Friday, April 11, 2008

House hunting - part two

My very dear readers,

You are an amazingly sweet lot! I never expected so many of you to respond so fast, tho' I did go popping into a few blogs to request opinions.. Thank you SOOOOO MUCH for the responses, and it helped so in clearing the cobwebs in my mind.

Almost all of you immediately zeroed in in a duplex not being suitable for a toddler. I guess it is a glaringly obvious thing, but it WAS such a cute house Sigh! Maybe for some lovey-dovey newly married couple to play running and catching on those stairs, perhaps.. SIGH! We said No to the brokers of that duplex yesterday.

We decided that we'd not commit to the apartment, so the husband didn't accompany me, but I went alone to the apt to meet the caretaker yesterday. It is precisely 11 km from my office, not too far actually..., but again, while I looked over the place, a vague sense of unrest stole over me. If it was so good, why was it going so cheap? The amenities are all quite nice actually, and it ought to have cost a bomb, but it didn't. Why? Maybe perverse thinking on my part, but really, why ?

Somehow the house didn't give off a good aura from inside. It was a two storey building and this and another on top of this were the only two flats facing south. Ok, so this one was unoccupied, but I was checking the flat above this one and that one's balconies too looked pretty sad. All the other homes in that complex were filled with pots and flowers and clothes hanging out and cycles and general homely messes, but not these two.

I dunno anything about the other flat on top, but regarding this one, the caretaker had told us that there was a bachelor who stayed there for just 6 months, and he went back to Delhi as he was transferred back, and since it was a company rented flat, the company stopped paying rent.

Now- tell me which bachelor takes up a 3 bedroomed HUGE flat? Even if he were planning to get married, he would surely look at a 2 bed place inititally?So he had to be married, but wasn't able to bring his family along. Which was sad.
And somehow, I keep wondering if the Co stopped paying rent because they sacked him and that was why he went back..? to Delhi? I'm not generally so morbid. I'm the eternal optimist, while the husband is the pessimist. But somehow this thought stole in and would get out from the recesses of my mind. The house seemed to have SOME unhappy history to it.

And I was reminded of one of the houses we'd stayed in on rent.
The owners had bought the house from a friend of theirs. These original owners were super rich, with plenty of property in their name. They built this one - a two storied house in a prominent residential area, for their son. But this house somehow proved not so lucky for them. They started losing their riches slowly. The parents passed away. The son lost in everything he invested in and gradually started living on loans. Finally the son went so bankrupt that he was forced to sell the house. To our landlords.

Who were doing quite ok for themselves tho' they weren't particularly well off. When they bought this house, they decided to give the ground floor on rent so they could use the extra income. Both of us were new to the place- them the owners- a family of four and us the tenants. But the lady used to tell me how they were finding it difficult to manage expenses which semed to just keep mounting. She could have been laying the base for a rent hike soon, but somehow I don't think she was, and we maintained the same rent for the whole year . When we moved in, I had just gotten a new job. A good one. The husband got himself an office car. This added to the discontent of the owners, who didn't have a car. I started getting bloody irritated and got increasingly so with the BIL, contributing to a lot of ill -will at times between the husband and me. Our landlord lost his mother while he was in that house. My new company shut shop after 6 months. And my father's kidney took a turn for the worse and I lost him while in that house.

We moved out after a year and a half. I keep thinking I'll go by that house one of these days, but I haven't so far. For while we still maintain extremely cordial relations with our houseowners prior to this house, in this house, our owners used to envy us even a pot we bought! Not a pleasant thing to happen. Though we invited them to our housewarming, they didn't come.

So you see, while I myself feel I'm stupid to believe about unhappy auras for houses, I DO believe in that.

So although I went to the apt last evening, thinking to pay a token advance of a 1000k to the caretaker which wouldn 't be a loss even if we stood to lose it, at the last minute I didn't pay him anything. I told him I would come tomorrow. Outside a swimming coaching class was on in full swing, and I was left thinking how much Sonny boy would have enjoyed staying there..

