tonyandkirsten.org

This morning, about 66 hours after we saw our first rental property in Minneapolis, we made a decision on a place to live when we move here.  It was a pretty intense process.  I think we looked at somewhere between 20 and 25 rental properties in a little over two days. Most of those were in the first 24 hours!

We started looking at ads online in the week or so before we left on our trip to Minneapolis, and set up a lot of appointments without knowing very much about the different neighborhoods in the city.  After seeing our first round of places we came back to my Dad’s house and got a great tip from my Dad and Step-Mom to look at the Minneapolis Police Department website at crime statistic maps, which map out exactly where various violent and non-violent crimes happen each week.  We unfortunately found out that our favorite place thus far was in a very dangerous area.

After that we revised our plans a little bit and canceled some appointments for the next day and made new ones in areas that turned out to be safer.  We also went to the The Rock in Uptown Minneapolis on Friday night and got some advice and suggestions from people we met there.

We had one final duplex to look at on Saturday night, which we thought would be in a fairly nice area.  We fell in love with it.  It’s an old house that, unlike many rental properties, was actually well taken care of with beautiful wood work.  We made the appointment not knowing if the listed price included utilities or not, and if there would be any room to negotiate on price.  It turns out the price didn’t include utilities, so at face value it was out of reach for us.

However, this property had a unique feature.  The landlord was trying to rent it out as a three bedroom, but the third bedroom in the basement is actually part of a studio-sized apartment type area with its own kitchen, sitting area and bathroom. It has its own entrance that’s shared with the entrance for the 2nd floor tenants.  As the owner was showing us the property, he said (without any prompting from us) that if we ever wanted to rent out the basement as a separate place, we would be free to do that.

We were really excited about the place, and he was willing to give us a small break on the rent for the first couple of months, so we filled out an application.  On the way home, however, we discussed our budget and determined that even with the break on the rent for the first couple of months, we really wouldn’t be able to afford the place without really stretching our finances.  As we further discussed the situation, we decided that we should take another duplex we had looked at in another part of town. It wasn’t nearly as nice and the location wasn’t quite as good, but the rent was much lower and it seemed like we had negotiating room to get down to the price we had prayed for.

Then this morning, Tony made the call to the owner of the property we looked at last night to give him the bad news that we didn’t think we could afford his place, as much as we had liked it.  Amazingly enough, the owner made us an offer of two months of rent at the exact amount we had prayed to find a place at.  If we are able to rent out the studio apartment in the basement within those two months, it will be at minimum the same price as the other place we had planned to take, and at best it might end up being cheaper.

After a discussion of the risks involved with having to rent out the basement apartment, we decided the level of risk was acceptable, and we would take this property.  My half sister already told me she might have a friend looking for a place, and she will also talk to other friends to see if she can find anyone to take the apartment.  We also plan to network through contacts in the Rock here to see if they know of anyone.  Even if we have to advertise, since this basement apartment is pretty self-contained, we can rent it out to someone we don’t know with minimal risk or daily involvement — it won’t be any different then the fact there are already two women living in the upstairs apartment above us.

So, we are very happy with how this has all worked out.  We’re going to have a nice place with the right amount of space for a reasonable price in a good area. Please pray that God will quickly provide the right person to take the basement apartment.  Please also pray that our house sells quickly, since that will be a drain on our finances until it does no matter what amount of rent we are paying in Minneapolis!

We’ll be moving on January 8th and 9th, so mark those days on your calendars if you want to help! As far as we know we’ll be loading the truck on the 8th, then driving up to MN on either the night of the 8th or the morning of the 9th.  We don’t mind company for the trip up, so if anyone wants to also drive up with us to help us unload up north, please let us know!

Merry Christmas!

In my last post, I left things a little vague about where we are going to be spending our next two years. A great deal of that was because I had not actually met those I would be working with in Minnesota.

On Wednesday, I was able to make a day trip to the U of M to meet the research group and look around the campus.

It was a wonderful trip, and I saw no big warning signs in the group dynamics or working relationships. In fact, I saw a group that enjoyed one another, and was able to be productive in a low-stress environment.

So, I decided to take the job at the U of M.

It starts on January 15th, and so Kirsten and I are looking at rentals this weekend, and moving on January 8th.

We’re planning on plugging in with Evergreen in some way shape or form, most likely either serving at The Rock or The Urban Refuge.

What a whirlwind! And oh, so amazing!

Well, I’ve been doing what I said I would in the last post, and I’ve got some results to share.

First, I should let everyone know that I am currently planning on leaving Ames to take a postdoctoral research job. Everyone that I’ve committed myself to has given me the go-ahead to pursue my dream of being a professor! So, sometime in mid-January, Kirsten and I will be moving! The house if for sale, and everything! This is going to be such a change!

I’ve also been applying for postdocs, and have gotten two really great offers. One is at Notre Dame and the other is at the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities campus). I think I know which one I’m taking, but I’m waiting a week before announcing our decision publicly. If you’d like to know which way I’m leaning, please feel free to email me. But to be fair to both schools, and both made me wonderful offers, I want to take a little time before deciding, and I don’t want to publicly announce my leaning until I’ve let both schools know my decision.

So, that’s the update! All I can say is that a month ago I did not expect this many major life changes all at once, but man am I excited about the possibilities!