Keys and Rent
1) I lose my keys on a regular basis. This has been a regular occurrence for most of my adult life. I remember my ex-boyfriend back from the early 90's got to the point where he would yell at me because once again, my keys were lost. Randy doesn't get mad at me. He just helps me find them. And he's a good key finder. I could look for a half hour, but once I enlist his help, he usually finds them within 5 minutes.
Today my keys are missing. Again. And despite about 3 hours worth of effort, neither Randy or I have found my keys. They are just... gone. The last time I remember having them was late last night when I pulled a beach towel out from the back of my trunk to throw into the laundry. We have looked everywhere. I even sifted through the trash as a last resort. It was disgusting.
Did I leave them in the key slot of the trunk overnight? Then a passerby zoinked them thinking that once we left they could use my house key to get into our place and empty it?
Speaking of emptying our place...
2) Back in August of 2012 we moved into the place we're at now. The landlord/owner gave a really super reasonable rental price on the place and were good to us. Earlier this year, she increased our rent an additional $150, which I thought was reasonable since market is higher than even the new amount. We have enjoyed living in our 3 bedroom home with an attached garage and small backyard. So much better than the apartment living where we living in cramped quarters with people above and around us.
A couple of months ago our landlord/owner informed us that she would be selling our duplex. It sold within a week. Escrow closed about 3 weeks ago. When our landlord/owner thought she had them sold, part of an email to me said, "I think we have them sold and good news the new investor wants the tenants to stay so he will not immediately bump the rent to market, but will increase gradually."
I was relieved to hear this. The last thing I need is an unreasonable rent increase. I saw it happen recently to our neighbors. Their landlord/owner sold their place and the new owner immediately gave them 60 day notice to increase their rent an additional $750. They moved out a few weeks ago with nowhere to go.
So imagine the dismay and shock I felt when the new property manager sent us a notice yesterday stating an increase in rent starting October 1st. They increased it an additional $650 dollars. What happened to "...the new investor wants the tenants to stay so he will not immediately bump the rent to market, but will increase gradually." That is a financially shocking increase. There's nothing gradual about it. Either our previous landlord lied, or the new owner did.
Either way, it's not affordable. If we stay here the only way we could make it is cut everything out. This means no more classes for Evie, no more eating out a couple of times a month, no more visits to see family up North (can't afford the gas), no more Christmas, no more gifts for anyone's birthday, no more girl's night out (which I only do a few times a year now), no going out ever again, no nothing.
If that's the way it's going to be, then I'd rather struggle for something that I own. Randy and I are going to meet with the mortgage representative at our credit union and see what our options are.
I cannot go back to apartment living. The noise, the inconsiderate people living around you, the cramped expensive box that you have to live in, the sh*tty management that won't fix the plumbing even though the ENTIRE sewage line is backing up into your toilet (yep, we had that happen TWO FUCKING TIMES at our old place) - sewage and shit all over our bathroom floor. And don't even get me started on the ceiling falling down in our bathroom even though we asked multiple times for management to deal with the soft floor in the upstairs unit. I just can't do all that again. I can't.
I won't.