On Being Homeless

     "The Art of Being Homeless" is a title that caught my attention.  It was offered on one of my free ebook websites that I get regularly and thinking it was a philosophical writing about minimalism or down-sizing I downloaded it on my Kindle without reading the summary.  Come to find out, it was a novel about a woman who lost everything in a nasty divorce and decided to move to Greece on a whim!  I have yet to read it . . . .
     As I get closer and closer to putting my house on the market (next month) and think more and more about not having a place to call "home", I have started to see things a little differently.  I'm finding that being without a permanent address - in the US or in France - will cause some difficulties.  I had thought about getting a PO box, but credit card companies and the DMV require a street address.  I suppose I could ask Andy if I could use his address (as he has used mine in the past), which would solve some problems in the US.
     However, without a permanent address in France I will not be able to get a residency visa or buy a car or open a bank account.  So, what do I do?  I'm going to use this blog post to put my thoughts "on paper", as it were, and list some pros and cons regarding housesitting vs home buying.  (I think I might be on to Plan E!)
     Here  are the pros of housesitting:
1)  No mortgage or rent payments (that's a big pro for me).  That would free up about $1500 a month if you include insurance, utilities and taxes.  I love the idea of having that much more money a month to play with - literally!
2)  I can experience different towns and village and even different regions before I decide to buy.
3)  If I delay buying a house until I am 65 (in about 30 years! ha!) I will qualify for reduced property taxes, utilities, etc.
4)  Many houses come with the use of a vehicle so I wouldn't have to buy a car right away.
5)  I would not be responsible financially for any problems that might arise with the houses such as pipes bursting or an appliance not working, etc.

Here are the cons of housesitting:
1)  I would not be able to have guests unless they are willing to stay in a hotel.
2)  From what I have read in my house sitting manuals and newsletters, many homeowners prefer couples to house sit.  I guess they think that a single woman can't handle problems that might arise.
3)  If the homeowners have pets they want me to take care of they might not want CoCo there as there is no guarantee that their pets and mine will get along.
4)  If the homeowners do not have pets, it's probably because they don't want pets in their house and therefore CoCo would not be welcome.
5)  I need monthly massages and CoCo will need a vet and a groomer.  If we are constantly moving I think it will be hard to have consistency with any of those professionals.
6)  I will need to rent a storage unit - one with climate control for my art and collectibles that need to be in a place with constant temps.  That could get expensive.
7)  Without a permanent address I will only be able to stay in France for the 90 days that's allowed on a visitors passport.

Since I don't have any photos that match today's topic I'll just throw in one of CoCo! :-)

Here are the pros of buying a house:
1)  I'll have a place to call my own and I can decorate it like I want and have all my favorite things there.
2)  My things won't have to stay in storage forever.  And I can have all my art and collectibles around me.
3)  I won't have to worry about CoCo with other pets.  She can have a house and a yard all to herself which will make her so much more comfortable as she does not adapt well to new places.
4)  With a permanent address I can get a residency permit to allow me to stay up to a year before needing to return to the US. 
5)  I can open a bank account and get a French credit/debit card.
6)  I can buy a car.  There are 2 door RAV 4s all over France and they are so cute!  I'd love to find a used one of those. 
7)  I can find a massage therapist and a vet and a groomer that we can use all the time.
8)  I can really be a part of a community and be around for all the festivals and celebrations and holidays.  I can get to know my neighbors and the local market days and where to buy the best bread (that's really important to the French!)
9)  The housing market in France is great right now for buyers.  The prices are the lowest they've been in many years so now (or at least within the next 6 months) is a great time to buy.  I could get a lot for my money.  Hopefully, with what I make on the sale of my house here I could buy a house outright in France which would be wonderful!
10)  I can entertain guests whenever I want and they don't have to stay in a motel.
11)  I can have a garden with the plants that I want - herbs, flowers, tomatoes.  And I can landscape it the way that I like.  And hopefully have a hot tub!  I will certainly miss mine.

Here are the cons for buying a house:
1)  There's a lot of red tape involved in a non EU person buying a house in France.  It can be a long and expensive process.
2)  I would need to be a quick learner in regards to French utilities, plumbing, electrical, etc.
3)  I would need to buy home owners insurance which is not cheap.
4)  I might be stuck with a house and a village that I decide I really don't like after spending a year or so there.  (Although I can't imagine that happening, but you never know.  Of course, that could happen in the States also)
5)  If the house I fall in love with is more expensive than the money I have available then I will need to take out a mortgage which I really don't want to do.
6)  In order to get a house that I can afford it may be somewhat of a fixer-upper which means more painting and remodeling.  Do I really want to go through all of that again?

So, here's my Plan E:
     I think I will try to house sit for the 90 days that my passport will allow and during that time I will be looking for a house to buy.  If at the end of the 90 days I have not found anything that "sings Hallelujah" (ask my friend, Beth, about that!) then I can go to the UK for the next 90 days.  For some very odd reason their passport restrictions are different than the Continent so while I would no longer be welcome in France I could go to the UK for the next 90 days and find some house sitting jobs. Then I can return to France for another 90 days to look some more and hope to find a house before I have to return to the States having stayed the maximum amount of time in both places.
     If I can't find a house sitting job in the area of France where I want to look for a house to buy then I will look into a rental property.  I would really like to avoid this as I want to save my money which is why house sitting is so wonderful!   I can stay for free while I'm looking for a house - I don't want to be homeless for an extended period of time.
     I feel odd using that word because, of course, I'm not homeless in the sense that many all over the world are homeless.  I am fortunate to have a retirement salary and can choose where I want to live and can live comfortably.  So my use of the word "homeless" in this post is that I would be without a place that is truly mine.  I have been a home owner for my entire adult life and I've grown rather fond of it.  Many of the people who write the blogs and newsletter articles about house sitting actually do have a permanent home somewhere.  They then will take off on their house sitting ventures and look at it as vacation time and then can return to their home whenever they want. 
     I have almost finished the entire house painting job!  I still need to paint the ceiling in the lower level but need to borrow my neighbor's tall ladder and have been doing everything else that I can so I'm not tying up his equipment for a long time.  I'm debating about painting the basement.  It could really use a new coat of paint, but for now I'll just think about it . . .
    I'm still planning to put the house on the market the middle of next month after Renae and I get back from our trip to Orlando.  I'll write about that next week!  So time is really flying.  And all these thoughts about houses and yards and other people's houses vs a house of my own are taking over my brain.  It has long been a dream of mine to own a house in my little corner of France.  I think I want it to happen sooner than later.  What do you think?

My little corner of France - sigh

     As always I thank you for taking the time to read my blog.  Your comments and encouragement are very much appreciated.  And I wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day!  Merci!