The drama that is my life
Last Monday our landlord came to the house we were renting. He told us he was going to evict us for violations of the lease. He never gave us a chance to correct any issues. And, strangely enough, he told us the motive behind his desire to kick us out. It wasn't because we violated the terms in the lease...
His fiancee's parents, where he and his kids were staying, were selling their house; and he was looking for a place to move to. So guess what.
I went to a friend of the family that night, who happens to be a prominent real estate lawyer. I told him what happened, and on what grounds our landlord thought he could evict us. The lawyer finally said we had an 80% chance of beating the eviction; plus, considering the underlying motive (which there is a witness for), the judge would not be likely to let the order stand.
Last night, we finally get the notice itself, which gives us until November 20th to move out and not forfeit any moneys due us. Or, we can leave before December 20th, and forfeit part or all of our deposit, plus some other stupid crap. I showed the notice to the lawyer.
He scoffed, and said, "You have him by the short hairs." That made me feel pretty good.
Now, I'm not out looking for a fight, but we have some serious ammunition here. My son's mother and I decided to use this eviction as an "out," because (a) we've been finding more interesting things about the house we were renting and eventually going to buy, and (b) heating this place, cost-wise, is already proving to be a bear.
Today, we went and looked at an apartment our landlord suggested. It, also, was a three bedroom, and (according to heating records) uses less fuel to heat than the place we're in now.
The place was a dump. The apartment was filthy, there were holes in the walls (BIG ones), the upstairs bedroom floor was nothing more than painted particle board, the vinyl tiles on the floors (which run through the rest of the house) were chipped and broken... the list goes on and on.
After that waste of our time, we bought a newspaper. I looked through it to find a suitable place we could call and check out. Near the very back of the paper I found a building for sale. Owner financed at 3 1/2% for $29,900.
It was my old dojo! That was kind of interesting timing. I knew the place was up for sale, but finding it like that was a bit of a surprise. The building is pretty big...at least 2,000 square feet. The place has wood heat, and, as I remember, it was the primary source of heat. The problem is, even if we could buy this place, wood up here is around $200 a cord.
Or is it?
I flipped a few pages in the paper and came across an ad for firewood: $85 a cord.
Holy.
Freaking.
Shit.
Talk about your coincidences!
I called the number and left a voice message. Two hours later, I got a call back from my old sensei. The place requires $2000 down (not a problem) and $400 per month to cover the $29,900 sale price at 3 1/2% down; and, considering I'm an old student of his, he's willing to work with me despite my bankruptcy from May 2004.
Rawk on!
Here are the plusses and minuses about this place, for those who give a shit. On the downside, the place is (apparently, as my old sensei said on the phone) unfinished on the inside, just like I remembered it from when I was a student there some 10+ years ago. And, it isn't really much to look at, to be honest. The building itself is in good shape, don't get me wrong...but the addition he put on (a second floor) is an eyesore. The bathroom is probably very small. And the lot is, well, tiny.
On the plus side: The place has (or had, when I was a student there) excellent energy. The Meduxnekeag River runs right outside. The road is relatively quiet. There are trees there. There's a nature/health food store just down the road. Also, considering that heating the place I'm in would cost (estimated) $5000 a year to do; this place, with just 6 cords of wood at $85 a cord, would cost us about a tenth of that. Even if the stove burned wood like there's no tomorrow (which, as I remember, this stove is very efficient), we'd still be saving an assload of money on heat. There is also propane heat in the place, as well as for cooking (I think).
Since I haven't seen the inside of that place in over ten years, I don't know what else there is in there, but I'll be seeing it this Wednesday.
I don't know whether I should bow or not when we go in.
His fiancee's parents, where he and his kids were staying, were selling their house; and he was looking for a place to move to. So guess what.
I went to a friend of the family that night, who happens to be a prominent real estate lawyer. I told him what happened, and on what grounds our landlord thought he could evict us. The lawyer finally said we had an 80% chance of beating the eviction; plus, considering the underlying motive (which there is a witness for), the judge would not be likely to let the order stand.
Last night, we finally get the notice itself, which gives us until November 20th to move out and not forfeit any moneys due us. Or, we can leave before December 20th, and forfeit part or all of our deposit, plus some other stupid crap. I showed the notice to the lawyer.
He scoffed, and said, "You have him by the short hairs." That made me feel pretty good.
Now, I'm not out looking for a fight, but we have some serious ammunition here. My son's mother and I decided to use this eviction as an "out," because (a) we've been finding more interesting things about the house we were renting and eventually going to buy, and (b) heating this place, cost-wise, is already proving to be a bear.
Today, we went and looked at an apartment our landlord suggested. It, also, was a three bedroom, and (according to heating records) uses less fuel to heat than the place we're in now.
The place was a dump. The apartment was filthy, there were holes in the walls (BIG ones), the upstairs bedroom floor was nothing more than painted particle board, the vinyl tiles on the floors (which run through the rest of the house) were chipped and broken... the list goes on and on.
After that waste of our time, we bought a newspaper. I looked through it to find a suitable place we could call and check out. Near the very back of the paper I found a building for sale. Owner financed at 3 1/2% for $29,900.
It was my old dojo! That was kind of interesting timing. I knew the place was up for sale, but finding it like that was a bit of a surprise. The building is pretty big...at least 2,000 square feet. The place has wood heat, and, as I remember, it was the primary source of heat. The problem is, even if we could buy this place, wood up here is around $200 a cord.
Or is it?
I flipped a few pages in the paper and came across an ad for firewood: $85 a cord.
Holy.
Freaking.
Shit.
Talk about your coincidences!
I called the number and left a voice message. Two hours later, I got a call back from my old sensei. The place requires $2000 down (not a problem) and $400 per month to cover the $29,900 sale price at 3 1/2% down; and, considering I'm an old student of his, he's willing to work with me despite my bankruptcy from May 2004.
Rawk on!
Here are the plusses and minuses about this place, for those who give a shit. On the downside, the place is (apparently, as my old sensei said on the phone) unfinished on the inside, just like I remembered it from when I was a student there some 10+ years ago. And, it isn't really much to look at, to be honest. The building itself is in good shape, don't get me wrong...but the addition he put on (a second floor) is an eyesore. The bathroom is probably very small. And the lot is, well, tiny.
On the plus side: The place has (or had, when I was a student there) excellent energy. The Meduxnekeag River runs right outside. The road is relatively quiet. There are trees there. There's a nature/health food store just down the road. Also, considering that heating the place I'm in would cost (estimated) $5000 a year to do; this place, with just 6 cords of wood at $85 a cord, would cost us about a tenth of that. Even if the stove burned wood like there's no tomorrow (which, as I remember, this stove is very efficient), we'd still be saving an assload of money on heat. There is also propane heat in the place, as well as for cooking (I think).
Since I haven't seen the inside of that place in over ten years, I don't know what else there is in there, but I'll be seeing it this Wednesday.
I don't know whether I should bow or not when we go in.
posted by xanadian at 1:19 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home