Two years?! Well, yes, our landlord was willing to cut a deal on a longer tern and for 1100 sq ft (that is just over 100 sq m for our metric friends) and two bedrooms it is kind of hard to turn down $950 a month. That being said our place isn't the best. It is the top floor of a Saint Paul Duplex, something which locally means quirks, and lots of them. Most Saint Paul houses were built in spurts, between 1890 and 1930. There are peppering of intermittent decades here and there, a few units that Sears would have sold to the returning GI, and if you are very unfortunate, some ugly, ugly structures from the eighties.
I've annoyed you enough about my trip abroad for you to know this is being financed by a friend for his business; a business which he inherited from his father who rather unfortunately came into health problems leaving his condo unoccupied, in one of the most scenic areas of Saint Paul.
This same friend was gracious enough to consider renting to me, and my girlfriend though there are extenuating circumstances as he is not the sole party from his family's side to consider things. The unit is I don't know how many square feet or meters, but is a 3 story brownstone, condo with rooftop access, two bedrooms, and very reasonably updated not too long ago. I am absolutely nervously excited about the chance to move in; he doesn't care about the dog or cat, and is willing to give us a really good deal to basically just occupy it and pay towards taxes/association fees.
I am very keenly aware that this is a difficult thing for him, and I am one of the few people who knows exactly what happened to his father specifically. I am doing my best to make sure that he is comfortable with the arrangement, and that it isn't too strange for him having his father's home being used by his friend of almost a decade as a rental unit. The other potential stress I am aware of is having a friend for your landlord. We take care of our apartment, and would most certainly do the same for him, but there are always one offs and that kind of stress would definitely be potentially dangerous towards one of the few friendships I put an effort into maintaining.
We are kind of stuck sitting and waiting until we hear back from his brother specifically about the deal. We're not going to find a better place for what he is asking and I am optimistic. I have been as forthcoming as I could about his potential concerns, if he were uncomfortable about renting it, and shooting straight with the lease agreement, and I just hope it comes through this spring. We are stuck in our current unit until May, but put some good vibes out there for me TL.