"what do you mean, you're moving?" -- time for an explanation
It's been brought to my attention that the news referenced in my last post may have come as a surprise to some people. Um... oops? Imagine me with an abashed look and an embarrassed smile as I type this, and that'll be pretty accurate.
First things first: I'm not leaving Colorado, nor am I leaving the city I currently live in, nor am I even leaving my immediate neighborhood if I can help it. What I am doing is attempting to relocate from my one-bedroom condo to a house, one which will ideally have at least these three things: a second bedroom, a space that I can use for a study/office, and a yard where I can have a garden.
This is something that I've been planning to do for a while, actually... a long while. About five years now, all told. Don't get me wrong; I love my condo. It's ideally situated in terms of location, it's nicely decorated, it's in a secure building with a lot of amenities, things work, etc. and so forth. I'm comfortable here, I'm happy here, I always have been, and I expect whoever moves in next will be too.
When it comes down to it, however, this place is not somewhere that I'd ever intended to stay forever. I chose to purchase rather than to keep renting because I was lucky enough to have a stable job that I knew would help me secure a mortgage, and because I knew that the market prices at the time were only going to keep rising, and because I did the math and figured out that I'd be paying about the same on a mortgage as I would in monthly rent, but the mortgage would bring me tax breaks and double as a long-term investment. And that's exactly what it has been -- a long term investment, as well as a comfortable home.
There are things I missed, though, more than I thought I would, and the foremost of them was a yard. I live near enough to several parks that this wasn't a terrible hardship, or anything like that -- but I was raised in a rural area, and it's shaped me. I like being outside amid things that are growing. It's peaceful and soothing to me. I like to garden. I like trees, flowers, herbs, and vegetables. I like raising plants and digging in the dirt and harvesting and all the backbreaking work that goes with it. This may come as a surprise to those of you who know how much I hate indoor work, such as painting rooms and other forms of interior decoration -- but it's not the same kind of work. I grew up helping my grandfather with his gardens and with the family farm, and I loved it. (As it's a love he shared, he saw that in me early on, and gave me a patch of flowers of my own to tend, as well as teaching me how to plant and raise carrots and corn and tomatoes and beans, among other things.)
There are other things I've wanted, too, such as space to host overnight guests comfortably (that second bedroom) and a place to work and study that isn't attached to the foot of my bed (that little office space). None of these are things that I've needed for survival, obviously, or even to be happy and comfortable. They're luxuries, and I'm perfectly well aware of that. On the grand scale of things, though, they're luxuries that I don't think are too unreasonable to try to achieve, if I can.
Five years or so ago -- back while I was still working for the old company and before I enrolled in school, but while I was planning out how I was going to do it -- I realized I was getting restless in the condo, and I started looking at houses in the neighborhood. I went to open houses; I did online real estate searches; I compared prices and did financial math until all the pieces came together. It didn't take me long to figure out that I was going to need to make a choice.
Option One: I could stay with the company, save up for two years, use the savings plus what I would get from selling the condo to put a downpayment on a house, and continue to work full time at the company (or somewhere comparable) while going to school part time/at night. This would have been a fairly safe bet, but would have meant that in all likelihood I'd not be able to pursue an advanced degree very easily, especially not one in a different field. (I knew that for fact, as at the time I'd already tried it on a short-term basis.)
Option Two: I could stay with the company, save up for two years, and then quit my job and use the savings to support myself while I enrolled in school full time and wait to try to buy a house until some point in the future-- probably after graduation. Doing this would be more of a long-term risk, as it would drain my savings with no guarantee that I'd find a job in the new field at the same salary level, or even one that would let me afford a house at all.
I chose option two.
It was the right choice.
I'm not rich, but I'm happy, and I'm secure, and there are no words to describe how wonderful that is. The job I have now I've held for over a year; it's not high-salary compared to my previous field, but it's enough for me, and it's stable enough that when combined with the probable results of that condo-shaped long-term investment, I can finally start looking for a little house.
If it all works out, I'll be moving by the end of the year. I'd planned at first to not start looking until I'd finished school entirely, but the real estate market right now is such that there are things in my area that are more affordable than they'd be otherwise, so I've thrown a line into the waters and am now waiting to see what I catch. We'll see. Here's hoping!
