the new digs: downsizing space, upsizing cash flow

The, ahem, art in our dining area.

Downside to our new place: living with other people’s stuff.

View from the balcony.

Upside: enjoying this spectacular view while I drink my morning coffee.

Day one of apartment searching with our relocation consultant was pretty bleak. We arrived at a bad time of year and the rental market was thin. Most available rentals were being let as short term accommodation for the TT Races. The consultant had also told us that most apartment buildings wouldn’t rent to children. She was also sure that after looking at a few places we would really want a house. Who wouldn’t want a house if you had a child?

Us.

Living room: Henry's car seat is doubling as his recliner.

We did see a nice bungalow quite close to Chris’s work but… it just wasn’t us. It was relatively small for a house but still felt too big. The yard was really nice but all I saw were frustrating hours spent mowing the lawn and trimming hedges. Not my idea of a fun Saturday.

Sigh. Requisite HUGE tv for a bachelor pad.
Sigh. Requisite HUGE tv for a bachelor pad.

The relocation consultant: let’s call her Mary – this is a small island – was great. While she did give us a few nudges towards looking at houses she was overall very respectful and, she gets things done. She knows everyone here. So when day one was a bust she made some more calls and found out a furnished apartment had just become available. Mary actually placed a client in it a year ago and he had recently left. The landlord was a-okay with Henry living there.

There was just one snag, or what they thought was a snag: the landlord was putting it on the market and could only do a 3 month lease. After that it would go month to month and if he sold the place we would get the last month free.

Henry moved into a big bed! And we have room for guests.

This snag was actually a blessing. We now get the chance to try out living in this area and see how we like it without committing to aone year lease. We’re a 12 minute walk from Chris’s work and a 25 minute walk from town. In the next few months we’ll evaluate if we’d like to be closer to one or the other. And if the apartment sells in a few months the rental market will be better than it is now and we’ll have more options. Win, win.

So we’re living in a two bed, two bath, probably 800 square foot bachelor pad. And we like it. Despite the art.

The unit is completely furnished and that’s really helped reduce our start up costs in the UK. There was already dish soap, hand soap and even a can of WD-40 under the sink (which I used to get the squeak out of Henry’s stroller the other day). The old tenant, who we know by proxy, even left some kitchen basics for us. I don’t think this was an act of kindness, more forgetfulness, but I don’t care. Saves me having to buy flour, oil, sugar and curry powder.

We’re still figuring out what life over here is going to cost us but taking on a smaller home is putting us ahead financially. We could have easily spent 20-30% more on rent for more space. But we didn’t. In return we have more money in the bank and spend less time cleaning. Yeah!

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  • As a Brit now living in NZ, I also wouldn’t dream of living in a flat with a toddler. I urge you to think about trying out the benefits of a house with a garden. Not only would you have somewhere to dry your washing, but Henry would be able to have a sandpit, a hose, a veg patch to watch things grow. In my book, essential experiences of childhood.

    • We do live right across the street from the beach, lots of sand there. A veg patch sounds wonderful but we can’t even keep house plants alive.
      I’m not sold on house living as a necessity for children. We get out a lot during the day, we enjoy activities like visiting the library, long walks and hiking.
      Just visited a family in a town house style home yesterday. Small fenced yard out back. If we ever move to something bigger I could see us getting something like that. Enough yard for a splash pool if we want and a line for drying. We’ll see =)

  • Thanks, Christine. Like the fabric idea. Might take a peak under them this week to see what the walls are like underneath. If they aren’t to bad I might just pull down the lady and the car prints and store them. I prefer blank walls to the sultry lady on the piano.

  • Your view is fabulous! I suggest removing the “art” and replacing it with your son’s masterpieces. 🙂

    • Like that idea. We’re low on kid art just now but I do agree, would prefer Henry’s finger painting to the car poster.

  • That is one amazing view Rachel! Wow.

    I’m so glad you found a place — even if it is temporary. You should be able to get a good feel for the area after living there a few months. Then you can plan your next move. How fun!

    • I hate moving but it’s not so bad with just a few suitcases of stuff. That will change a bit in a few weeks when our 14 boxes arrive.
      They showed our place today to some prospective buyers so I took a quick look at rentals. Lots out there.
      So excited to be part of this little project with you and Faith and Tanja. Going to be great!

  • Wow. I’d kill for the view!

    Funny how we grew up in the sme place and ended up in such different spots. I envy the downsizing and slowing down- making life about quality(envy a lot) On my own (with tenants and roommates) I wish for no yard to mow and garden to weed! good choice!
    I don’t have a lot of stuff, but I confess i like having trees between me and the neighbours!

    Ps you look amazing in that pic! (I rarely come to the site, just enjoy your posts in my mailbox!)

