John was chatting with our landlord the other day when she informed him that is selling our apartment. Not the whole building, just our apartment (the only one that is finished enough to sell, really). She said, for US, she would sell it for as little as 380K and give us all of our rent back as a downpayment. Although, I recognize that this is a pretty generous offer, LMFAO!!!! That would DOUBLE our rent! I am just seething right now. We had NO intention of moving out of this apt for at least 3 years. I do not feel like up and moving 6 people AGAIN so soon. And what if we have to switch schools???
Even if we could afford it, I am pretty soured on the whole home ownership thing. We still own our fuckin house in MI and it is clearly going to be a ball and chain to us forever unless we can someday afford to give it away.
I am normally pretty good at recognizing silver linings, but I am not seeing one here. At all.
January 7, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Well, f&$k. I am with you on the whole glories of home ownership these days. Is the market that good in Chicago that she could sell this winter? I hope you make it to the summer at least
January 7, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Oh Nooooooooessss! Why o why must she sell? Is it pretty obvious that she’s not marketing it as an investment property, i.e. with current renters who want to stay? And like mamatried says, I hope it takes a while, so at least you wouldn’t be moving during Chicago’s nasty winter weather.
January 7, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Legally, even if she sells it this winter, the buyer would need to honor our lease. We are hoping to be able to get out of it early, though, if we find something great. I don’t want to be scrambling that last month for a place to live. Renters go quickly here, so stuff leasing in September rarely gets posted before August and good deals are snatched up FAST.
I think what she did was rent it first hoping that whoever rented it would rather buy it than move and therefore she could avoid the whole shitty real estate market. I am sure that having 4 kids made us seem like the perfect suckers. I did tell John to see if she would sell one of the unfinished units for way cheaper, but we’ll see. Like I said, even if we could buy, I don’t know if we want to…
January 7, 2009 at 6:55 pm
What a gigantic bummer! Ugh and ugh. The school issue is a pretty big one. Can you start spreading the word at the kids’ school about your desire to find something in the district? As my good friend once (incorrectly) paraphrased: “Wait to panic!”
January 8, 2009 at 6:48 am
Somehow this sort of home debacle sums up why capitalism sucks. We shouldn’t have to battle to keep a roof over our heads, it shouldn’t be left to the vagaries of the market.
Good luck, I hope the absolutely perfect property sticks its head up for you.
January 8, 2009 at 7:45 am
OH FRAK! But what a good idea, asking if she would sell one of the unfinished units. That’s kind of a stroke of brilliance.
It’ll work out. Things always work out. I hope the outcome is the least painful one possible.