Sunday, August 26, 2007

We May Have A Weiner

I've been looking for a new place to live.

I really like the Cedar Brook Apartments in Independence.

My ex-step-daughter used to live there and I liked them then. Lots of charming features that you just can't find anywhere else. And the price can't be beat. It will be like getting a $200-$300 a month raise. And a swimming pool.

I'll have to downsize and sell some stuff. Like my 72" cherry executive office desk, 5 cherry bookcases and the books therein, an entertainment center that will accomodate a 25" TV and numerous audio visual components. A refridgerator, a gas stove, a washer and dryer. Definitely a nice china hutch and possibly a dining room table and six chairs.

If any of you have any personal experiences with Cedar Brook, I'd be very interested to hear from you. If any of you think you might want any of the stuff I will be shedding, I would also be interested in hearing from you in that regard. It's really nice stuff. I'd like to see it go to a good home.

9 comments:

FletcherDodge said...

So you're definitely ruling out buying a house? Seems like a good time to be a house buyer, given current market conditions.

Xavier Onassis said...

emaw - yes, I am definitely ruling out buying a house, for a whole variety of reasons.

Due to circumstances stemming from my last marriage, my credit is crap. With the whole sub-prime mortgage collapse, financing is getting harder to come by. Lenders are going back to the more traditional view that if you don't have at least 20% down and an income 4 times greater than the monthly payment, we don't want to talk to you.

And, from a strictly personal point of view, I'm pretty much over the "joys" of home ownership. I'm not a DIY kinda guy. I have tools, but everytime I touch one it costs me more money than it would have if I had just hired a professional in the beginning. I can't tell you how wonderful it was earlier this month when the air conditioning went out and all I had to do was pick up the phone and call Sherri. She put me up in a hotel for the night and had pros come in and replace both the AC and the heater. Total cost to me? Absolutely nothing. I also HATE yard work. Don't enjoy it all, not even a little tiny bit.

So, yeah. No house for me!

Jay said...

So, what is the rent on this oasis? I have always looked on the MO side of the state line and never found anything I liked but this looks great. Are these like town homes? Lots of steps? I guess i should look at the website.

The joy of home ownership? What is this joy that everyone talks about?I am in the same boat that you are with circumstances with credit. I hate yard work and I don't like to fix things, love the fact that I can call the office and wham bam, it's fixed. Priceless!

Xavier Onassis said...

jay - I don't have the price sheet in front of me, but the 2 bedrooms are between $700 and $750. They are very much like townhouses. Each unit has it's own entrance and your mail is delivered to your door. Each unit is on a single level. No steps unless you count the very small ones in the sunken living room.

Anonymous said...

I might be interested in your dining table and chairs and the bookshelves. Email me pictures!

Anonymous said...

Glad you found a place you like in your price range.

It's interesting how people want to live. I appreciate your lifestyle. I would wither away without my flowers, my weeds to pull, and this goddam big area full of these tall weeds that look like pumpkins without the pumpkins...well that's what you get for building a house in a hay field.

I have never had fake fingernails. I brush mine every day to wash the dirt out from digging digging digging.

As the World Turns

Xavier Onassis said...

travel - I have been steadily downsizing and simplifying my life since the divorce 5 years ago. I started the journey saddled with a huge 115 year old house, 2 mortgages, a ton of debt and all of the crap one accumulates over 10 years of marriage. I sold the house, declared bankruptcy and left behind truckloads of junk that I just didn't care about anymore, including a lot of people that I once foolishly thought of as friends.

I bought new baggageless stuff where neccessary, I made new friends, I changed jobs, dropped some bad habits, fell in love and settled into a smaller, quieter life.

This is just the next phase in the process of finding a sustainable lifestyle. Having lots of "things" just isn't as important to me as it used to be.

Anonymous said...

XO, long as you have a happy place, one that provides a home for you and those you love, well that's what counts.

We had a lot of things too...things we collected over the years till they filled to overflowing a couple of outbuildings. Funny thing though, not much fits in a casket.

Well, I could write a book on what that kind of downsizing does to your life. What's important is the happiness in the home, wherever it is, no matter how big it is, etc.

I hope you love it there.

KC Sponge said...

I would love the challenge of a 500 square foot home. I would have to get rid of all my junk and just have a lot less stuff. Life would be easier. Life would really be easier if my husband didn't have like 10 projects going at once - he ripped out the shower upstairs (you know, because it was leaking a little and he wanted to know how to fix it - he never figured THAT out) and the toilet doesn't work downstairs, we have painted every room like 10 times and never really trimmed it, there was a tear in one of our screens on the front porch, so he decided it would look better with no screens at all - oh, and let's tear up the flooring down there as well - and yeah, building a new stoop will be easy. I love our trees and flowers - but what is our parks and boulevards system for if not for giving me something to share with my neighbors? And I'm paying taxes to have someone else upkeep them - so having my own is just selfish and a waste of time. =) Neighbors are nice - but I want more of them and I want them closer! Goodness - to have the husband understand!! =D