Trying not to, but... Hope. That's today's word of the day in Velma's World. We (& by we I mean me, 'cuz Cole is working in Willow Creek for the next few days) are on pins and needles over here. Freaking out, actually. I've kept this under my hat since the week before Thanksgiving, but we got our 60-day notice from the landlords - they're selling the house we rent from them. OUR house! We've been here for four years come February 1st, and although this place ain't perfect, it suits us. And I don't have to tell you how much moving sucks, do I?
Seriously, we DON'T want to move. To say nothing of we can't AFFORD to move. Rents have gone up since we found this place; we'd have to downsize our living space for an upsized price. And moving without a car? We could kiss all our friends with trucks goodbye, I'm sure. (At least yarn isn't heavy.)
BUT. There is a possibility of a reprise. A potential non-solution solution. As in: maybe we won't have to move after all. It all comes down to our next door neighbor.
Today is the day she submits her bid to BUY OUR HOUSE. Yep, Jeanne, the neighbor who brought us wood last month when our heater was broken because she felt bad that we didn't have any heat - she likes the neighbor status quo. Afraid that growers, or a loud & crappy jam band, or a bunch of partying college freshmen, or a developer -- possibilities all -- will move in, she's decided to try to purchase it herself and continue renting to US, with no increase in rent!
So for the past month we've been ushering a host of inspectors, estimators, and appraisers into our house to suss out what all needs to be done. It's a circa-1950s era, standard-issue for the area, approx. ~1000sqft house that hasn't had any real maintenance done on it, EVER, so it has, let's just say, issues. A fair amount of work would need to be done just to get it up to code; we're on fuses here for cripes sakes! No bank will touch the house without an electrical upgrade to circuit breakers, as far as I know.
But Jeanne is prepared to take on all the work that needs to be done, & today she makes an offer to the current owners. Cole & I are counting on this going through; the housing market here is so tight, there are almost no comparable options available to rent locally.
So -- my plea to all my readers this week: send your good housing thoughts this way!! Hopefully the house fairy will tell the landlords to accept Jeanne's offer and we'll still be here in 2011.
Seriously, we DON'T want to move. To say nothing of we can't AFFORD to move. Rents have gone up since we found this place; we'd have to downsize our living space for an upsized price. And moving without a car? We could kiss all our friends with trucks goodbye, I'm sure. (At least yarn isn't heavy.)
BUT. There is a possibility of a reprise. A potential non-solution solution. As in: maybe we won't have to move after all. It all comes down to our next door neighbor.
Today is the day she submits her bid to BUY OUR HOUSE. Yep, Jeanne, the neighbor who brought us wood last month when our heater was broken because she felt bad that we didn't have any heat - she likes the neighbor status quo. Afraid that growers, or a loud & crappy jam band, or a bunch of partying college freshmen, or a developer -- possibilities all -- will move in, she's decided to try to purchase it herself and continue renting to US, with no increase in rent!
So for the past month we've been ushering a host of inspectors, estimators, and appraisers into our house to suss out what all needs to be done. It's a circa-1950s era, standard-issue for the area, approx. ~1000sqft house that hasn't had any real maintenance done on it, EVER, so it has, let's just say, issues. A fair amount of work would need to be done just to get it up to code; we're on fuses here for cripes sakes! No bank will touch the house without an electrical upgrade to circuit breakers, as far as I know.
But Jeanne is prepared to take on all the work that needs to be done, & today she makes an offer to the current owners. Cole & I are counting on this going through; the housing market here is so tight, there are almost no comparable options available to rent locally.
So -- my plea to all my readers this week: send your good housing thoughts this way!! Hopefully the house fairy will tell the landlords to accept Jeanne's offer and we'll still be here in 2011.