[Magdalen] And the rent increase is...

[Scott Knitter]

...for the year starting Oct. 1...

...drum roll, please...

approximately 1.7 percent.

Whew! Needn't worry about that one anymore. I do want to buy a house (but
my partner puts up obstacles to doing so), but it's good to know that until
then we're not being robbed. There are ever more apartments going up in our
neighborhood, and I think supply is getting ahead of demand.

The obstacle my partner keeps putting up is the desire to build a house
rather than buy one. I have environmental concerns about building, and my
head explodes at the thought of that whole project: not building it
ourselves, but making all the decisions: I'll be pushing for a house that
meets our needs but is then quite sell-able; he'll be pushing for a
quirkily designed monastic priory. So basically we'll never get a house
that way.

I fantasize about finding one of the better homes in a much less expensive
town, with a room that will make a splendid monastic oratory but can be
other things as well.

I still wonder how old I'll be before I have a home that contains an
always-available washer and dryer.

-- 
Scott R. Knitter
Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA