Our lease is coming due and with these economic hard times we decided to make a proposal to the landlord because we have been good tenants in a building that has a lot of turnover lately. He denied our request and offered us a lower rent if we sign a 15 month lease.
Because we have talked about moving back to downtown Los Angeles since we moved away from there, we decided that maybe it was time to take the plunge. There is an apartment building that we have tried to get into for several years but it is always full. This would be a good sign, but for us it wasn't a good thing. It offers the lowest rents in all of downtown Los Angeles with ok amenities. We would have use of a fitness center (with sauna) and a lounge to entertain guests which has a flat screen TV and a kitchen and dining room table (nice). Now ... here is the sweet spot for the deal. We would have 2 underground parking spaces for a year that would be included in the price of the rent. There is central air and heat (aaahhh...) and a nice size kitchen (yes!). Right downstairs is the Grand Central Market. It is a very large, open air market which sells produce, meats, breads, spices and prepared meals.
Right now we pay for one underground parking spot and play the parking game with our other car on the street. The parking game is a very lucrative sport that we are blessed at because I work most days from home. This allows us to volley for a good, safe parking spot right in front of our building. This would be key to living in our neighborhood.
This morning we decided to do the "list". This list consists of Pros and Cons for each place. We have done it on every move we have made and it has helped us to make wise decisions. In the end, even though it looks like we would pay less if we stayed where we are, at the end of the year we would have spent more then the new place because we will give up our gym memberships, not have to buy an air conditioning unit and alleviate paying for parking. In the end, we save money by moving to the new place AND ... we will be back in downtown LA where we love to walk the streets and eat out (when we go out to eat) and where we have been doing most of our missional initiatives.
Time for change.
