You Pinspire Me
As our first house goes on the market 6 years after we first purchased it, I find myself getting nostalgic about our first days of House Hunting. We were just looking for a house that we could afford, but we never dreamt that we’d find a house that wouldn’t cost us anything!
As a young, fairly newly married couple who each came to the table carrying student debt, our house-buying prospects were low. We knew that we wanted to own, yet we had such a low ceiling on the mortgage that we could handle given the amount of debt that we were servicing at the time. Our oh-so-wise Realtor, Gloria Payton, expanded our house search slightly out of our price range and we were both confused and intrigued by a house that popped up one day on our daily search – a 4-level backsplit semi-detatched on the west mountain, about $35,000 out of our price range.
But it was pretty, and we really do love going to look at houses, so Gloria booked the showing and off we went. Turns out that the house had rental potential – and we realized that if we bought the house but rented out two of the floors, we’d actually be paying less monthly than if we bought a cheaper house and lived in it all by our lonesome!
We talked about it a little more and soon came to the conclusion that while we had no kids, there was nothing to stop US from being the basement occupants and renting out the upstairs (and far more beautiful) half of the house for slightly MORE than what we’d be paying for our monthly mortgage payments!
I think that most people who know us would agree that an apt term for both of us would be pragmatic – so it’s no surprise that once our offer was accepted and all was said and done, on the day that we got the key to the house we moved into the basement. Rather, we moved all our crap into the upstairs half of the house, gave the basement a MUCH NEEDED facelift, and then moved down into the basement suite.
I won’t lie: when you fall in love with a house, it’s not easy to let someone else occupy the most beautiful (and recently renovated) part of it before you ever get to, while you’re relegated to the lower, definitely more ‘basement’ levels. However, it was more than roomy-enough for us two and the mini schnauzer, it was cool in the summer and warm in the winter – especially with that delicious gas fireplace in the livingroom.
Our decision to make a few small sacrifices for a couple of years resulted in us (A) being able to afford a larger house in a better neighbourhood with a bigger yard, (B) being able to pay down our debt MUCH more quickly than we would have been able to otherwise, and (C) being able to afford to make some much-needed improvements to the house and property.
When we finally made the long-awaited transition upstairs when I was pregnant, we rented out the downstairs apartment which paid for half of our monthly mortgage payment! After that couple went off to buy their own house, we decided to repatriate the downstairs livingroom, and we now rent out the downstairs bedroom and share the rest of the space with a young fellow who pays for about 1/3 of our monthly mortgage payment.
While the basement apartment is a paradise compared to what it used to be, it certainly isn’t HGTV-worthy. It’s a basement apartment, not private spa retreat. But ya know what? It doesn’t need to be. It has paid for sooo much of our life in the past 6 years – building a new privacy fence, a hurricane-proof shed (figuratively, of course), excavation & waterproofing of our foundation walls, a back deck, a custom built fireplace mantle & shelving unit, a new basement bathroom, and refinishing the hardwood flooring. We planned on living here for another 10 years, at least, so when we did things, we did them well.
I love our house. I love how flexible it has been for whichever living situation we’ve found ourselves in over the past 6 years. I love my huge vegetable garden, I love my neighbours, I love that this house has actually made us money while we’ve been living in it.
I’m going to be sad to say goodbye to it – I hope that this house finds new owners who will appreciate its flexibility as much as we have – but I am really excited about the next adventure on which we’re about to set out: my husband’s Grad School program at the U of T. The time has come for our ‘Giving House’ to give the last of its’ gifts: tuition & living expenses.
By the way: If you’re interested in taking a look at our house, here’s the virtual tour and here’s the MLS Listing. We’re told that there’s already an offer being prepared, but we’re not accepting any offers until Monday night, April 27 2015 at 8pm, so Hurry Up! Come to the Open House on Sunday afternoon!
I’d love to hear from you on this – have or would you rent out part of your house? Would you ever give up the more beautiful part of your house to help you make dreams into reality?
Jenn vanOosten
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Awww. I love this post.
1. You can learn so much from it.
2. Its a piece of your heart.
Good luck on your next phase!
Thanks, Kyla!!
I’m excited for you guys! …but Anneke will miss her friends almost as much as you will miss your Giving House. We’ll have to get together now and again.
I’ve probably told you this, but we’ve rented off and on as well. We started out renting the upstairs of a house while another married couple lived in their own basement just as you two did. We went from that house to a house where we started out by renting the basement and one bedroom upstairs on our level. After a couple of years (two upstairs tenants later) we rented only the basement. Then a few years later we transitioned to renting to Tim’s Mom, a whole new adventure! This co-living arrangement was so mutually beneficial that when we all grew out of the space we decided to make intergenerational living a permanent thing and we found the perfect house for a family of three adults and two children. I have loved all three of these houses. And though I truly love my current home, I still get a little weepy about the house that I brought babies home to for six years from time to time.
Best of luck with the sell, and all the adventures to come!
Jolene
Aww, yeah, we’ll for sure have to do that! I asked Anneke this morning if she misses Daddy, and she said, “And Anna and Nathan, too!”
Yes – mutually beneficial housing arrangements = HUGE WIN for everyone! I love that you guys are multigenerational – the girls will benefit from that SO much as they grow up!
What a great post! Are you staying in Hammertown? Ive never lived in Hamilton but I grew up in Dunnville so almost every weekend I pretty much lived in Hamilton, what a great city! I miss shopping there, everything is so overpriced in Niagara (unless u hop across the border)
Thanks, Dayna! Yup – we’re staying in Hamilton – just going to rent for a couple years until we figure out where life will be sending us after Grad School. 🙂