Decisions, Decisions, Decisions!

Image Credit: Andrew Beirle via freeimages.com

Life is ever changing, and that's a fact. Just when you think you have it all figured out, something happens that could change everything.

Not too long ago, a landlord offered me a beautiful 3 br house for $700 a month, which was a little outside my budget. I did consider taking it with one roommate, but decided against it. Then I found the tiny apartment and all was well, but I don't like to put all my eggs in one basket, so I put my ad for housing wanted back up on Craigslist.

Well, lo and behold, the SAME landlord contacted me saying he had just bought a small house (a little over 700 sf) that he thought would be perfect for me and he would be able to let me have it for less than $600. It's on a large lot with a sunny back yard, in a decent, safe, working-class neighborhood. He wants to refurbish it just to suit me so I'll be happy there and have a place I can call home.

I haven't heard anything back from the tiny apartment landlady yet about signing a lease, so I'm not obligated to take that apartment. What to do?

The tiny apartment would be great for writing about in this blog, but a 3br house at around 700 sf isn't exactly huge, so it could be good too. I haven't seen it yet, but the spaces have to be small to all fit into 700 sf, so  it would definitely work too.

Yes, it's more money (tiny apartment was less than $500 a month), but it has a bright, sunny front yard perfect for gardening, and since it is too far away for me to keep my community garden plot, that is a big consideration. I could grow more food and save enough every month to make up for some of the difference in rent. I have a lot of leeway with what I want to do with the yard and house too, which is a plus.

I haven't actually seen the house yet, but will sometime in the next week, so I'll have more to say about it then. I can't actually make a decision until I've checked it out on something other than Google street view.

When I first lost the cute little cottage I had lined up for August, I was devastated, but people kept telling me that there was something better in store for me. The universe moves in strange ways, that much I am sure of. Living and working opportunities are coming out of the woodwork now, so I think I have to make the best of it.

Life can turn on a dime, can't it? To have someone come out of the blue like an angel who only wants to make sure you have a place you can call home for a long time is a dream to me. Landlords here tend to be very strict and rigid in their standards, and honestly, I was worried I would never find a place.

I'll write more when I see the house, but for now, it seems like an opportunity too good to pass up. Still, that tiny apartment is very cute.

Decisions, decisions. Where will I end up? Who knows? Something else could come out of the woodwork tomorrow.