Another Month

Since buying the new house, Lindsay and I have been making three mortgage payments and are in a deficit situation. We have no intention of selling our individual houses, we just need to get them rented. We were using a website, that came highly recommended, to advertise our houses, but attracted no real interest. I placed an ad in the local newspaper, which cost some bucks, and once again, had no takers. Then, I tried Craigslist. Wow. It has been hard for me to keep straight all of the potential renters and showing my house.

I had heard from other people who had rented their homes out, that renters are flakes. The people who want to rent my house don't strike me as being flakes, but they are all down on their luck. It is just so sad to hear their stories. A couple of people have even handed me essays explaining their bad credit. They all have jobs that have been effected by this great recession and have lost their homes through foreclosures or short-sales. Their credit is terrible and they are drowning in debt.

I feel guilty. All of my nurse coworkers and I are doing well. We have nice homes, cars, take expensive vacations and most of us own two or three homes. We work our butts off, but it pays well and we seem to be recession proof, so far. I know that, but for the grace of God, I could just as easily have ended up in a career that would have lead to financial disaster. The only difference between me and the potential renters of my house is luck.

I have to decide between one of three families and I really like them all. Plus, they all really need my house and are desperate. It makes me so uncomfortable to have to choose.

Lindsay hasn't attracted any serious attention for his house. It is in a much higher price range and fewer people can afford it. But if my house is rented, financially we are fine. We just won't be saving any money.

We have been living together for a little over a month now and still only see each other two days a week. He works days and I work evenings. Our paths do not cross except when I have a day off. We also have separate master bedrooms because he snores and sleeps with the TV on. But it is okay. The separation keeps the relationship fresh. We have been dating for about ten years, but in relationship time, it is more like six months. We are both independent and used to living alone, so this is working.

Our dogs have almost gotten used to each other. Of course they have all known each other forever, but my dogs have always been terrified of the huge Newfoundlands. For the first couple of weeks, little Tom Tom lived in the closet. It was sad, so I put a dog bed, food and water in the closet to make him more comfortable. Eventually, he discovered that the Newfies were gentle giants and meant him no harm. It is a relief that Tom Tom finally came out of the closet. MacKenzie still growls when the Newfies come in my bedroom, but the growls are becoming less ferocious and outside of the bedroom, she is fine.

The dogs forgot their house-training when they moved here, but we are making serious progress with that. On the other hand, there are urine stains in the living room, family room and two of the bedrooms. The carpet appears to be ruined. I never liked it anyway because the grey color looked industrial to me, but I also can't afford to replace it. Oh well.

So, that is what is new. I hope that is everything is fine with you all.