House Hunting

When we were looking for a house in our current neighborhood, we looked for nearly 18 months.  We live in an older, historic neighborhood so many of the homes we looked at were in need of a lot of TLC.  If they had already been renovated, they were too expensive.  If they were in our price range, they needed a bit more love than we were able to envision with our inexperienced, first-home buyer eyes.

We were looking for a house that we could afford on only my husband’s income, although I was also working full-time.   We were planning on starting a family soon and I wanted to stay home for at least a year (though it’s been 3 1/2 years now and I have no plans on going back to work anytime soon).

We found one!  But, there was a catch…

So, on the way home from a friend’s house one evening, we drove past what was to become our first house.  The For Sale sign had just gone up, so it wasn’t even listed on the internet yet.  We drove by it again the next day and the owner was in the yard.  We stopped to ask him about it and he let us go in and showed us around.  It was just what we were looking for.  Some renovations had been done, but it needed enough TLC to keep the price down.

However, the price was still nearly $30,ooo over our budget.

But, there was a catch.  The upstairs was a separate apartment and there was a renter, who wanted to stay.  His rent was over half the mortgage (at the price they were asking).

At the time we were living in a similar situation, except we were the renters in the upstairs apartment.  So, the idea of sharing a house with a renter was not an issue for us.  And, the idea of extra rental income was extremely appealing.  We had friends, however, who said they would not have wanted to “share” their house with another person.

Would it work for us?

After we looked at the house, we went home, ran the numbers and called our real estate agent.  We went for it!  Not only would we have some extra rental income while we needed it, but as my husband’s income increased we would then have the option of renovating and turning the house into one big home.

So, to make a long story short, we rent our upstairs.  He’s the ideal renter.  He is older and keeps to himself.  He is very low maintenance and extremely conscientious.  We don’t see him everyday and once a month he gives us money!  It’s fantastic!

But, I guess with everything there is a trade-off.  We share our driveway, we share our mailbox, we sacrifice space (and a bathroom!) for the extra income.  We realize not everyone would be willing to do this.

Today our tenant requested that Big D not draw with chalk on his steps to his front door.  A “border thing” he said.  And, you know, I’m glad he said something because we’ve sat on his steps before and I never knew it was an issue with him.  Of course we will respect those wishes.  He pays his rent on time every single month and is a wonderful tenant.  We feel he has every right to keep his front steps to himself if he likes, regardless of who owns them.

We understand not everyone would feel this way.  We choose to sacrifice a bit of our privacy and a bit of our house, for income.  It’s a small price to pay for helping us get to Australia every year.

What about you?  Would you be willing to live like we do or do you feel it’s giving over too much of your family’s privacy?

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03/09/2009 | Frugal & Green Living, Money Management.

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