Yesterday DH and I went on our regular Sunday drive, but this time we had quite a few houses/property to look at. We're thinking of renting out our house in the city, and trying to find something affordable within a ten-mile radius of our town.

So the good news is: we found a house and one acre within a couple miles of the city.

The bad news is: it needs a little bit of work.

However, the main attraction to this place is the location -- it is entirely private! There's a house within sight, but at least a quarter mile away beyond a field. And on the other side of the house, just thick woods and no house for at least a mile or more. Although it is only an acre, the house is situated for privacy. The house is smallish, but has a full basement, which is good. The outside is white vinyl, with a good roof, cement front porch and large back deck. Inside, there's only two small bedrooms, an eat-in kitchen, den/living area, a very tiny living-room and/or entryroom and one bathroom. There's not alot of cabinets, and no dishwasher, which would have to be put in (I can't live without a dishwasher!). The windows are older, with storm windows on the outside; those would all need replacing too. Good hardwood floors in all but the kitchen/bath/hall, which would need some tile put down. And outside, some minor drainage problems that could be taken care of with a bit of work/landscaping and tractor. All in all, not too bad -- very promising.

I called the real estate agent, and she said the house/property was a foreclosure -- asking $40,900.00 But she said that she could pass along any offer we wished to make. We're thinking of offering $35,000.00 and maybe negotiating. Even at the asking price though, we could afford to buy this with cash! And the agent said that closing costs on cash deals would be less than $500.00.

We went back and looked at the place again today, and still liked it. We could also keep our house here in town, and rent it out for quite a nice little sum per month. The only thing is...it would deplete our savings somewhat, but we'd still have enough cash if we had any kind of emergency. Of course, this wouldn't entail touching any retirement funds either. So we're undecided, just mulling it over.

I've been sort of depressed for the past few days. For one thing, I'm SO tired of the neighbors on either side of us. One has gotten a barking brat of a dog, and the others just had a baby. Neither of them take care of their property, and this has made me lose interest in further improvements on our house, just wanting to get away from here. But this house would be great rental property.

I don't know what we'll do...it's just sort of a dilemma for me right now.

As for the 'kitten situation' ...well, they are still living next-door underneath the house. The lady (and her brother) who owns the house came by the other day, and we talked. I told her about the kittens under the house, and she said her brother would tell his son and wife, who are living in that house. In the meantime, the kittens (and assorted other cats) eat from the big pan of dry food I keep out on the backporch at all times. The kittens look healthy, and are getting fat...seem to be about 10 weeks old. However, all these cats/kittens are feral, and cannot be touched; they run at the slightest sound, so there's not much I can do for them except keep out plentiful food/water.

And so it goes....