April 03, 2007

Houseaversary II

You know the second year of homeownership is a lot less stressful than the first when your second anniversary of ownership comes and goes before you even remember.

Aside from a major plumbing issue back in December and an adventure with a resident rat in the fall, the past 12 months have been pretty smooth, house wise. My county and city taxes were drastically reduced (thanks Homestead exemption!), and because of that my monthly escrow payment dropped a whole $12. (Which covers Netflix, I guess!)

I've grown to love my little ramshackle house, sloping floor and jungle backyard included. Two more houses on my street have been renovated and the former rental property next door was recently purchased by a fabulous guy who loves landscaping. The yard already looks 100 percent improved. As for my own yard, the work my mom did last summer means I have less jungle to prune back and I have a brand new lawnmower that will hopefully start for every mow. (The lesson here is: don't buy the $99 model at Wal-Mart if you want it to last more than two summers.)

In a few months the government will make a decision about the future of the area Fort they're closing, which if they do what they say they're going to do, will be huge for the little old ITP municipality in which I reside.

Things are looking up on the South side, and even though there have been moments (and weeks and days) when I thought I made a terrible financial decision, I think it's going to be okay.

Posted by hannah at 11:45 AM