    • Thanks, Kirsten. Got my free head shot at the Vancouver Mom Blogger party.
      I’m still in shock some days that we moved over here. It’s a bit surreal. I moved around a lot in my 20’s, university in Seattle and then Victoria and London, ON when I was rowing, but this move tops all of those.
      Hope you are well and thanks for stopping by =)

  • I’m curious if you know the not-renting-an-apartment-to-people-with-kids thing is generally true of the UK? Just wondering if the consultant might’ve mentioned it.

    • I think it might be specific to the Isle of Man. The ads for rentals even specify “no children” or “no sharing” so I assume they don’t have laws against it.
      The consultant just said that a lot of owners of apartments don’t want to rent to families.

  • And not “us” either. My husband, 1.5 yr old daughter and i live in a 700 sqft upscale studio apartment in NYC, and life couldnt be better. 12 min walk to work for my husband, i work for myself and sahm, and 1 min walk to all kinds of food options, and everything else the city has to offer. We could spend our time commuting to the burbs so we could have a big house to clean, lawn to mow and gas guzzler to drive, but we arent idiots.
    We decided from the get go to reimagine life rather than swallow “the american dream” pill.

    And thats crazy they wont let kids in apts. I believe that is discrimination.

    • They seem to have no laws against discriminating against families. The ads for some of the apartments even say: no children. Completely up to the owner. Crazy. You can’t do that in Vancouver.
      700 sq ft in NYC sounds dreamy. Chris and I love NYC and have had dreams of going to live there for a few months. So much to see and do by foot or subway.

  • we are thinking of building a house, and we always get flack for not wanting a larger house. Some people think we are depriving our children by making them share a bedroom – even if we could technically give each of them their own. Good for you for not caving into a house, when all you want is a flat!

    • I have the same issue! People sy, but for resale…. If I build it, I’m staying!!

    • Been having little day dreams about buying a really small old bungalow here and fixing it up into a small eco-friendly home. 800-1000 sq ft of really well planned out space. Saw a video the other day of a family living in 320 sq ft – really inspiring. Don’t think we would ever go that small ourselves but fun to see others do it.

  • Perfect match! I’m sure the owner was so happy to have found you! That’s the good thing about being a minimalist, moving is not that big of a deal.
    Hey, guess what! I’ve been feeling very minimalist lately. I committed to wearing the same dress for a month. I’m loving it! I posted a picture of me wearing my dress a few days ago on my blog. Today is my day 11. I posted my dress on day 6.

    • I read/saw your dress post. First, really like the dress. And it looks great on you. I’ll check back in to see how it is going. Funny to read you don’t wear dresses much. They are my go to!!

  • Georgeous view and nice apartment. (although I would take off and hide the artwork + the bedside locker in the corner of the sitting room :)))

    • I’m rearranging some closets here and will then move the “lady” and the car pieces into them. We actually like the NYC piece. Reminds us of our trip there.
      Think the bedside locker was once 3 nesting tables and one is now missing. Might have a fight with Chris about moving it. His water glass lives there =)

  • Rachel it looks beautiful!! When our brood has flown the nest we are definetly looking at apartments. My vision is a loft apartment, painted white, open plan, 8 pieces of furniture and spectacular views……

    How are you finding the weather? How are you adjusting?

    Sharron x

    • Just went to a really nice mom and tot group this morning. Very friendly and Henry loved it.
      Adjusting well but getting a big home sick. Especially for my mom and siblings. The weather has helped. It’s been so nice. Just one really rainy do so far and it was Sunday. We went out for the morning and then curled up at home the rest of the day.
      Going to Liverpool in October or November. Will touch base when it is booked.

  • Looks beautiful there! We now live in a house but will probably move back into a flat in a few years, I can’t really be bothered with the work of looking after the garden! I’m surprised about the problem of rentals with children, I know lots of people who live in flats with children and am not aware of any problems normally. Now hotels is a different matter, many hotels in the UK won’t let children stay there, whereas in the rest of Europe they’re welcomed!

    • I’m told that it’s up to the owners to restrict rentals. And many of them do. I also heard that one of the reasons people restrict rentals is that if a family doesn’t pay rent it is harder to get them evicted if they have children.

  • Drinking my morning coffee, but sadly my view is not fabulous like yours! The view from your balcony is resort-like! Gorgeous!

    Glad you are enjoying your new space (despite the art) – 800 square feet is awesome! (speaking from experience 🙂 )

    • It is kinda strange to see palm trees in the UK… but we’re liking it.

      Chris actually went to a friends place at midnight last night to watch the game. Came home at 4:30am and was at work before 10am. He is a true fan.

      Fingers crossed for our Canucks. And downtown Van – hope it stays civil.

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