Possibilities

A couple weeks ago Jon and I were driving home from lunch with friends when he brought up his boss's condo. We had originally looked at the condo a year ago to see if it was a better deal to rent than the current apartment we are in. My first thoughts of the place were "that's ugly," referring to the outside of the building. It was an ok condo. It seemed a little bit smaller than our current apartment and not much cheaper. We ultimately passed on it. I couldn't justify paying $50 less a month when we get free cable and a few workout room at our current place.

Anyways, we were driving home when Jon mentioned Ryan (his boss) talking to him about renting the condo. Ryan had asked Jon if we would rent the condo for around $400 and Jon said probably not. Then Ryan asked Jon if the answer was still no even if the rent was $200. Jon said he didn't know for sure but probably not. When asked why he said because his wife thinks it's ugly. At the mention of $200 a month my eyes widened and my mouth dropped and I quickly told Jon that yes I would rent it for $200. I told him I could stand ugly if the price was right.

Once we got home we discussed the effects that renting at that price would have on us. We would save about $300-$400 a month depending upon whether we get cable and what our utilities are. These savings would immediately go towards our debt/savings plan resulting in us paying off all our debt (one credit card and student loans) at least a year sooner. That includes having enough in savings for our emergency fund (6 months worth of expenses) and enough for a 10% down payment on a house. Seeing those numbers made me ecstatic! I wanted to jump at it and move in. I asked Jon to find out if Ryan was serious about that price and if/when the current tenants would be moving out.

Hope fell when Jon returned with the answers a few days later. Ryan didn't know if the tenants were going to move out in September when their lease ended or if they were going to renew. This was a downer because our lease is up in June and if we knew for sure we could move into the condo in the fall, we would go to a month-to-month lease. However, at this point it looks like we will be renewing our lease for another six months. The second downer was Ryan wasn't serious about $200. He told Jon for us to think of how high we will go and he would talk to his wife about what they can afford. There's still the possibility he would go down that far, but right now it looks pretty slim.

I'm trying to stay optimistic while being realistic, but it's hard. I think of what we could do with additional savings and I get excited. But then I remember it's not a guarantee and even several months out before we know anything for sure. I guess the old adage is true: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. But there's still hope.