It was nice & breezy at 5 in the evening, there were children of his age, plenty of place for him to cycle (his current craze), walkways for us to walk, place to park two cars, a gym with enough equipment in it, a tennis court, it was close to his school (and to some 5 IT complexes), near enough to the main road, but yet secluded... quite idyllic, isn't it? But yet, something about it made me not quite happy.

The husband had already told me that if I wasn't happy, not to break my head over it and that there was no mad hurry to settle on a house. And then, last night I read all of your comments. Many of you advising me to wait before I committed in case I wasn't a 100% sure.
So its back to square one again.

Sonny boy says to us when we return late from office sometimes, "I waiting, waiting, waiting, WAITing for you!!" Like wise, we're back to searching, searching, searching, SEARCHing for a house.
Thanks a million for your comments which helped so much.

Awaiting my next home-to-be,
Yours warmly,
JLT.

13 comments:

Mama - Mia said...

well!! :)

all the best then!! this post touches a chord somewhere because the house we are currently staying in has been awfully good to us! (touchwood). both of us got better jobs, i got legally documented by getting passport, license, pan card after 26yrs of existnece and most importantly cubby happened easily when it was meant to be a difficult task!

so even tho its on 3rd floor and our parents find it difficult we are in no rush to move! parents come twice a year and they say they can manage!

and the hose with it lovely breezy and well lit rooms, inspite of horrid blue colour on the outside, gives out lovely vibes! :)

so am glad you went by your instinct! why take a risk?!! :)

come home someday soooon! :)

hugs

me! :)

Mama - Mia said...

ps: you need to buy ad mag on friday, make calls on fri to homes that look good and see em sat and finalise by sun! latest mon morning! :)

and we saw all 40 houses together! zooming behind the brokers on our bike! and dont even get me started on horror houses with atrocious rents we saw! hehe!!

Anusha said...

JLT: I didn't get your comment by email for some reason, but I did read that part 1 post yesterday. personally I dont mind the duplex (thats what we have now) but I see the perspective in India is completely different - so there wasn't much for me to contribute to your post.

and hey, I am totally with you on the aura thing...the house has to feel right - which is so hard to describe wiht words. you have to walk away from it, feeling pleasant, wanting to go back in. so hang in there till you find one that fits the bill, and good luck in your search.

Lavs said...

I am glad you made some progress. And please do not ignore your instincts. It’s God’s way of letting you know subtle messages from Him. Am sending some good luck your way. Hope you find a good home soon.

Poppins said...

Oooh I missed your previous post, sorry about that. I live in an apartment myself and would only recommend that for people with kids, especially when both of you go to work. So that would have been my option. Since the apartment itself sounds nice, could you check to see if another flat is available there?

The flat has to feel right to you, no point in moving there otherwise. Good luck with the hunt !

dipali said...

Gut feel is so important.
You will be guided to the house that is right for you, but it may take a little time. What is the worst case scenario? If there's a good school bus service, may be you don't need to move at all. Even such little kids get used to long rides- mine was five when we moved to Kochi- his school was almost 20km away. Hope I'm not confusing you further. All the best for your search:)

Choxbox said...

totally with you. good luck - am sure you'll find the right one sooner or later.

K 3 said...

House hunting is such a tough thing ... we went through it last year. But I think moving is even worse! ;) Not that I want to put a damper ... I am sure you will find the right one soon. BTW, like someone said whats the worse case scenario? Also looks like you have some time until Sonny boy's school starts ... Good luck!

~nm said...

Tagged you! Pick it here!

Compulsive Dreamer said...

Hi,

Have sent you a couple of emails. Do check.

aMus said...

i'm so glad you decided to listen to your instinct...

all te best in your house hunt...

:)

Squiggles Mom said...

I totally believe that houses have vibes to them and you should listen to yourself. I'm so glad you didn't go for that place.
We're in a rented place at the moment and I never got good vibes from this place but for various reasons DD forced me to go in for it. On the face of it there isn't anything wrong with our place, just there aren't those happy vibes. And really I am not a fanciful person otherwise. Not superstitious.
So relieved you decided to look around. I think you'll know when you see it. You will feel like it is home.

Usha said...

I am sure you will find something soon - and it is worth the wait especially since you seem to believe in the aura of the house etc.
What was that about paying 1000K to the caretaker. That is a lot of money isn't it?