h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

For any city zone, that IS a fantastic price. And sounds like a really fab place. Consider a few philanges crossed here, m'dear.

*crosses everything*

No, thumbs pressed over here, crossed fingers wouldn't do you any good in Germany

Pressed thumbs - that sounds like something a cannibal gourmet would make. Oh dear.

Anyway... Good luck, Pc.

Cannibal gourmets.

Thanks for the good wishes. There's another place at a good price in our area just went on the market, too, that seems worth a look.

I really want a fireplace, but I suppose if we found an actual house, I could live without one. They're nice in winter, but only for relaxing, not for actual heating.

The condo we liked had one. But I have measured three times and am fairly certain it's no bigger than what we have now; in fact it may have a few square feet less available.

Wood stoves are much nicer than fireplaces for heat, and some come with glass doors If your place has a chimney, you can always install one

Oh, I'm not at all interested in using anything other than a furnace for heat (unless we bought the house I like the looks of- it has radiant heat). I would like a fireplace for purely aesthetic reasons. I like burning things... and sitting and watching a crackling fire. Wood stoves give off the same nice smell, but it's not the same thing. Though an old enough house with a wood stove and a fireplace would be nice... that's probably way out of my price range.

The latest one apparently has an inlaw unit in the basement, which would be useful as a guest room. And I suppose a summer kitchen. But it's not necessary, and I'd never dream of actually renting one out. I don't want to deal with tenants.

I grew up with wood stoves, but then I also grew up with frequent long power outages, so I like to have one available.

Radiant heat uses furnaces too, though, of course.

Around here, radiant heat typically uses boilers as opposed to a forced air furnace. I prefer radiant heat and forced central air, but that gets expensive.

Ah, right, we're using the same word for different things again

Sorry about that. For future reference, if I refer to central heating or a furnace, I mean forced air heat with ductwork running though the walls, etc. If I refer to radiant heat, I mean a series of radiators connected to a boiler via metal pipes.

For what it's worth, different listing agents have used different terms for the same things, too, and I saw one listed as "forced air heat" which in fact used a boiler system.

Apparently homes with boiler systems can be fitted with Space-Pak air conditioners, where they run 2" tubing between joists and studs, etc, with a series of outlets in walls near the ceilings. Unfortunately installation averages around $20K.

Well, we're still waiting for the bank to get a new set of keys to the selling agent so we can see that house we liked from the outside over the weekend. The good news- they've just reduced the selling price by $8000, to $154K. If they're reducing the price in the listing, there's a good chance they haven't had any offers (yet) they're willing to accept.

I hope to hear from the lender we'd like to work with today, in hopes of having a pre-approval letter in hand later this week. Once we have that, we're prepared to make an offer contingent upon the home passing inspection to FHA standards. I have a feeling we're going to find something we truly want very soon, since we've already seen a couple things we really loved. In fact, a few more houses have been listed just this week, and a few of those look really nice, too.

In other words, we're making progress.

I dread asking the landlord to let us break the lease, but if we can find some prospective tenants for him it should work out OK. I don't think he'll begrudge us the opportunity to buy a $400K house for $150K *and* get an $8K tax refund next spring.

$154k.

When is your lease due to expire?

April 15, 2012. Legally, if the landlord wanted to be that way, he could hold us liable for paying rent through the end of our lease. I don't see them being that way, if we can find them prospective renters and perhaps are willing to part ways with our security deposit. Since we usually pay on the 15th of the month, I'd thought if we could find someone he liked who could be in on the 1st of the following months, then he's got two weeks to paint and whatnot and won't be out any money if he holds on to our deposit. Doesn't seem unreasonable to expect him to keep that if we're terminating our lease early.

If we haven't found anything which we can close by October 31st, we won't qualify for the tax credit and I may just hold off till spring unless something spectacular comes on the market.

$154K is really cheap for this market- which has been ridiculously overpriced for at least 10-15 years. Lots of foreclosures- which I am assuming this is, since it's bank owned- because prices inflated so ridiculously and so tax rates increased, sometimes by 200-300% or more. We'll qualify for a homeowner's property tax credit, which might help, but this one about $5K without that.

H'mmm. Maybe I do have an advantage after all, seeing one can only ever get a 6-month or a 12-month lease here. It limits the liability if I have to break the lease one of these days.

But I'm sure your landlord will see sense.

6 months can also put a tenant at somewhat of a disadvantage, if a landlord finds someone willing to pay more. I vaguely recall that's why we don't see many of them here.

12 months is the norm here. I expect our landlords only gave us long terms these last two times (in 2006 we signed a three-year lease) was in way of guaranteeing our rent wouldn't increase.

We'll see.

Still no keys to the house, but I'm also still waiting for a pre-approval letter, so it's buying time. Maybe if it takes long enough to get the keys, other interested parties will lose interest.

Wow, rental law's totally different over there!

12-month seems to be pretty much the norm here. And if there is no "re-signing" at the end for what-ever reasons, then it's a month to month agreement. And both parties are still obligated to give the other 60-days notice of a pending end. Though some provinces consider that '60-days' to in fact be the two full calendar months following notice. Say I give notice on the 4th of a month, ... I could be held liable for the remains of that month AND the two calendar months (full ones, ya see) that follow.

I can see a use for a six-month lease if you're intending to buy a house but not just yet, or likely to have to move elsewhere for w*rk, or something like that. I might end up with one myself once my current 12-month lease expires next May. Let's see what happens with my own house-hunting...