I'm looking for a new place to live. I love my house but it's far away from civilization. This is good if you want to be away from people and pollution, but not so good if you want a place to get organic food or need medical attention. And my house isn't far enough away as my inconsiderate neighbors stink as does the town's mill. I need to be out in the country, but closer to civilization.
I've contacted a real estate agent to help me sell this house which is an extremely scary idea. It will involve inviting strange people to walk around my personal space, look at my personal belongings, and contaminate my only safe place on earth.
And then, where do I go if it sells? The great thing about this house is it's paid. No rent or mortgage and when looking toward the future, this is a good thing. I'm afraid of purchasing again. Mortgages are hell. The interest alone can double the cost of a house and I don't have lots of spare cash lying around to buy something outright. Being closer to civilization means much more debt as property is more expensive the closer one gets to a city. Besides the cost, I'm still not sure if I want to ever buy again as I don't know if I want the responsibility of maintenance or harassment of construction workers.
So I'm weighing my options. Do I go back to renting?
I've been looking at rentals off and on for about four years. The last apartment rental cost me $425 a month, but that was nearly ten years ago, and of course, prices have nearly doubled. I have no desire to live in an apartment with shared walls. And Peter is still alive so my options are limited. I need an outdoor space for him.
Lately I've been looking at small houses. I am finding some, but the rents are anywhere from $700 to $1500 per month. Naturally those $1500 a month rentals are much nicer and cleaner with lovely features such as views of lakes or beaches, fields or mountains. Very hard to justify since I'm currently paying 0 (zero!) for rent right now.
When everything seemed to pan out I moved to my second phase of questioning: Peter. Most places don't allow pets, meaning cats or dogs, indoor animals. Peter is a special situation since he'll never be living indoors to pee all over the floors and he's not going to bite or bark. Still, I need enough room to build him an outdoor cage.
Even that all worked out and I made an appointment to see the cottage, but I needed to ask one more question. I didn't want to ask it, but I also didn't want to waste my time since the drive was three hours one way. I emailed: Do you wear cologne? I explained I had allergies. He did mention in an earlier email he lived on the property although about 500 feet away. Too close if he wears cologne. And if he wears cologne and wants to do repairs in my home, in my air space, not going to happen. No answer. Hmmm...my spidey instincts flared. Something was wrong. Why wasn't he responding? It's not that difficult a question.
The landlord asked me to call him before leaving for the appointment to confirm so that morning I did. He was expecting my call and without so much as a greeting he screamed,
"WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS IS A DATING SERVICE?"
Whoa! I stuttered, "Ah, ah, um, no." Nothing like a stupid, smart-ass question to throw me off guard. I should have hung up, but I was in a state of shock.
He went on to yell at me about a previous tenant who was chemically sensitive and bipolar. When he paused mid-holler, I tried to explain I was not bipolar, but he wasn't interested in what I had to say. He just wanted to rant.
Where do I find these people? I think I'm a crazy-magnet.
Although he was acting more bipolar than anyone I've ever known, he was also giving me a lot of information. The cottage was not a cottage at all, but an apartment off a garage. LIAR. The washer and dryer was not in my cottage, but housed in a shared area. LIAR. There would be other tenants. LIAR. I was a little disappointed he blatantly lied about nearly everything, but wondered why was he acting so crazy if he, too, did not want to be around perfumes or colognes?
When he finished his rant, I took a deep breath and said very quickly, "I would like to cancel the appointment. Good-bye." I hung up before he could respond. I felt very fortunate I was not in a hurry to find another place to live and so thankful for my house. For all it's inconveniences, it was still safe and mine.
Even if the landlord is sane, a chemically-sensitive tenant is at the landlord's mercy and they can thoughtlessly contaminate your living space in the blink of an eye. Most of these little cottages I'm looking at are on the property of the landlords. Those who live on the property want control. I had another prospective landlord tell me I could have my rabbit outside as long as his dwelling was not visible. Really? HOW would that be possible?
I think with a bigger house I would have more privacy, but I don't want to be giving someone $1500 or more a month for rent and I'm not really interested in living in a big house anyway. I already have two bathrooms to clean and that is one too many.
So I'm back to considering buying property and building a tiny house. Not sure if this is a good idea, but I'm looking at the options.
One thing I didn't realize is according to the Fair Housing Act, this landlord shouldn't have been allowed to discriminate against someone chemically sensitive. This is probably why he waited until I called. If we discussed this via email, he could have gotten in a lot of trouble with his discriminatory comments. Legally, within reason, we must be accommodated.
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