Wednesday, December 01, 2010

Wish List

One of the big tasks to get ready to move to Australia is deciding what to do with our house while we are gone and making that happen. At first, I was firmly resistant to any idea but locking it up and having someone check up on it every so often. Then I started thinking about how much better it would be if we had a live in caretaker. I could leave my furniture in the house - we won't need it in Oz - so that when we come back for visits, we would have a place to stay. C has been pushing for us to rent it out, having the government put all our stuff in storage, and use the money from the rent to pay down the mortgage. Like I said before, I was resistant. Then I started looking at mortgage calculators and when I saw how much interest we could save by paying off the mortgage early, I started wavering. It's not like there is a better place to put our money right now, even with our lower refinanced interest rate of 4.25%. Paying off debt is the same as investing your money at the same interest rate. And getting rid of that debt is high on my priority list.

So, now it looks like we will be pursuing the rent option. I would love it if a friend or family member could be the one to rent from us. Or at least someone we can really trust. I would love it if the people who live here while we are gone love it as much as we do and take advantage of all this place has to offer. I would love it if they really loved organic gardening and wanted to keep chickens in the coop, and - shoot, while we are dreaming here - even would be happy to let our cats live here while we are gone. I would love it if they wanted to stay here for the two or three years we would be in Oz, with the option to stay longer if we go to another overseas post right away. I would love it if they are happy to put up with the home improvemet projects we plan to accomplish during our time as landlords, including the installation of a little cabin in the woods. I would love it if they were happy to coexist with us on the property if we come back for a summer and live in that cabin.

Do you know of anybody who fits that description?

3 comments:

Sandra Dodd said...

HOLY COW! Well...
Well...

I hope you do find a perfect householder.
I hope, too, that you get lots of visitors and new friends in your new home.

I'll be in the northeast in February. Maybe, possibly, I'll get to see you before you move so far away.

Heather's Moving Castle said...

We are planning to sell our house next year. I understand all your worries. You have a lot on your plate, but it will all fall in place. You seem like an organized person! ~H

Unknown said...

Hi Miranda,
My coworker just showed me this. Are you still looking for a renter? I bet my husband and I would be interested in renting your house. How much would rent be and also where in Ithaca is the house located?
I work full time as a lab tech at Cornell, and my husband is going to college for the first time in 10 years plus working part time.

Look forward to hearing from you.
Linda Cote
lma26(at)cornell(dot)edu
Spazcat824(at)gmail(dot)com