Things are seemingly getting resolved…or coming to a head, whichever way you look at it.  We have (probably) someone to rent our townhouse, and we’ve had a house to move into since February.  The move will officially take place in three weeks…that 17 days!  Are we packed? No.  Do we have a definite renter? No. Are we in any way shape or form ready for this? No! But we are going with the flow…sort of.

Our renter is section 8, so that brings a whole new set of, uh, “stuff” that we weren’t really ready for.  I’m all about the section 8 program.  It’s a good thing, when not taken advantage of.  Especially these days when good paying jobs are so hard to come by, and single-mom households are more frequent, and the economy isn’t really helping anyone.  She’s really sweet, has 4 kids, and is, at the moment at least, a single mom.  (She’s engaged) Beyond all that, I don’t know why more landlords aren’t more accepting of section 8.  Half the people that looked at the house were part of the program, and ALL of them had been looking for months for someone, anyone who would accept their vouchers.  Why?  I get the negative connotation, but really… 1) you get paid on time, every time.  The check comes from the program, not the tenant.  So no “sorry it’s late.” No “I lost my job and can’t pay.” No “something came up.”  You just get paid.  2) the program does all sorts of background checks so you don’t have to.  Less stress, less work, less out of pocket expense for you.  3) the program inspects.  Yes, the tenants are responsible to keep the property up to par, and the housing office checks on it. If they don’t, they run the risk of losing their vouchers.  Seriously, win-win-win! 

But…the one downfall is the waiting.  I filled out her paperwork to give to the housing office.  Now we are waiting for an inspection of the property, you know, to ensure we aren’t attempting to rent some rodent infested, broke down, lead painted, no windows having house. Then we draw up a contract with the housing office followed by a lease agreement with the tenant.  Then she takes all that to Social Service, which gives her the money for the security deposit.  So, in essence, we won’t have that “warm-fuzzy” feeling of having next month’s mortgage payment taken care of until it’s actually due.  *sigh*

But we are still moving on.  Really, we are.  It may not be obvious to the casual observer, you know, with the not packing and the not planning and the not really even acknowledging that we only have 17 days to pack up 4 kids, 2 adults, a dog, and all the 4-previous-family-living-situations that they bring.  Not to mention our own separate but equal battles with clutter…Mr. W with computer-geekery stuff and clothes, me with, well, everything really.  17 days!

And the new house? Ah the new house!  It’s perfect.  It’s beautiful.  It’s BIG!  It’s a 5 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath house with a partially finished, fully usable for something basement, a den, hardwood floors, gigantic kitchen, sunroom (yea!), 1.5 acres of land, 1 neighbor with no likelihood of more, huge front porch, built in brick grill in back, 2 car garage, open floor plan, and a  pellet stove.  And the best part…it has a “Christmas tree spot!”  It was a requirement when we were looking, to have a spot for any size Christmas tree that didn’t require rearranging of furniture and allowed ample floor space below for presents and a required decorating all 360 degrees of the tree (because it isn’t stuck in a corner somewhere).  I have a thing for Christmas.  It’s always been a dream to have a “tree spot.”  I know…kooky. 

Wanna see the house?

This picture doesn’t really do it justice, but I will post more once we move in.  Love it!

17 days!

Once we are moved in and the townhouse is rented, I will get down and dirty with the remainder of the wedding planning.  The kids will be gone most of the summer, so I can dedicate those two-ish months to getting a bizillion other things accomplished…but that’s another post.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 5th, 2010 at 9:17 am and is filed under Family, goals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.