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In this Discussion
- 000 February 2013
- Cherry_Pie February 2013
- flossy_log_lady February 2013
- Judar_Spitzer February 2013
- kdawg February 2013
- Leland February 2013
- Loose_Thread February 2013
- Lucy February 2013
- Matthew February 2013
- MirandaJuly February 2013
- swamp_knobbler_mahan February 2013
- the_owls February 2013
- UncleBoatShoes2011 February 2013
- YoursTruly February 2013
moving
will you guys keep your eyes peeled for a cool situation for me, gary, and the snoopy?
we love our wee house, but the lack of maintenance is really coming to a head. We have gnarly mold problems and I'm worried the roof will cave in. Also there are mice. The house is basically being reclaimed by the earth, slowly, and I feel like we are living here on borrowed time. Maybe it will last another 10 years; maybe the roof will cave in tomorrow. I am concerned with health issues related to mold, which I don't understand but have definitely heard can be scary.
the issue is that this place is outrageously cheap (see above re: clueless landlords). I have not seen another stand-alone 1 bedroom house for anything even approaching the cheapness of what we pay. I feel really weird about moving back into an apartment. I have come to enjoy the freedom of no shared walls, and not having to worry that the snoopy's click-clacking claws or potential daytime barking are disturbing neighbors, etc. Also the yard is great. Also, we really don't want to leave our neighborhood. So we are at a bit of an impasse.
Anyway, this may be a problem with no solution but I just wanted to put it out there into the universe and see if anyone has any ideas, and also to ask you to keep your eyes peeled for a situation that might suit us.
we love our wee house, but the lack of maintenance is really coming to a head. We have gnarly mold problems and I'm worried the roof will cave in. Also there are mice. The house is basically being reclaimed by the earth, slowly, and I feel like we are living here on borrowed time. Maybe it will last another 10 years; maybe the roof will cave in tomorrow. I am concerned with health issues related to mold, which I don't understand but have definitely heard can be scary.
the issue is that this place is outrageously cheap (see above re: clueless landlords). I have not seen another stand-alone 1 bedroom house for anything even approaching the cheapness of what we pay. I feel really weird about moving back into an apartment. I have come to enjoy the freedom of no shared walls, and not having to worry that the snoopy's click-clacking claws or potential daytime barking are disturbing neighbors, etc. Also the yard is great. Also, we really don't want to leave our neighborhood. So we are at a bit of an impasse.
Anyway, this may be a problem with no solution but I just wanted to put it out there into the universe and see if anyone has any ideas, and also to ask you to keep your eyes peeled for a situation that might suit us.
Comments
I've been using padmapper to help a friend find an apartment, it seems pretty good.
Julia and I found our crazy place on CL. I'm happy to help look if you send a price range...
oh lord
my struggles
Feeling duped.
I've also done well with the personal network method.
BIg dehumidifiers can help in basements and such. It seems like a good investment if you are storing things. First step might be to buy a little humidity gauge to find out if you have a problem. At the Clear Cut warehouse in Astoria I was pulling about a half gallon of water a day out of our storage area, which kept the moisture at an acceptable level, at least within the range recommended for paper storage by some kind of archive site I found.
Mold that has grown in the walls can only be taken out by taking out the walls.
I think you can buy little tests to find out how much mold is in your air. You can also buy little machines that filter your air.
I have a very amazing potential solution: I buy a house, you rent the house, I live in the already-awesome basement or backyard cottage. This would rely on the assumption that you like me well enough to want to live on the same piece of property as me, but this is one of the arrangements I've been seriously considering since my hunt for homes began. It's just hard for me to figure out how to buy a home on my own, but it's something I really really want to do.
Is it weird to even suggest something like that? I am very close to putting an offer on (another) house (sigh) that is out of my price range but could totally work with an arrangement like this. But the thing is I want to live with cool people, not mean joe-shmoes off the street.
Anyway.
I will keep my eyes peeled for you! Do you have a neighborhood preference or any neighborhoods you refuse to live in?
Flossy, this is a great plan you have but I think our price range is hilariously low! We are looking in the $800 per month range (total, not each!). This is why it is a somewhat specialized request and why it is proving so difficult to move out of our house even though it is probably poisoning us with black mold.
I am looking every day on craigslist for sure! We'll see.
Ok, but here's another potential option (don't worry about offending me if this is of no interest to you): I think I may have found my house. In true Portland fashion, my dear friend found out I was looking, and it just so happens she put an offer on a new house last week so she's going to sell me her old house! It is wonderful, and this is a 78% sure deal. And here's the thing: it has a studio apartment in the basement with kitchen and full bath. I'm going to have to think about how this could work out, but maybe there is a way for us to all live there and have it benefit everyone. I don't know yet. I'm thinking as I type. I don't think you two would want the studio apartment (it's too small), so maybe I could take it? I don't even know. But I am working on this for you, YT, one way or another. Housing is my true passion in this life.
we are very interested in the 4-plex. Have you seen it? what's it like? Do they allow snoopys?
