Housing Frustrations Part 2

PLEASE SEE PREVIOUS POST FOR CLARIFICATION, ELABORATION, AND REFERENCE

Now Devin and I have never been entirely sure of our land ladies plans. She has moved to another state, but still owns her property here. But when we moved in, she talked about making upgrades (like granite for the kitchen counter tops, a slab of which was here when we moved in) and eventually selling this place. She also left lots of things here (as mentioned in the last post) and has seemed hesitant to make improvements when we've mentioned them (e.g. asking if we can wait a year for the a/c to be fixed even though only half the windows in the house even open). She also tried to sell many of her possessions before we moved in last year. So who knows?

So a few weeks ago I decide to contact our land lady with the most recent problem -- one of the tubs and one of the sinks are draining slowly, even after using a few different kinds of drain cleaner. I email our land lady and explain our situation and ask if it's alright to call the plumber and get it taken care of. In this same email, I mention that I had seen a good deal on getting your home carpeted (the Empire pay for 2 rooms get the rest of the house free) and ask if she would like us to get an estimate. That's all.

Soon, our land lady responds to my email and says to go ahead and call the plumber and feel free to get an estimate for her, but have them call her. Well I have the carpet guy come and give me a quote for a few different qualities and types of carpet that are part of their special. I tried to call our land lady but she didn't answer so I just got written quotes to email her.

That same day, I email her the quotes. She emails me back the same day and says that if we are going to stay another year, than she would be willing to do the most expensive option and quotes us a new price for rent. I say that's great and mention that if we stay, we would like to talk to her to find out her plans (someday moving back here, shipping her stuff to where she lives now in another state, getting rid of her things, etc.).

The next day, I get a phone call saying that she is not going to renew our lease. What? I couldn't exactly understand her reasoning but she did mention us not being happy here and wanting a nicer place and her not being able to stay where she is now longer. She also said that she would move back here for a year and then sell the place. Okay. Later that day I get an email from her apologizing if we were disappointed, but that the taxes here are expensive and she wants to come back. Well Devin and I email her saying that we were disappointed, just a little confused by the turn around and also apologize if she felt pressured to make improvements, mention that we would love to stay if possible, but that we understand if she just wants to come back. We also said that we would be willing to move out before August when she will move back and our lease ends (this may seem generous on our part but there are actually better deals on housing for us now when it's not the peak renting season). All we get back -- her return move date range.

Oh well.

So now I want to figure out where in the world we will be living, but nothing that will be available then, is open now. I am a planner and this is killing me. Plus, I just want to get out of here.  Needless to say, I am tempted to break our lease and move out now.

Other housing dilemmas, how much to pay in rent, how far to live from the school, should we move further south (the 3rd and 4th years in Podiatry school spend a good amt of time in downtown Chicago), should we move somewhere for a year and then move further south, should we try and stay in our ward (our church congregations are determined by geography), what amenities do we need, when can we move with Devin's school schedule, etc.

Can you see why I am frustrated?