Pen-Elayne on the Web

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

White Rabbits, and Gong Hei Fatt Choy. Our annus horribilus is over; the upstairs neighbors have moved out! I think they beat the midnight deadline by five minutes; needless to say, the earplugs were in from the time I got home to the time I lay down, as they took at least 12 hours to move out throughout the day (remember, according to the house rules they've never obeyed they're supposed to stop such activities at 5 PM) with help from their extended family, every single one of whom stomped about so it's pretty clear they were just raised in an atmosphere where this sort of noise isn't thought of as rudeness (and where downstairs neighbors aren't thought of at all). But they're gone, and I feel like a great weight has just been lifted from my shoulders, or at least from above my head.

Now the fun begins. Yeah, at last I can restart my life and cook and clean and watch TV and go on the exercise bike and just plain relax - in other words, do all the stuff I couldn't when they were around - and I've taken this week off work to accomplish precisely that, but we just got our rent increase notice and it's not pretty. We always knew we weren't staying here another year; the $100 requested monthly increase we just received seals that. We were pushing the current rent as it was this past couple years; the new rent effectively puts this unit out of our range. Because of shenanigans like this, which technically make our building a co-op but practically make it an apartment building, we're not subject to rent regulations, so the sponsor (our overtenant) can request whatever increase they feel like imposing. And we already asked, just out of curiosity, and they're not interested in selling to us. So we're out of here, and now we only have three months in which to find and move into our new abode.

Therefore, I implore again: If you know of a reasonably-priced townhouse for sale with quiet neighbors and within walking distance of public transit to and from New York City, or any realtors that deal with such houses, please e-mail me immediately. At this point we're thinking Union County, NJ, where I grew up, but I wouldn't mind anywhere in the five boros (unlikely due to housing prices here) or the surrounding area. I'm counting on you, my bloggy friends; thanks in advance!

Update: Thanks to inspiration from Sarah Dyer (link at sidebar), we'll be going to open houses in Staten Island tomorrow. Reasonable prices, low property taxes, lots of places close to express buses and upwind of the infamous dumps - it appears this may be just what we're looking for.