Thursday, July 14th, 2011
Relations between ourselves and the real estate agent for our rental remain interesting. After yet another unannounced visitor last week, I put my foot down in his inbox. Later, when he called, it was time to play good cop. We reached an agreement whereby any appointments made would be forwarded to my email. So far this week, nothing has come in. That being said, I will likely still make plans to not be here, as the invasion of privacy really wigs me out. We’ll see if it is less of a problem with me being gone. And THAT being said, it’s time I safeguard belongings and receipts and things. Bad enough that half of the house’s residents had their check cards scammed at, we think, the Fry’s.
The big to do this week is entertaining the notion of never renting in the Valley again. That is to say, members of the house pooling their mortgage qualifications and buying a house together.
Crazy? Probably. But it has certain advantages. There’a a peace and certainty that comes with home ownership after having a few landlords, namely the ability to just fix something and not having to wait till the landlord feels like having it done. Such as, oh, I don’t know, a pool/tub heater being out of commission for NINE MONTHS. Then there’s the ability to make changes without worrying for your deposit and, of course, not having to worry about someone selling your house out from under you.
The downsides? Well, other peoples’ quirks can be a big deal. However, in the last few months, there’s been some study of the behavior of others and trying to make sense of it. Having abandoned hope of making sense of it, there’s been revelations about it and learning not only to live with it, but work with, or around it. So far, that’s going pretty well.
A big one is the worry of tying the finances of multiple adults together. I can honestly say that those adults directly involved are very stable and trustworthy, so I’m not terribly concerned about that.
Today we went by a bank owned property for a peek. Five bedrooms, like our current digs, but a smaller place. The lot, however, is huge. Front and back yards, mature shade trees, 2 fireplaces, etc. The back yard is huge. One idea bantered around earlier this week was getting a trailer with good bones, putting it in the back yard, gutting it, and making it into a studio for me. This yard had plenty of space for a 20 footer and more. If I were to do this, I would be giving up my studio downtown. That’s $500 back into our pockets that can be put towards the mortgage. There’s also room for a garden and a hot tub easily. I would even consider adding a tree, if possible, to help shade where the studio would be. I would definitely do some in-ground or container gardening around the trailer’s concrete slab. Did I mention there’s concrete slab already there? Up until this point, I’ve not had much reason to garden. So much was already done here by the landlord’s wife and veggie gardening (which is done mainly by Phil and Lisa) is not my thing. With me having a structure out back, I’ll have the perfect excuse to plant some flowers! Eventually, I’d see about building a more permanent structure. In both cases, taking part in Silicon Open Valley Studios events will be a whole new ballgame.
In any case, it’s probably time I start reducing the amount of stuff I have. I look forward to this with both relief and dread. I’ve a couple of pieces of furniture I really like, but it’s iffy as to whether or not I’ll be able to take them with me. We shall see.
West side of the Valley, by hook or by crook, here I come.