Nuestra Casa

I haven't written an update post in a while, so let's recap... When I wrote the post, "Homeless, Kinda," we had just been notified that our contract at our boutique hotel wasn't going to be renewed and that we were going to move into a lackluster rental house in La Cruz that I wasn't at all excited about.  

BUT...like, 10 seconds after I hit "publish" on that blog post we were notified that the landlord was backing out of the agreement we made months prior and didn't want to rent to us anymore because of Bloo.  Um, WHAT???  Clearly she needs to be educated on how much of a perfect gentleman he is, but I digress.  This was at the end of August and we needed to be out of our temporary summer digs by September 22nd.  Awesome!  So... With 3 weeks left and no where to go, yours truly started to panic just a tiny bit about actually being homeless.  I may have even called Ty in (crazy lady) tears while he was golfing when I found out our agreement fell through, but you can't prove it.   

Thankfully, the rental agent knew of another house that would allow Bloo and we were able to work out a deal and move in on our original move-in date.  Phew.  I don't know what it is or how he does it, but Ty just makes things work out.  I keep saying that his Engvall luck is going to run out eventually, but for my sanity's sake, I reeeeeally hope it doesn't. 

Our new place is probably the biggest house we've ever lived in together, and it's more space than we need/care to have, but we're diggin our new home.  And that's the best part:  I get to use the word HOME without thinking, "Well... Home-ish," after I say it.  For the last couple of years, we've very literally been living in someone else's home, among their clothes, decor, family photos...even toothbrushes.  So, having a space we can finally customize to our liking (well, to a point, I'm not allowed to paint the walls...boooo), has felt really satisfying.  

Our humble abode... 

For the Curious Georges back home wondering what the cost of living is like in our part of Mexico... We are renting a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house in a small, gated community.  Included with the rent is water, garbage, landscaping, 24-hour security and access to the large community pool.  We are 2 blocks from the beach and a 15-minute walk to downtown La Cruz.  Our house also has A/C, a large Smart TV and it came with all the large furniture like beds, couches, dressers, tables, etc.  For all of this we pay.....drum roll please....$800 USD per month.  (But don't even get me started on the fact that we have to pay our Mexican landlord in DOLLARS in Mexico where we earn pesos.  So annoying.)  

Like anywhere, rent ranges greatly based on location and the duration of your lease... We're kinda on the outskirts of town, so our rent is pretty cheap compared to downtown or more "exciting" neighborhoods (like beachfront, duh.)  We also have to pay for our own gas, electricity and WiFi so in total we pay about $900 USD per month.  (I'm guessing some people back home thought we paid much less because "Mexico is so cheap," am I right?)  

We signed a year lease, so it's comforting to know we aren't going to be homeless again for a while.  We'd really like to buy or build a house here, but there just isn't a lot of inventory in our price range considering we'd have to pay in cash and we can only buy "titled" land.  (Versus "Ejido" land, which can only be owned by a Mexican National.)  So, our options are very limited in the housing market unfortunately.  

We haven't told our parents this yet (or my bestie cousin, Hilary, who's been begging us to move back to Portland for 2.5 years)... But we actually put an offer on a (major) fixer-upper in our little neighborhood a few weeks ago.  We were really excited about it, but the owner came back asking for an outrageous number considering it needs $40K in renovations, so the deal didn't go anywhere.  Those of you who know us well (or have read my other blog), know that Ty likes to buy the worst house in a good neighborhood and then ask me to fix it up - the same would have been true if we bought this house.  The previous tenant was a legit dog hoarder and it is in rough shape. (No pun intended, haha.)  I got really excited at the prospect of getting to wield a sledge hammer and power tools again, but it looks like that's not happening any time soon.  

Anyway... Not much else is new with us, but we're still alive and well and enjoying our new home.  I'm off to shop for last-minute stocking stuffers for my Swedish Grinch and precious pup.  Merry Christmas from your three favorite dorks south of the border!