Gimme shelter
I get a little worried when I get emails from my landlady, who's a little nutty. Not all-out psychotic -- that seems to be the exclusive territory of my former bosses -- but just that she seems obsessed with when I'm going to move out. Apparently unsatisfied with the standard "giving notice" clause in the lease, she constantly peppers me for updates on my plans, which is especially difficult when, frankly, I'd love to have updates on my plans, too. At first, I couldn't tell whether her worry was that I'd move out, or that I'd stay. But, given the obscene rent on my apartment, I think she's just in crisis over the imagined loss if she didn't have someone set to take possession the second I put the litterbox in the truck.
So today, I got the usual "just checking in!1!!!" email, which I answered with my usual attempt at maximizing both brevity (ya never know what she's going to seize onto) and soothingness. Then I got the anxious question of whether I'd help her look for a replacement tenant, as I think I once offered to do in a misguided attempt to be soothing (see above about the need for brevity). And then, after I noncommittally affirmed, she announced a rent increase, and even sort of ambiguously implied that I owed the increase in arrears dating from when she was entitled to ask for it. Cause, y'know, now that she's got my word I'll help her look for a tenant...
Tcha. Right.
Of course, I'll pay whatever it seems likely she can insist on (though I may try out the more fiscally conservative interpretation of the ambiguity first), but the fact remains that my formerly obscene rent is now in the stratosphere. And I had a moment of clarity -- or it might have been a blinding flash of anger; hard to tell the difference these days -- and I thought: screw it! Never mind the commitment issues to my job; never mind the commitment issues to a continent; things are never going to be certain, but that's no excuse for continuing poor judgment in personal finances; I'm going to buy a house!
Right, then. So: um, how does one go about buying a house?
So today, I got the usual "just checking in!1!!!" email, which I answered with my usual attempt at maximizing both brevity (ya never know what she's going to seize onto) and soothingness. Then I got the anxious question of whether I'd help her look for a replacement tenant, as I think I once offered to do in a misguided attempt to be soothing (see above about the need for brevity). And then, after I noncommittally affirmed, she announced a rent increase, and even sort of ambiguously implied that I owed the increase in arrears dating from when she was entitled to ask for it. Cause, y'know, now that she's got my word I'll help her look for a tenant...
Tcha. Right.
Of course, I'll pay whatever it seems likely she can insist on (though I may try out the more fiscally conservative interpretation of the ambiguity first), but the fact remains that my formerly obscene rent is now in the stratosphere. And I had a moment of clarity -- or it might have been a blinding flash of anger; hard to tell the difference these days -- and I thought: screw it! Never mind the commitment issues to my job; never mind the commitment issues to a continent; things are never going to be certain, but that's no excuse for continuing poor judgment in personal finances; I'm going to buy a house!
Right, then. So: um, how does one go about buying a house?
5 Comments:
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Anonymous said...
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- 1:42 AM
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- 11:17 AM
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- 11:57 AM
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esquiver said...
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- 3:34 PM
Post a CommentHow does one go about buying a house? Well--you know what they say about real estate: the three most important things are location, location, location.
So--while not exactly an expert on this, I'm pretty sure deciding what STATE you want to live in would be a pretty good start.
Of course--I could be wrong.
Bill Abendroth
Stop!
Before you start looking for a house, is your rent actually at or below-market, after considering the rent increase? Should be relatively easy to determine based on Craigslist, WaPo real-estate ads, etc.
After making that determination (and almost irrespective of the outcome of this initial analysis), I'd remind your landlady that you are a great tenant who always pays on time (right?), never gives her or the neighbors any trouble, and keeps the place clean and tidy.
Then, I'd take a deep breath (easy to do in an e-mail), tell her that you don't think her proposed rent increase is in line with general D.C.-area real-estate trends, and ask her to hold the rent at the current level.
Then leave it at that until she responds, whereupon you may need to drag out the THREAT of moving.
As for any promises that she has made you think that you've made to find her a replacement tenant (the cheek of it!), the only promises that you've actually made are specified in your lease, and I'm pretty sure that your lease doesn't require you to do your landlord's work for her. (Will you have to pay for the replacement tenant's credit check, too?)
Please don't buy a house until you have a very good idea where you want to live for at least five years. The transaction costs associated with a house purchase (and then sale, because -- let's face it -- you are not going to be living in D.C. forever) are close to 10% of the value of the house.
You can lose a lot of money on a house in a tepid real-estate market. I should know.
Italophile, you're right on the money and you saved me tons of words. Thanks so much.
-The mom
Wait a minute here...The I-Man is throwing up lots of red flags here, the glass-half-empty kind of thing. While he is correct that five years is a good line to draw for minimum residency/ownership to pay off the transaction costs, he makes it sound like the Equivar has never lived in one place for five years.
Oh--wait a minute. Nevermind.
But Italophile is right that your obligations begin & end with the lease. In fact, I'd be stunned if there wasn't some clause expressly stating that verbal modifications are not binding (that's in all the boilerplate leases). However, as a tenant, especially on a month to month tenancy, you're not holding any good cards if the landlord decides to get rid of you. That's why tenants often give up on some rights they're legally not allowed to waive.
On the other hand, if you are responsible for finding the new tenant, that could help dictate when you move ('Oh gee--you wouldn't BELIEVE the nuts coming through,' until 'Oh, this guy's perfect. Besides--he's already paid his debt to society...').
All that said, my sister in San Diego pays about $20,000 a year in RENT for her house...so she gets harpooned not only on no equity, but also at tax time.
Now that I think on this....I think your best move would be to talk to a tax person, and see what your options are: what are the tax consequences if you buy a house, then rent it out after 18 months. Or if there is anything else you can do with your money (besides eating in restaurants 20 times a week) that would make more economic sense than buying a house.
And I'd say 'tax person,' as opposed to a 'financial planner,' because the latter will insist on you setting up a retirement annuity, and won't take no for an answer (until they've got their commission).
In the meantime, you might look at houses, and see if you can find one with high cupboards (he he!)
Bill Abendroth
Mom, Italo -
Gee, so glad you guys have patched things up.
Bill -
Er, I'm actually paying more than your sister. As I said: it's pretty bad.
But, see next post!
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