An abode; dwelling; roof over one's head.
A house, somewhere to call home, is a necessity. It's somewhere you can call yours. A place to sleep, eat, live, hide away from the world -- your safe space.
My partner and I rent. We would love to buy our own property one day, and it's no secret that I hope that my Hive earnings will one day contribute towards that dream, but for the time being we're stuck with the uncertainty of renting.
Last year, the house we live in was put up on the market. It was originally owned by my partner's uncle who had bought it for his mother to live in, but when she became too ill and needed to be put into a retirement home, his uncle dusted his hands of the house and wanted it gone.
From what I can gather on the real estate website that tracks purchases and sales of houses, he actually sold this house at a $20,000 loss... during a time when house prices are rising faster than ever! I bet he's kicking himself. Or maybe he just wanted to get rid of the house that desperately. I don't know.
Either way, the lady who bought the house from him... she bought it for her father who was ill at the time. If he was able to return to full health, he was going to move in here. In the meantime we got a one year lease, with the fear looming over our heads that once the lease was up, that would be that, we would have to find somewhere else to live.
Normally that's not too much of a bad thing. A new place to live? Whatever... However, in my region we are currently in the midst of a housing crisis. There are families on the streets, living in tents, in their cars, overflowing their friends' houses. There is not enough housing here for the population. If a house becomes available for rent, a hundred odd families swarm for it... and obviously only one of them gets it.
We did not want to have to go through that.
Listed for rent right at this very moment, are 6 properties. That's in my small regional city and nearby suburbs. Three of them are one bedroom units. One of them is an overpriced one bedroom apartment by the river. And two of them are actual family-suitable houses. None of them are pet-friendly.
Yesterday, when the real estate reopened after their Christmas holidays, we sent them an email and asked them to contact the owner to find out if we would be allowed to stay on. If not, would it be possible to stay here on a week-to-week basis while trying to find somewhere else, anywhere else.
This morning, we received our answer -- "Owners are happy for you to stay. New lease to be signed in April. Rent will be increasing by $10 a week." -- and in that moment, a wave of relief swept over us.
And so, at this moment, right now, I am grateful that we will still have a roof over our heads and we will not have to live in a tent in the backyard of a friend's house.
Thank you @queenstarr for inviting me to participate in this Ladies of Hive contest. ❤️
I would like to invite @emuse to participate, to let us know what she is most grateful for today/at this moment in time. 😊
This is my first time participating in the Ladies of Hive community. I would just like to say a big, "Hello!" to everyone, and to thank you for taking the time to read this post. 💕
Until next time! 👋
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That's great news that they have extended your lease till April
I do wish you home to call your own
Here's to Hive giving it to you
Thank you for sharing your story with us <33
Oh no! 😅 I meant that our current lease is up in April. The lady is happy for us to renew it, sign another lease, at that time, long-term. We have nothing to worry about!! 😁 For at least a few years now, anyway.
Although, of course it would be nice to own our own home so that we never have to worry about the rental market ever again. (and to do it up and make it ours!) And that's my main goal in life. 😊
I hope you guys one day will find a house and of course that there will be easier to find places to live for everyone. It must be really stressful to be in the position to not know if you are going to have a place to stay and sleep well at night.
Thank you for inviting me to participate! I hope I can write about it before the weekend :)
Thank you! After receiving the email yesterday, letting us know that we will still be allowed to stay here, it was such a relief! A weight off our shoulders! 😄
No worries! I hope you find the time to write something too. I wrote this as fast as possible before bed last night, to give a little bit of time before the weekend. I didn't think it would be fair to invite someone with just a day or so left! 😅
I understand what you mean about finding your own home and yet still renting now.
That's what my hubby and I are doing. We did own a home before but due to bad investment, we had to sell it off to cover up our loss. Now, we're just renting because we did not want to have a 20 year debt with the bank.
Oooh, yes. The thought of a 20+ year debt with the bank is also quite intimidating/off-putting. Part of me hopes that we could scrape together enough to just pay off the purchase in one fell swoop so we don't have to deal with a bank... but then the other part of me is realistic. 😂
Our current landlord isn't too bad. It was just the worry that we wouldn't be able to stay here after this current lease ran out. She's fine with us doing things to the house, planting gardens, having pets. Actually living. But it'd be nice to be in our own place we can actually renovate, paint, give our own touch to and make it our own. 😊
When bad things started happening, I had to leave my home (It's an apartment, but I said house before, because that's the only thing we have here, only apartments, and I'm used to saying house 😆)
But anyways, I had to rent elsewhere, multiple elsewheres, and I know the struggles and the sense of insecurity that it brings with it.
I rushed back home as soon as I could, even though the area was still practically a war zone. And I swore to die inside my home next time rather than leaving it and rent again.
I truely hope you will get your own house soon. And say goodbye to all the troubles you once had! ❤
I think I'd be of the same mind! 😅🙂
Thank you! I really hope so too, and that "soon" ends up magically becoming "this year" or "next year" somehow, and not when I'm 60. 😆
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Awesomeee... I'm so happy for you. All will work oit just fine, you wait and see. Always a great idea to praise/be grateful in the hall way while waiting for the door to open. Lovely write up, well writtten. All the best in the contest Darling, See you at discord🤗
Thank you for inviting me!! 😊🤗
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Si amiga hay que agradecer por todo y un hogar es necesario para formar una familia...pronto tendras tú propia casa sigue trabajando en ella.🙋♀️
Considering that you are having trouble renting an apartment, you are very lucky. I'm happy for you. I hope everything will work out in the new year and you will buy yourself an apartment.
Thank you 🙂 I'm looking forward to one day purchasing a small house on some land. Nothing extravagant. In the meantime, so very grateful to be able to stay where we currently are with no worries. 😊
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