That's it for now. I'll keep everyone posted -- and I'll do a better job of it, too. I promise. For that matter, by the time I'm done with this, you may all be sick of hearing about it!
First things first: I'm not leaving Colorado, nor am I leaving the city I currently live in, nor am I even leaving my immediate neighborhood if I can help it. What I am doing is attempting to relocate from my one-bedroom condo to a house, one which will ideally have at least these three things: a second bedroom, a space that I can use for a study/office, and a yard where I can have a garden.
This is something that I've been planning to do for a while, actually... a long while. About five years now, all told. Don't get me wrong; I love my condo. It's ideally situated in terms of location, it's nicely decorated, it's in a secure building with a lot of amenities, things work, etc. and so forth. I'm comfortable here, I'm happy here, I always have been, and I expect whoever moves in next will be too.
When it comes down to it, however, this place is not somewhere that I'd ever intended to stay forever. I chose to purchase rather than to keep renting because I was lucky enough to have a stable job that I knew would help me secure a mortgage, and because I knew that the market prices at the time were only going to keep rising, and because I did the math and figured out that I'd be paying about the same on a mortgage as I would in monthly rent, but the mortgage would bring me tax breaks and double as a long-term investment. And that's exactly what it has been -- a long term investment, as well as a comfortable home.
There are things I missed, though, more than I thought I would, and the foremost of them was a yard. I live near enough to several parks that this wasn't a terrible hardship, or anything like that -- but I was raised in a rural area, and it's shaped me. I like being outside amid things that are growing. It's peaceful and soothing to me. I like to garden. I like trees, flowers, herbs, and vegetables. I like raising plants and digging in the dirt and harvesting and all the backbreaking work that goes with it. This may come as a surprise to those of you who know how much I hate indoor work, such as painting rooms and other forms of interior decoration -- but it's not the same kind of work. I grew up helping my grandfather with his gardens and with the family farm, and I loved it. (As it's a love he shared, he saw that in me early on, and gave me a patch of flowers of my own to tend, as well as teaching me how to plant and raise carrots and corn and tomatoes and beans, among other things.)
There are other things I've wanted, too, such as space to host overnight guests comfortably (that second bedroom) and a place to work and study that isn't attached to the foot of my bed (that little office space). None of these are things that I've needed for survival, obviously, or even to be happy and comfortable. They're luxuries, and I'm perfectly well aware of that. On the grand scale of things, though, they're luxuries that I don't think are too unreasonable to try to achieve, if I can.
Five years or so ago -- back while I was still working for the old company and before I enrolled in school, but while I was planning out how I was going to do it -- I realized I was getting restless in the condo, and I started looking at houses in the neighborhood. I went to open houses; I did online real estate searches; I compared prices and did financial math until all the pieces came together. It didn't take me long to figure out that I was going to need to make a choice.
Option One: I could stay with the company, save up for two years, use the savings plus what I would get from selling the condo to put a downpayment on a house, and continue to work full time at the company (or somewhere comparable) while going to school part time/at night. This would have been a fairly safe bet, but would have meant that in all likelihood I'd not be able to pursue an advanced degree very easily, especially not one in a different field. (I knew that for fact, as at the time I'd already tried it on a short-term basis.)
Option Two: I could stay with the company, save up for two years, and then quit my job and use the savings to support myself while I enrolled in school full time and wait to try to buy a house until some point in the future-- probably after graduation. Doing this would be more of a long-term risk, as it would drain my savings with no guarantee that I'd find a job in the new field at the same salary level, or even one that would let me afford a house at all.
I chose option two.
It was the right choice.
I'm not rich, but I'm happy, and I'm secure, and there are no words to describe how wonderful that is. The job I have now I've held for over a year; it's not high-salary compared to my previous field, but it's enough for me, and it's stable enough that when combined with the probable results of that condo-shaped long-term investment, I can finally start looking for a little house.
If it all works out, I'll be moving by the end of the year. I'd planned at first to not start looking until I'd finished school entirely, but the real estate market right now is such that there are things in my area that are more affordable than they'd be otherwise, so I've thrown a line into the waters and am now waiting to see what I catch. We'll see. Here's hoping!
That's it for now. I'll keep everyone posted -- and I'll do a better job of it, too. I promise. For that matter, by the time I'm done with this, you may all be sick of hearing about it!