Maybe we should begin private emailing at some point Flossy
FUN
CONGRATS ON YOUR NEW HOUSE THAT YOU OWN!?!?!!!!!!!! amazing
Also... Ian's tiny house will be done in a couple of months and they're looking for buyers but if they can't find one they'll rent it out. Probably too small for a couple and a snoopy (bedroom is a loft) but it would be perfect for a single or a couple that can live snugly. It is truly beautiful- huge windows, nearly all surfaces are wood (cedar, fir, maple, cherry) and the design is sort of rustic modern. Someone out there is going to have a very cozy home soon! I'll keep you all posted. :)
perhaps Ian could build you a narrow but tall room exclusively for that purpose
Rustic modern? I'm swooning. Maybe I should scrap the whole "house buying" idea and add a "wee-" to the endeavor! Is Ian for hire as a wee-house builder?
"mother in law"
"pottery studio"
I believe at my house they called it "the studio..." very genteel
Would love to see stats on how housing becomes more dense when people convert to duplex, triplex, quadrupleplex, garages, sheds, and the like..... as parking lots are parceled out to food carts, so our back yards are rented to tiny houses (note: I definitely do not mean to sound as though I am lamenting this fact.... I mean I might kind of lament it but I do not stand by that as an opinion)
A fancy adult I know converted their garage to a nice little getaway for Air BnB but let's get real, eventually that will be full time housing
Before moving here I was impressed by an outdoor closet on someone's porch that was being rented as a room (summertime)... this is the future I see!
Wee-houses sell for between 35K-50K. Ian's will be around 40K, somewhat negotiable. A buyer would need some little bit of land to put it on (in the woods, at the beach, in a backyard...) and then Ian and his pal will drive it over and get the plumbing all set up for the buyer. They can make it so it's on or off the grid. It'll have it's own little bathroom with a shower and a very thoughtfully planned kitchen. Like a ship!
If it doesn't sell they'll keep it as a rental. We have a few good leads on well-sized backyards with amenable owners in good neighborhoods. "It's all good."
LT, when Jimmy lived in your studio we all called it the HUT. I'm so happy you live back there, whatever it's called. No lamenting allowed!
WHO?
"normal"
so good
http://www.johnlscott.com/propertydetail.aspx?IS=1&ListingID=301547188
Woah. Rethinking everything! It's so beautiful.
Matthew: Lots of houses in the 270 - 450k range here.
My friend decided not to buy the house she was thinking of buying after all, so that deal is on hold. In the meantime, I saw the absolute cutest little cottage last Saturday - a total wee house -- and made an offer! It was a strong offer! Well above asking price for a house that was only 688 sq. ft. (with no basement or garage or anything). AND IT GOT TURNED DOWN.
Sigh.
I'm not going to give up, although my realtor did tell me last night that in her entire career she has only lost 4 offers -- and two of those have been mine. I guess there is a crazy-weird market thing happening in Portland right now. She told me her colleage made an offer for a client last week that was 20-30% over asking, IN CASH, with a waived inspection and a 3-week closing, and it was turned down!
Sasha says there's lots of out-of-towners dropping cash on houses to rent out in Portland right now. SUCKS!
Among many, many reasons St John's is the bomb---for the money, it is the most beautiful place to live in Portland. In many neighborhoods there, you step outside of your house, and you have a gorgeous, fog-shrouded view of Forest Park that seems to be put under a magnifying glass. It's like the view you get in SW if there were no houses. And, the waterfront areas are guaranteed to be permanent trails in our lifetime because of the Superfund cleanup. I don't know where else in Portland you can live where you get a guarantee that condos won't spring up around your property.
I don't have a car and I have lived and played there happily for years. And I'm a city person, not a country/suburbs person. St. J's FTW!!!
It takes so long to bike from St John's to downtown/SE. I think that's the main drawback of deeper North Portland for me. I would very rarely go to Holocene, YU events, etc. I'd have to bike up US30 late at night (eww) or go up Williams all the way to Lombard then west on Lombard.
I like a 15-20 minute bike commute to my hangout areas as opposed to a 45-60 minute bike commute. St Johns fits into the latter, unfortunately.
Even when I was briefly living near where YT and Gary live now in Arbor Lodge, it was harsh to ride home from Holocene at 2am on a rainy night or whatever. When I was living in Irvington and now NW, it makes it much easier to bike around at night in inclement weather.
Guess I'll have to resign myself to renting forever if I want to maintain this "close-in" lifestyle.
Alex's points are real though