As you may know, we rent a small, old house, in an neighbourhood where property values have skyrocketed. Most owners have torn down the original houses and built McMansions, but our landlord doesn't seem inclined to make that investment.
LL lives nearby, in a larger, more modern house (but not one of the monstrosities), the home of friends of his who are living and working in the US. Each year, his friend's contract is extended, the family stays in the US another year, LL remains in their house, and continues to rent out the one we live in.
We've known all along that the friends might come back from the US, in which case LL would move back into his little house, and we (especially I) would be very sad. On the other hand, the friends might stay in the US indefinitely, LL could buy their home, and keep ours as a rental. This idea has become more appealing, now that he has such excellent tenants. I.e., us.
I can't tell you how much I love where I live. The location and the house are perfect for us in every way. We've always known about this one potential glitch, that it might not be available long-term. We knew this as we painted, we knew this as we ordered custom-made shades. We decided to proceed with optimism. Allan's very good at not worrying, but for me, it's been an exercise in living in the present. A healthy challenge, and one I couldn't have coped with, say, 15 years ago.
Last night, the first domino fell. It appears to have fallen in the right direction, but it's too soon to tell.
LL's friend has been offered a permanent position in the US, and his company is pressuring him to take it. His family is homesick for Canada, but they might have to stay that way.
The next question is whether LL will buy their home. It's in one of the most desirable sections of Port Credit, and his friends might make a killing on the open market. Or they might not, and LL could buy it. LL knows we want to live here long-term, and he'd like to buy his friends' house and keep us as tenants if he can afford it.
Our agreement is 90-day's notice on either side, so we're not worried about being kicked out with nowhere to go. But I so do not want to move. Oh boy do I not want to move. We are very settled in here, and very happy. We lived in our last apartment in New York for 13 years. After a young-adulthood of moving constantly, I've put down roots.
Fingers crossed.
our little house
the end of our street
And since someone is guaranteed to ask, no, we're not looking to buy a house ourselves. Can't afford it, and not interested.
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Restoring the photos to this blog is a breeze, thanks to Flickr, and to my being so organized. I did about half the blog yesterday. I won't have time to work on it again until next week, but next time I do, I should finish the whole thing. Whew.
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