"100% of people who do not save money do not have any!"--Dave Ramsey

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Xist

This is Mom, so her plan is to make terrible choices and blame me?

You're a grown-ass man. Your decisions superseded hers concerning your affairs.

Personal question; if you wildly succeeded in something you decided against her will, would she be happy or dismayed?

My mom was an absolute dictator when I was under her authority (as a child). These days she would happily follow all advice I give.

[freebeard]

Personal question; if you wildly succeeded in something you decided against her will, would she be happy or dismayed?

I'm still trying to please my parents and they passed decades ago.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by freebeard

I'm still trying to please my parents and they passed decades ago.

That's a good thing, assuming your parents want good things. Most do.

My grandmother hates change; all change. My grandfather and I have been 10 minutes later than anticipated because we stopped to get gas, and my grandmother threw away her breakfast to spite us. She puts all hope into whatever conception of reality she has, and any diversion of that conception becomes an irreconcilable disappointment. WWIII could be occurring outside, and even delaying the Tuesday trip to Fred Meyer by 5 minutes would be unforgivable.

That's an extreme example of inflexibility, but I'm getting a sense of someone who both makes poor decisions and is inflexible. That's about as disfunctional is it gets.

My (last remaining) grandmother has no children, so her ability to make people feel bad is very constrained.

As an aside, I do feel deprived of the normal experience most people have of there being at least 1 loving grandmother. Mom was adopted by a Japanese woman who I remember yelled constantly, could only be dissatisfied or angry, and made excellent food. Dad had a mom who showed no affection, chain smoked, and I don't know what else. My remaining grandmother married my grandfather before I was born and lived 400ft from me my whole life. She has no discernable personality, would probably have killed me and my grandfather on multiple occasions if she knew how to operate a firearm, and was always extremely thoughtful with gifts and recognizing birthdays.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Xist

Just before 1700 I asked the realtor when she expected to make a decision and she replied "By lunch tomorrow."
Just before midnight she said that Mom and my brother needed to apply, which was easy, because it was through Zillow, so I said we didn't have any pets, nobody smoked, and I gave everyone's names and contact information over and over.

Zillow informed me that she opened our applications immediately, but nothing has really changed since.

I asked at 1300 and did not hear back.

Applied to rent a house or buy a house? (Realtors aren't generally involved with rentals which is why I ask).

If the decision was at noon and at 1 pm you asked and got no reply you likely didn't get the house. Just like employers during an application process if you didn't get it they will just ghost you and not bother letting you know.

Having 3 people on the application to qualify puts you at a distinct disadvantage vs someone that can qualify with 1 person. As mentioned above - professional property managers have seen everything, including all the drama that comes with needing multiple people to make rent. There are more ways than you can count that make that kind of arrangement go south.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Renting and an idle house is not an optimized situation. Is there a plan there?

So is selling your only asset and home to live in a rental - hoping you son finishes a degree program years in the future and then gets a good paying job that would allow you to buy back into a rapidly increasing housing market.

Sounds like Xist's mom and brother are set in Show Low and have income to keep a roof over their head and food on the table. I wouldn't give up a house to rent if on a fixed income - that is a good way to become homeless. Renting the Show Low house to pay for rent Phoenix is an option but also has risks.

[redpoint5]

I was suggesting an idle house could more than pay for all of it's expenses if rented out. Instead of Xist replacing vent hoods, the extra income every month could go towards professionals making those upgrades.

[Xist]

I believe the landlady is a realtor and the listing still shows it is for rent.

There weren't any new rentals posted yesterday or today.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I was suggesting an idle house could more than pay for all of it's expenses if rented out. Instead of Xist replacing vent hoods, the extra income every month could go towards professionals making those upgrades.

I doubt a house in Show Low will rent at a high enough rate to cover rent in Phoenix. It would also likely only return about 50 - 60% of the gross rent as income after expenses. That assumes it stays rented and the renters don't trash it and cause more damage than they ever paid in rent.

Like I said - renting it has risks. It is one thing to take those risk on an investment property. Another thing to be dependent on rent from one house to pay for rent on another house.

[Xist]

Almost 48 hours after receiving her first and only text, the realtor told me

Thank you for your patience. It was our first time using Zillow applications. We are a real estate and property management firm and typically use our own application process. I did not care for the way the Zillow applications worked. We declined one. We don't have a complete application from a second one and the third one we ask them to apply through our normal process. So far their application looks good. I hope to have a decision later today.

This is all that I have heard from them, definitely not anything about her having a problem with my application or wanting me to apply elsewhere.

[Xist]

I applied for another house, but fourteen people had previously applied.
Zillow said that the landlord opened my application, but nothing else.
I requested to apply to two more.
One is 6 miles from my sister and far closer to school and various other places I would frequent.

I searched for the company, their site was the first result, I clicked on "Find a home," this house was the only one that showed up, and there was an Apply button right there, but it said to call someone for a preapproval before applying and paying fees, so I will do that at 09.