so that's where I put that silver lining
My friend Melissa and her SO Jim (and their baby who is due in October) are moving into my house! They like the lease I wrote! They've already got utilities hooked up! Jim is going to fix my dumb leaky roof! And they are going to paint and put in electric appliances and pull up old carpets and fix the porches! I'm probably as excited as they were to find out that they can live in an affordable place that would let them have all her animals and wasn't in some godawful HUD project.
Not that HUD housing is all bad. Most HUD houses I've been in were pretty nice. And Foreman's 2 bedroom HUD apartment was nice too, but she was on that list for almost 2 years before they found her a place. Hell, if my house had been up to code, I would have applied for it to be a HUD house, because they pay REALLY WELL. But the short-notice place they wanted to put Mel were crime-ridden hovels. And I really wish I were exaggerating, but I lived there as a small child, and it was so bad THEN I wasn't allowed to play outside. It's worse now. The cops get called up there daily for DV, parole violations, drug-busts, theft, and B&E. AWFUL.
No! That is not a place a couple with a newborn should be, ever. So they are going to live in my house instead. YAYYY And there will be cats and dogs and fishes and a babby and houseplants and AND AND
and my problem right now is trying to figure out what to charge them for rent. Right now, they'll be working the roof and then the front and side porches, so I really don't have a problem with them living there rent-free as long as they can provide receipts for the work being done. After though...Most places I looked at in the Charleston area rent for 350-500 a month, and my place is a house, with a big fenced in yard, and I'm allowing pets. Also, we still have stuff stored there (Not worried though, Mel is ACTUALLY trustworthy, and my uncle is helping her pack stuff) I was thinking maybe $275, until get all of my stuff out of the back bedroom, and then $375? For a two bedroom house in a decent neighborhood? That's about what an average mortgage payment would be, and I'd mostly be using the money to pay off our old utility bills so WE can move out. I could charge them more, but that seems a dick move, and they're doing me A HUGE FAVOR living there, fixing it up, and agreeing to sign a lease.
I AM EXCITE
Not that HUD housing is all bad. Most HUD houses I've been in were pretty nice. And Foreman's 2 bedroom HUD apartment was nice too, but she was on that list for almost 2 years before they found her a place. Hell, if my house had been up to code, I would have applied for it to be a HUD house, because they pay REALLY WELL. But the short-notice place they wanted to put Mel were crime-ridden hovels. And I really wish I were exaggerating, but I lived there as a small child, and it was so bad THEN I wasn't allowed to play outside. It's worse now. The cops get called up there daily for DV, parole violations, drug-busts, theft, and B&E. AWFUL.
No! That is not a place a couple with a newborn should be, ever. So they are going to live in my house instead. YAYYY And there will be cats and dogs and fishes and a babby and houseplants and AND AND
and my problem right now is trying to figure out what to charge them for rent. Right now, they'll be working the roof and then the front and side porches, so I really don't have a problem with them living there rent-free as long as they can provide receipts for the work being done. After though...Most places I looked at in the Charleston area rent for 350-500 a month, and my place is a house, with a big fenced in yard, and I'm allowing pets. Also, we still have stuff stored there (Not worried though, Mel is ACTUALLY trustworthy, and my uncle is helping her pack stuff) I was thinking maybe $275, until get all of my stuff out of the back bedroom, and then $375? For a two bedroom house in a decent neighborhood? That's about what an average mortgage payment would be, and I'd mostly be using the money to pay off our old utility bills so WE can move out. I could charge them more, but that seems a dick move, and they're doing me A HUGE FAVOR living there, fixing it up, and agreeing to sign a lease.
I AM EXCITE