? We decided that the worst he could say was no and then we would move to a crappier place, no problem.
So we sat him down and told him that we had received his letter and we were a bit concerned because we didn't want to move but we couldn't afford to pay the rent increase /and/ heat the apartment. We told him that our gas bills had pretty much doubled from last year and that we were kind of reeling about that. I added in a little "dead father's medical bills" for effect. We told him that we looked at apartments today and that we didn't want to leave our home, but we were prepared to do so.
He emphatically stated that he did not want to lose us as tenants (hello, we're the best!) and he pretty much acknowledged that he knew it was better to have the old payment than no payment. He told us that their property tax had recently increased by $150/month, which I know from the news is true. We told him that we understood that they were in a jam too, and would be willing to pay the increase when the heat bills started to come down - as a compromise, we offered April 1st. And he agreed to it!!!
So we get two additional months of rent at our old rate, and then we'll pay the increased rate until we can sell my dad's place and buy our dream house in Western Mass. We're hoping to be in the Valley by June or July so that's only a couple of months of paying the extra $75 - extra money we would have spent on packing/moving this month anyway. And hopefully by then our gas bills will be out of the double digits and we'll be well on our way to being hippie homeowners!
On the way home from our second spontaneous apartment visit, we decided that we didn't have anything to lose by talking to our landlords about our situation - namely that we didn't want to move but that there really wasn't any way we could pay the extra $75/month during the height of the winter heating bills, and that if we couldn't reach a solution, we were going to give our 30-day notice.
Jen and I talked in the car about how if they really needed the money, the LAST thing they would want is an empty apartment, and really, who wants to move in the winter? We decided that the worst he could say was no and then we would move to a crappier place, no problem.
So we sat him down and told him that we had received his letter and we were a bit concerned because we didn't want to move but we couldn't afford to pay the rent increase /and/ heat the apartment. We told him that our gas bills had pretty much doubled from last year and that we were kind of reeling about that. I added in a little "dead father's medical bills" for effect. We told him that we looked at apartments today and that we didn't want to leave our home, but we were prepared to do so.
He emphatically stated that he did not want to lose us as tenants (hello, we're the best!) and he pretty much acknowledged that he knew it was better to have the old payment than no payment. He told us that their property tax had recently increased by $150/month, which I know from the news is true. We told him that we understood that they were in a jam too, and would be willing to pay the increase when the heat bills started to come down - as a compromise, we offered April 1st. And he agreed to it!!!
So we get two additional months of rent at our old rate, and then we'll pay the increased rate until we can sell my dad's place and buy our dream house in Western Mass. We're hoping to be in the Valley by June or July so that's only a couple of months of paying the extra $75 - extra money we would have spent on packing/moving this month anyway. And hopefully by then our gas bills will be out of the double digits and we'll be well on our way to being hippie homeowners!
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no subject
Date: 2006-01-02 03:02 am (UTC)however, i have to remind you that your dreamhouse is here in columbus. in the OHIO valley. i drove by it today. it just hasn't gone on the market yet. i have the owners holding off until you are ready for your move back. just fyi. ;)
no subject
Date: 2006-01-02 03:09 am (UTC)Instead of keeping those homeowners at bay, you should work on your legislators. If they make it so that Smooch and I are legally married out there, we wouldn't be so shackled to Massachusetts. MAKE IT SO! :)
There are many lovely homes in scenic Ohio - and better than that, there are some majorly lovely /people/. It's hard to leave that stuff behind... but it's nice to be able to file joint state taxes this year! Wahoo!
p.s. I never think about just talking to people, either. I felt really weird and nervous, and made Jen do a lot of the talking. But they're nice people and more importantly, they're rational - and the last thing they need when they need more money is NO tenants!
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Date: 2006-01-02 03:52 am (UTC)I was very much hoping when you mentioned talking to the landlords last night that you would be able to reach some kind of an agreement, and I'm so pleased to hear that you have.
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Date: 2006-01-02 03:54 am (UTC)All it took was two icky apartments and we had to do /something/, because I didn't want to leave our /home/. It really is the neatest place ever.
xo
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