An abode; dwelling; roof over one's head.
A house, somewhere to call home, is a necessity. It's somewhere you can call yours. A place to sleep, eat, live, hide away from the world -- your safe space.
My partner and I rent. We would love to buy our own property one day, and it's no secret that I hope that my Hive earnings will one day contribute towards that dream, but for the time being we're stuck with the uncertainty of renting.
Last year, the house we live in was put up on the market. It was originally owned by my partner's uncle who had bought it for his mother to live in, but when she became too ill and needed to be put into a retirement home, his uncle dusted his hands of the house and wanted it gone.
From what I can gather on the real estate website that tracks purchases and sales of houses, he actually sold this house at a $20,000 loss... during a time when house prices are rising faster than ever! I bet he's kicking himself. Or maybe he just wanted to get rid of the house that desperately. I don't know.
Either way, the lady who bought the house from him... she bought it for her father who was ill at the time. If he was able to return to full health, he was going to move in here. In the meantime we got a one year lease, with the fear looming over our heads that once the lease was up, that would be that, we would have to find somewhere else to live.
Normally that's not too much of a bad thing. A new place to live? Whatever... However, in my region we are currently in the midst of a housing crisis. There are families on the streets, living in tents, in their cars, overflowing their friends' houses. There is not enough housing here for the population. If a house becomes available for rent, a hundred odd families swarm for it... and obviously only one of them gets it.
We did not want to have to go through that.
Listed for rent right at this very moment, are 6 properties. That's in my small regional city and nearby suburbs. Three of them are one bedroom units. One of them is an overpriced one bedroom apartment by the river. And two of them are actual family-suitable houses. None of them are pet-friendly.
Yesterday, when the real estate reopened after their Christmas holidays, we sent them an email and asked them to contact the owner to find out if we would be allowed to stay on. If not, would it be possible to stay here on a week-to-week basis while trying to find somewhere else, anywhere else.
This morning, we received our answer -- "Owners are happy for you to stay. New lease to be signed in April. Rent will be increasing by $10 a week." -- and in that moment, a wave of relief swept over us.
And so, at this moment, right now, I am grateful that we will still have a roof over our heads and we will not have to live in a tent in the backyard of a friend's house.
Thank you @queenstarr for inviting me to participate in this Ladies of Hive contest. ❤️
I would like to invite @emuse to participate, to let us know what she is most grateful for today/at this moment in time. 😊
This is my first time participating in the Ladies of Hive community. I would just like to say a big, "Hello!" to everyone, and to thank you for taking the time to read this post. 💕
Until next time! 👋
❤️✨❤️