OMG. I live in a comfortable house in a decent neighborhood. My mortgage payments is a tad over $1200.

I have never pulled up a living room carpet and not seen pet stains. Cat pee is especially stinky. If a deposit were not refundable, and sufficient to re-carpet the entire house, "treat" the stains in the subfloor and reimburse the landlord for the time delay to have the work done, then maybe.

My house is on Ponit Fermin, block from the ocean/jogging+bike path... small local store half a block... good elementary school a few blocks... cute two bed one bath beach house... utilities included. Was $1600 now $1750.

In the ten years I have rented it I advertised, sifted through the dozens of applications, interviewed the cream of the crop, and had the place rented in about a month.

This time around it was empty from January to April... and I paniced and did $4000 in remodeling to finally get someone in there.

Just can't see a landlord dragging their feet the way things are right now... work and family problems included.

However I need the rent to get by... maybe to this person it is just extra income.

NS, that is close to $50K/yr in rent!
After 5 years that would be $250K in rent money given to someone else.

Sure there is taxes, insurance, and upkeep, but those who saw their $700K house turn into a $450K house still own the place, and the market is starting to reach the bottom of the curve.

Even a small no-maintinence condo in a different part of town with a 5-year garage lease would be cheaper.

Just consider the options...

Have run the numbers. I don't have the liquid assets for a big down payment, and it isn't clear that I'll stay in this place beyond 4 years. The "bottom of the curve" means different things for different areas. Anything in SM of decent size will be around $1M to buy. Tax breaks won't make up for the property taxes, upkeep, etc. Plus in the first years all that money goes towards servicing the debt so you're not getting any equity unless the values go up. And I don't see that happening. Worst case I could be upside down like the g/f was. If I was going to stay in the place for 15 years then it might be a different story.

"Different part of town" is a non-starter. The high school is the main factor in living location. Too many constaints in my situation - staying close enough to the ex for ease of logistics, having enough room to be livable, having a studio space so the g/f can give up her studio rental in the hood, etc. The cost of living is the cost of living. I am willing to pay extra to not be in an apartment any more.

Shucks, you could move to Ann Arbor. We got desent skools, Google/Barracuda/Automotive mag/etc/etc. AND you could buy a new car every single year.

Because they melt right there in your garage each winter...THE one thing I dislike most about the snow-belt.

Just realized that you recently posted the http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/614973-my-weekend-random-bizarre-events.html.
That's freaky. I can see why you want to move.

Not familiar with the Santa Monica area, but I understand California somewhat.
The whole state is a seperate re-evolving nation divided up into tribal areas- each with it's own "peculiaritys".

Depending on your daily schedule and requirements(and you don't need to post this), a commute from a different area during the off-peak rush hour might take the same amount of time out of your day, but get the same mission accomplished without the same stress. Cali traffic is either a clusterf'k, or an open road.
Just another perspective...

The bigger picture is family, job, quality of life. Not necessarily in that order with every situation.
All logistics.

Todd, did you get the place?

Moving is amoungst the top "life-stress experiences".

Still waiting to hear. I'm going to call later this AM as I was supposed to hear something yesterday. Could be we're a backup on their list, or their kid could still be sick, etc. Such is life. We're continuing to look at other listings and if this doesn't come through something else will. There really is no solution other than Santa Monica at the moment - anything else would require a huge realignment for both myself and my ex. Sometimes you just suck it up and do what is needed to make it work.

Stress? Yup. Work is insane at the moment as well so I'm pretty much in survival mode right now. Not the first time, won't be the last.

NS, you gotta find a breather somewhere.
Go to a new place. Then just sit, and absorb the different environment.
Easy logistical problems=easy solutions.
Repeat as necessary.

There are a thousand other places that might be as comperable.

I would call it off, move on and look for another house. If it is this bad to get them to contact you trying to move into the place imagine what's going to happen if you have an urgent repair issue with the house or if you are trying to get your $4k deposit back ... they'll have all their kids sick, be on travel, lost their cell phone ...

I prefer rentals with a property management company.

George

Fixed it for ya.

this just opened up
APNewsBreak: Bulger lived in CA apartment 15 years - US news - msnbc.com

The last place I rented tagged us $1200 at the end for half the cost of replacement of 15 year-old carpet. The reason cited was for cat urine. We had spent about $500 on professionally cleaning the carpet two days before we left, no less. And the management company representative walked through with us the day before we left (the carpet was still damp from the cleaning) and through the place looked fine. Granted we had 2 cats. But not once did they ever soil the carpet. Our kids made plenty of messes, but definitely not the cats.

One of the reasons I'm glad I'm no longer a renter--none of that arbitrary, made-up crap that comes with renting. Of course, now I'm subject (I think that's the proper word) to the arbitrary crap of our state, local, and federal government, instead.

just got the lease agreement via email after a quick phone call answering some credit questions (I'm still on the ex's mortgage). Write checks tonight, have given notice to current landlord, will have to line up movers for both g/f and my place. Going to be a busy July...

Congrats.

Congrats, Todd. Moving sucks, but the new place sounds like it meets a lot of needs/wants.

no carpet in this place - all cherry hardwood floors. I hate carpet...