Winning the Lottery

There has been a lot going on behind the scenes here lately. For those of you who don't already know, we are moving! Holy cow. We have lived in our current place since March 2001 (which is a lot of time to fill a place up). We have thought about moving several different times over the last 10 years, but we always stayed put. Always decided it was more trouble than it was worth.

We've been wanting to buy something for a long time and we thought we were getting really close (we still are, compared to where we were 4 years ago - Hello, Housing Market of Insanity), but with a static income and raising inflation in every other aspects of our lives (groceries, gas, health insurance, etc, etc), we aren't quite there yet. Neither Brad or I have any desire to be house poor. We know the right time to buy will come (heck its almost here!), but if we live where we can (almost) afford to buy today, we can't afford to commute to where the rest of our lives are right now. And if we buy where our lives are centered, we can't afford the mortgage. So we are still waiting.

BUT! That doesn't mean there aren't some interesting alternatives in the meantime! One of the (many!!) benefits available to Brad as a student at UCSD, is his access to student housing. We had talked about putting ourselves on (the very long) wait-list as soon as he was eligible and as the time came, it turned out having Elliott provided a perk beyond his cute personality and winning smile: Brad gained top priority in housing!

Now we aren't talking about dorms or on-campus apartments you share with other people.  UCSD has an extensive 'affiliated housing' program for qualifying students and faculty.  I always had called these units 'married student housing' when I was a student, because that's pretty much who lived there.  The complexes are off-campus and depending on your circumstances you are eligible to apply for certain units. You are then placed on a wait-list and you get access to a spot based on priority, single people with no roommates have lowest priority and families have highest!

Most of the units in the complexes available to us are two bedrooms...but, there are also a few choice three bedroom units as well (think 9, 3-bedrooms compared to 678, 2-bedroom units).  Brad was eligible for 2-bedroom unit almost immediately (0-3 month wait) and the 3-bedrooms had a wait-list of about a year for families. Unfortunately, it also turned out that the 3-bedrooms units are further broken down with priority given to applicants with 3 or more children, regardless of how long someone was on the list. So, if someone had 3+ kids, they always get first dibs, then 2 kids, then 1 kid, then couples. So basically, it was highly improbably to get one of these 3-bedroom units with 1 child.

Now, what is the advantage to living in one of these complexes, you might ask? It all comes down to money. The complexes are operated by the university. They aren't subsidized housing, but the university isn't in the apartment management business either, so they also aren't trying to make a profit. The rent taken in, is what they use to run and maintain the complexes (or at least this is what the official statement is).  This means, that Brad and I can afford to live close to campus (AND close to my office!!), without having to pay the premium of living in the area. A comparable (non-affiliated) unit to what we live in now, would probably go for about $400 more a month than what we are paying currently. A 3-bedroom would probably go for about $1000+ more than our current rent. However, the affiliated housing rents for a 2-bedroom are currently $200 LESS than what we are paying and the 3-bedroom is $100 less! Add in gas savings and convenience (there's a shuttle stop within the complex that goes directly to campus!) - talk about a difference!

So we decided to go for it. Despite turning one 2-bedroom into another (something we NEVER intended to do), we thought it would be worth it to move...then camp out on the wait-list for a 3-bedroom unit. It was very nerve wracking to know you were going to be moving, but not know when. We could have got a call anytime. We were really hoping it would be before school started for Brad and before school started for Elliott (!! - more on this in another post!).  I was dreading a move right after Brad's first quarter begins, since I knew that would mean so much more stress for me and loss of focus for Brad.  And despite knowing what our chances were of getting a 3-bedroom, we still listed it as our bottom preference (out of our three preferences) on our wait-list application. What the heck, right? 

So, can you guess where this is going? :D  The day we came back from vacation, Brad got a voice-mail. He was in the other room and I could here this "HUH! OMG! Um...O - M - G!"  Then he came into where we were with wide eyes, trying to fumble with his phone to get it on speaker and replay the message. I was like "WHAT? WHAT?" And then it dawned on me what was happening...and I said "NO! YOUR KIDDING!" 

WE GOT A 3-BEDROOM!!

And we took it - more or less sight unseen. And as I am writing this, we still haven't been inside. We got the address, so before we turned in our acceptance letter, we did see the unit from the outside. It's downstairs (I was petrified of living with a running toddler - and I do believe toddlers should be able to run around in their own homes - over anyone without kids), which was a major relief. We were also able to look into a couple windows: the kitchen (I can't tell you how happy I am to have a window in my kitchen - and the window trumps the fact that there's even darker (what!?!) butcher block laminate on the cupboards than what we already have) and two of the bedrooms.  The two bedrooms were good sized, so even if the 3rd is smaller, it will all be fine. I have no idea about anything else. I don't know anything about the living room or dining room, but I think that they may be on the small side from what I saw of another unit's open window while we were there.

What I do know is this: 

a) there is grass...everywhere.
b) there are families, something our current complex is lacking.
c) we have our own playground.
d) there's walking trails throughout the complex.
e) we have our own community garden.
f) we have our own coffee shop.
g) electricity comes with our rent.
h) Elliott will have his own room :)
i) which means, mommy and daddy will have their own room!
j) we are ecstatic!