Today was an absolutely glorious day in Vancouver, the kind that only leads to a warmer and sunnier weekend and signals that yes - finally - Spring is here! 'Bout #$&@ time too!
I had plans to join my parents at the yacht club after work, and I started thinking of all the nautical-themed outfits I had planned. This would be the first time on the boat this year and for the last few months I had been dreaming of impusively buying spiffy deck shoes like these ones below for the many sailing trips I will be taking this summer.
But my parents wanted to eat early so that meant I had to come straight after work and unfortunately couldn't change into something more boaty...so here I am!
On the housing situation, thanks for all your ideas and support. I listen to everyone of you and it means a lot to me to have your input. It looks like this is something we are going to do now though. I'm just gonna suck it up and look for the positive!
But I wanted to clarify it a bit because people seem a bit confused (I can't blame them, it is a confusing situation).
First of all we are not moving in with his parents to save money. I don't need to save money for anything and neither does Mike. I mean, don't get me wrong, everyone SHOULD be saving money in some way. But that's not why we are moving in.
The fact is I bought my own apartment. I own it. I pay a mortgage on it. I want a new apartment. But I can't sell this one because of the market. Wouldn't get enough for it.
So my boyfriend's father said he would give us the money - enough for deposit - for a new place, PROVIDING that I find honest and commited tenants for my old apartment. He wants the new tenants to be living in my place for a few months, showing that they are in it for the long haul, before he invests.
If I didn't, this is what could happen: pretend I find tenants who say they are going to move in on July 1st. Then in June we close a deal on a place and he gives us the money and we buy it.
Well, say the tenants flake out near July 1st and don't want to rent anymore. That means we are stuck with paying my mortgage on this place since no one is renting it AND the mortgage on our new place. And in the end, because we can't afford it, his father will get stuck paying for our new place we can't afford.
This is why he wants us to be "homeless" for around 2-3 months before he gives us the money. It's HIS money and he wants to make sure it is getting invested wisely.
Mike and I make good money - we can totally afford to rent another place for ourselves for that three months, but there are many complications that come with renting - I said them all before in my previous post and don't want to bore you.
But it comes down to WHY would I pay money to rent a place for 3 months (if we can even rent a place for 3 months because short-term rentals are expensive and hard to find) when we can live with his parents for free?
We don't have to live with his parents. We could live elsewhere and rent but it just isn't the smart thing to do. And I never do the smart thing, so I should start now! Why spend money on rent when we could save all that money for ANYTHING. Not for our apartment - though we will, to get a TV or something - but this is a huge opportunity, for me anyway, to actually save instead of spend.
Of course the final option is to never sell my place and live here forever in a shoebox. Which I don't actually mind - except for various reasons haha - but it seems SILLY to waste this opportunity to buy while the market is hot and while his dad is willing to give us 25K. That's a lot of money, not chump change. It would take most people YEARS to save up for that and he is giving it to us for free - the only thing he asks is to wait a bit till my tenants are secure and till the market has dropped a little, and we are guessing that will be around sept/oct (though the bottom might be already reached and if that is the case I wanna start looking NOW for a closing date of Sept!!)
Wheeew. That's a lot of boring crap I just spewed out and I apologize. I just wanted to be a little bit more clear on my situation. We don't NEED to save any money to buy our place but the sensible thing to do (especially in this economy) is to save anyway!
Besides, I'm quite priviliged in some ways - I'm young, have nice clothes, own my own downtown apartment, have a car, a great guy and a nice job - I think moving into his rents house will be quite humbling in the most constructive way :) - Besides, knowing that people like Vegas Princess, Vain and Vapid and Kira have done it, well no reason why we can't give it a shot too! Moving in with your "in-laws" is the New Black...right? No? lol - we'll see :P
Anyway, that is that. I'm gonna have some more wine! Happy Friday!
8 comments:
If I'm understanding you correctly, you have a chance to move up to something better and the market is good if you are a buyer. Obviously not so good to be selling. All I can say is that if you can work it so that you can buy a better, more valuable place and not get stuck with 2 mortgages, go for it. It's an investment. And living in an shoebox, quaint as it might be for awhile, wears on you both after awhile.
It's 12:30 am and I'm have asleep. I hope I'm being useful in some way. My brain shut off hours ago and I'm afraid I'm completely misunderstanding you and just rambling like an idiot. Then again, I'm a naked man on a toilet. How intelligent does anyone really expect me to be?
Ah Steve, you're as smart as a guy sitting on a toilet can get.
I think you've got it. But basically yes - two mortgages. One I will rent so that OTHER people pay off my mortgage for me. The other we will live in. After the "probation" period of course.
So hopefully - if all works out - by October, Mike and I will be living in a great new place and have a nice savings account, while my other place will have some nice Irish people living in it, and while I will have two mortgages, I will only be physically paying for one.
Did I mention I'm making a $200 a month profit by renting it out as well? Providing our building fees stay level.
THEN, in a year or two when the market goes back up to a respectable level, I will try and sell my original shoebox and get a fair price for it.
I just re-read that and confused myself.
Nothing to save up for? Cough Kellys wedding in New Zealand cough.
1. Great pictures, it looks SO nice there.
2. I think you're totally doing the smart thing. It's only a few months and it's always nice to have a bit of extra money saved. You could get a big flat-screen TV or go on a trip with it :-)
3. I definitely plan on sending you an email SOON about J-school!
Have a great weekend!!
wow, stunning!!! wish I was there right now :-)
good call my friend :)
i'm glad you're going to do this - it will be definitely worthwhile in the end, believe me!!
just think of the party possibilities in a new, bigger apartment! agggh *drool* lol
nikki and i sometimes throw around ideas of moving in together again, because we work so well at being able to see each other at work all day and then at home all night in the same space. don't ask me how, but we just seem to be two of the most compatible people ever, lol. however, at this point in our lives we're both itching to have our OWN spaces, and as much as we mesh, we're just dying to be able to have something of our own.
good luck to you two! i'm sure it'll be just fine :)
are we drunk what? WAHST?!
I'd totally move home or in with the inlaws for a few months if it meant we could achieve our dreams a bit quicker! Maybe with that extra money you save you can satisfy a bit of wanderlusting? hehe
Those pictures are gorgeous! Makes me miss the water. :)
Something else I forgot to point out about moving in with your in-laws. You learn a lot about them and it can help your relationship, at least it did in my case. I suppose it could also hurt your relationship with them, but I like to think positive. :) And while I know I would never want to live with them again, that experience did teach me why they are the way they are about some things. Valuable information to have when merging families.
Post a Comment