I'd love to buy (because The Boy's house has many shortcomings), but in order to do that, The Boy would have to sell his house, because we can't handle 2 mortgages. And since this is a shitty market for sellers, it ain't happening.

Or I could buy and we could rent this place out, but I don't think we want to be landlords.

Good job, Cash!

I didn't buy the first place I looked at, because I could't really afford the first ones I looked at. I finally went with the second cheapest condo community I could find. I'm far from in love with it, but I get so much back in taxes each year that it makes it worthwhile to live here. When I get out of credit card debt, I may look at upgrading to a different community or putting in the things here that would make me like it a little better, like a washer/dryer hookup.

Go, Cashmere!

The place I currently live was the 4th of 5 apartments I looked at after finding out I was getting the boot from the Greenstone, and the only one that I really liked on a gut level right off the bat. The 5th had a similar floorplan and the required hardwood floors, but I liked the wall colors better and the big east-facing arched windows really sold me on it.

My current apartment is the only one I looked at in person when I rented it.

I'd looked at a lot of stuff online and read about various places, but this had everything I wanted in the right price range. And except for a few minor issues (like the neighbors, but they've been better lately) have no regrets.

Or I could buy and we could rent this place out, but I don't think we want to be landlords.

Just to encourage you in this. Owning just one property, or even just a few is the worst way to be a landlord. One bad tenant and all the rent they paid for years ends up being made up for by the damage they did. And you can't afford a full time handyman to to cover a lot of the cost of repairs the way someone with a lot of units can. In general there is a lot of management and decision that is almost as hard whether you have one unit or a hundred. You put in a lot more work per for the rent you get back if you are renting just one unit.

Sara, the place is cute. Looks less of a shotgun than I'd anticipate.

We have had an awesome day. Went to Grace's place, where we learned they are now doing activities on Sat and Sun too because of a state social services visit that did not go well. So we had play with Grace time instead! YAY.

Then we went to a photo shoot for the hapa project, mixed race kids version. It took less than 10 minutes and the photographer was interesting to watch work. Not a lot of unnecessary movement or the rest and he took maybe 4 photos of Noah. Which probably means Noah has no chance of getting in the book.

We walked around Manhattan Beach and now we are home. I'm off to go to a drill team competition and I still have a ton of grading to do. Sigh.

Hubby and I were discussing the military today, specifcially his family's history in the military, and the phrase "brown shoes and dolphins" came up. He won't tell me what it means, aside from it being in reference to the Navy, and he told me to ask the board. For what it's worth, we were discussing his uncle who was in Naval Intelligence and who would show up in different uniforms when the phrase came up, and he was known to wear brown shoes and dolphins at the same time.

Shipboard (surface or sub) sailors wear black shoes, aviation type sailors wear brown shoes. Warfare specialist ensignias have either wings (aviation warfare specialist), waves and crossed swords (surface warfare) or dolphins (submarine warfare). It would be the rare being, indeed, who would be wearing a mix of aviation and submarine clothes and pins.

Pins: [link]

ETA: Also, the shoes would only be noticed among the officers and chief petty officers. Lower enlisted ranks all wear black shoes.

If you have a place you need to rent - I'd go with a property management co. They have everything all figured out -- They also usually have someone they can call to do the little jobs - like fix an overhead fan motor , etc. OTH, unless you are truly going crazy I would wait to sell.

and I have o idea what that means, connie