The Nerve!

The previous owner of this house passed away and that is how I got the property. In the mail came a letter addressed to me starting with

"May I offer my condolences on the passing of....................................."

The very next sentence says that the reason they are contacting me is that they understand that the property may be coming up for sale. (I don't know where they got this "understanding" because I never once wanted to put the property up for sale!) The writer of the letter says that he is looking for property in the area and would be interested if it became available - if not now - then he would like to be considered in the future in case it does come up for sale. He offers to purchase the property as is and that he will pay all cash and that he will close the sale in 30 days.

I was insulted by the letter and of course that could have just been that it reminded me of the passing of the previous owner. I know that there are a lot of people out there that would be glad to get an offer like this in the mail but I'm not one of them.

Expenses - Getting New Locks!

It's better to be safe than sorry and I was afraid that I would lock myself out of the house! The whole thing cost about $175 but it dawned on me that it was well worth it! I think the lock on the door was as old as the house itself! The cost included the installation, the service call and the extra keys.

I would have to put this under "emergency" expenses because it was something that I didn't plan to do. So its probably a good idea for you to have an "emergency" expense set aside because emergencies will come up!