Not too far this time. We're staying in the same town.
Still. That'll make it an even 7 moves in 7 years for me.
Good news is, we have a 2-year lease this time! Woo-hoo! Of course, life changes so we'll see how that works. Vietnamese landlords have a habit (according to numerous expats who've lived here longer than we have) of changing terms mid-contract, or building on and changing their setup, or selling out. We think we have a new situation lined up that will preclude those things happening, but, well... "Stay Flexible!" is our motto.
On Thursday, while Brett was teaching, he got a message from the landlord - the one building a nice, big homestay next to us - saying that, now that they are building a place with rooms to rent and a pool, they want to use our house for more rooms to rent. Since they like us, we can stay, but since we will now have access to a pool, the rent will be jacked up significantly.
After Brett was done with his classes, we talked about our options. We could still negotiate, but it wouldn't hurt to look and see what's on the market now.
Friday, he got up and went for a walk just to see if anything jumped out within our neighborhood, since we know the area and have relationships with the vendors here. By 10 a.m., he decided to contact a real estate agent recommended by a couple different people. By 11, that agent had two places lined up for us to look at. By noon, we had paid a deposit on one of those two. We sign the lease on Friday. WHAT!!
This has been the most painless house-hunting we have experienced. And we've done a lot of house-hunting in our five years of marriage!
That's it, really. I'm slowly packing things up, so that we can take a load over on Friday after signing the lease. We are very happy with this house. It's just one story, and we lose a bedroom, but things that stand out:
 |
| The view on entering. Sort of. |
The kitchen has functional cabinets - up AND down.
Bathroom sinks have counter space.
There's an outdoor shower.
Eye candy like the divider between living room and kitchen.
Space! I don't need a separate office, because I can just set up my desk next to that inside window to the bedroom. And the living room has a lovely window space that could be my yoga area. Who needs a balcony?
I am really excited for this new house.
ReplyDeleteYeah. I still have moments of thinking of things we didn't look for, and hoping that we didn't miss a major problem. At least we know we can cope with any issues, after the places we've stayed in the past!
DeleteCant wait to see more pictures when you move in. I haven't moved in 31 years. I have a lot of stuff to get rid of. If you move 7 times in 7 years I would imagine you keep things light! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteWe trimmed way back, true. Now we have a few small pieces of furniture, so I'm glad it's just a cross-town move.
DeleteI know moving is difficult but it sounds like it will be worth it.
ReplyDeleteLast time I moved within a city, I had one day for the move, so had to be 100% packed in advance. This slow crawl should be easier than that.
DeleteGlad to hear it was a painless find. Would you have been losing space in the place you are now (if the landlord said they wanted to use your place for more rooms to rent)? Good luck with the move.
ReplyDeleteFunny story! The next night, our landlady came by and told us he hadn't sent the message with her knowledge. They are still debating how they want to treat this house! She really wants to use it for a long-term renter and not nightly guests, but with the pool... well, price. So I don't think they would have let us stay in just a part of the house, and we 100% wouldn't have stayed if they had allowed that.
Delete