We are finding renting to be nice, too. We did have to buy our own washer and fridge for this place (the dryer was free with the washer, which cost us $25 or something; the fridge cost us $15!), but otherwise pretty much everything is handled by the landlord. It's quite nice.
She can be slow to respond to things -- i.e., several weeks -- so I asked her for a list of her preferred vendors should something go wrong. She gave me that list, and I usually send her an email and give her a call (that way there is a record), and then contact the vendor a few hours later if I haven't heard from her. Then, the thing is taken care of within a day or two, and she just pays the bill or what have you.
I'm still waiting to figure out about the carpet in the kitchen -- that job still isn't finished -- but I think there is some insurance issue, and it's not that big of a deal right now.
The biggest problem that I have is not necessarily being able to change things. The landlady seems fine with paint, but always tentative. I want to paint the whole little place white, and redo the kitchen cupboards (they are going to need it, the kid took a knife to them -- they are solid wood, so we're good there, I'll just need to strip them and start over).
I'd like to get a good look at the floors. If I'm right, they are original hard wood. I'd like to insulate underneath (already priced at $250), and then get rid of the carpet and at the very least give the floors a good cleaning. The landlady seems completely scandalized by this idea. The insulation is fine with her, but the idea of me removing the carpet and she reacts like Professor Snape confronted by a shampoo bottle (that being said, I love Professor Snape).
I'd love to redo the kitchen counter tops, which are weird. I can't exactly explain how they are weird, but they are. It's like they are concave, and so it makes puddles. I think this prevents things from spilling on the carpet. I need to redo the cabinets because DS took a knife to them. They are solid wood in a dark, dark stain. I can either A. just restain the cuts or B. strip and stain/paint the cupboards. I'd like to do the second. It's actually not that much at all -- 4 drawers, 5 doors. Really, a very small space. I can borrow the sanders and shop vac from the tool exchange, but I'd have to get my own brushes and stuff. I think they might be remu or maitai.
Anyway, I wouldn't want to stain them dark again; I wouldn't want to stain them orange (that's such a weird, but very popular color here; and so I'm thinking about painting them, but not white. Maybe a natural stain plus a liming wax to get into the grain? That would give it a white-grey look, and probably look pretty nice.
But, the landlady is so tentative. I figure I can start doing it and apologize after. They are, after all, improvements.
I was just reading yesterday about a huge trend of people going back to renting to make their lives more simple and less committed. People that have had to switch jobs 3-5 times in the last few year, the expense of home ownership (like Tradd said about calling the landlord if something goes wrong), etc.
Float On: My "Happy Place" is on my little kayak in the coves of Table Rock Lake.
Another thing to look into is to see if you have an eldery home owners in your area who like to garden, but no longer can manage the work by themselves. I know of a woman here who does the heavier garden work for and elderly couple. She turns the soil, preps the garden, plants, weeds etc.. In exchange for use of half the garden space for her own veggies and herbs. It's a win-win for both of them.
If I didn't have DH I would definitely have either a condo or an apartment. There are some great condos right by our offices and he refuses to even consider the possibility. He loves the whole yard thing and right now we have two big dogs...but if it was just me then it would be a couple of cats and NO yard / house maintenance. We own a condo that we rent out and the utilities are super cheap and there is a pool on site that is maintained (granted we go use it ourselves). I think its a simplicity trade off - I wouldn't be able to line dry whole loads, but I also wouldn't have to mow the grass.
I dry out baggies on my dish rack. I'll put them over a cup that is drying to air them out.
It is true about the moving.
It took my parents a long time to figure this out. On average, dad would get a new job every 5 years or so -- all good for him -- but not enough for the house that they'd purchased to be well vested such that they would make any profit on the sale. So, it just makes no sense for them to buy.
They are currently renting and have been for about 3 years now. They like it a lot, honestly, and the place they have is really great for them. It's a two bedroom, two bath -- plenty of space for what they like and need. It's decorated in a very "Traditional Home" manner and looks really lovely. My mother is into fancy.
The great thing is that because of this, they were finally able to get things together. I introduced them to several concepts: 1. getting rid of debt; 2. living on one income; and 3. saving for retirement. They were pretty bad with money until my sister and I were pretty good with it. LOL
So, they moved in and used my mother's income to pay off the debt, because the rent on this place was FAR less than the mortgage and expenses of their old place. At the end of the year, all of the debt was paid off, and then they flipped to living on my mother's income -- which was 1/3 of my father's income. That was their average day-to-day living expenses.
They then decided to put 1/3 of my father's income in their discretionary spending fund (which included coming to NZ, etc), and then have put the rest into retirement savings/investments using high-interest CDs, conservative mutual funds (the ones that my husband and I use have been consistently earning throughout the recession), and other conservative investments. They finally have a retirement fund that will support them for several years, and it's growing nicely. Both of them plan to continue working for at least another 10 years (Mom is 61, Dad is 66).
The great thing is that over the next decade, we have no idea if Dad will move again or what, and when they do decide to retire, they'll likely want to move to be closer to my sister.
My father plans to retire into academia, and there are several universities near my sister that are interested in him. He gives guest lectures at several sites there throughout the year (I think three different schools), and BIL works at a university as well, so that might also be an option.
We are looking at buying a one-up/one-down victorian to renovate as a rental (originally a two-apartment victorian, btw), and then using that as a retirement spot for my parents when the time comes. There are no stairs leading into the place (strangely enough considering the origins of the house around 1910), and my parents will be able to use the downstairs apartment. Right now, it looks like my sister and I will put in a portion (so I'll make some income off the place that way), and my parents will put in a little bit as well, and then the rest on a mortgage which would include a renovation mortgage.
Looking into it anyway. I prefer to keep cash assets right now while the business sorts itself. But who knows?
At times I have rented, and at times I have owned my little place in the sun.
When renting, I could establish a red wiggler worm bin under the kitchen sink. It wasn't quite "composting", but Mama Gnocchi's African Violets sure got a boost from the worms' liquid wastes.
As a renter I was not able to garden, but I was able to make truly delicious yogurt on top of the water heater.
I foraged meadow, bolete, shaggy mane and puffball mushrooms at certain places at certain times of the year. During trips I have made to Cape May, I believe I noted habitats for edible and choice mushrooms.
Me too. When I owned a home it seemed like ALL my free time was spent doing chores, repairs and maintenance on the place - and lets not even talk about the cost of those things as well as the environmental costs! As Jennipurr said, by looking at the things that DON'T have to done anymore - like mow, weed, paint, repair, etc... - you can see that a simple life is still being had. My personal version of simple living (freedom from having to do stuff :-)!) works way better in a tiny apt than a house!
For the OP I would recommend a community garden in your area, and you can often do inside line drying. Ikea has indoor clotheslines (wire racks to hang clothes on) so for small loads that might work. You can also try vermaiculture (worms for composting) under your kitchen sink and container gardening if you have a patio.
Thanks to everyone for your replies and suggestions. For me I only feel comfortable in a home that is ours and some of suggestions wouldn't apply here. If my landlady ever found out I had a worm bin she would be quite upset. No outdoor patio for container gardening and I have very larger loads of laundry so house drying isn't possible. I'm just waiting for next year until we have our own place again! Thanks for letting me vent! Christine
I own a house and it's a lot more complicated than renting an apartment. The only reasons I keep living here are that I can garden (this area has no community garden plots) and wonderful neighbors. The house, although small, fairly new, and supposedly low maintenance, really sucks up my time and money.
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