ChiKat

After our experience falling in love with the house that wasn't actually for sale, we checked out some more houses in Oak Park. The finances still really make my husband nervous. Plus, I don't do anything small, so I say, "We'll buy a house there and live in it FOREVER!" and my husband turns green because he doesn't know if his next job will even be in Illinois, let alone in Chicago.

He wants a place for a couple years. I say, if it's just a couple years, we should stay in the condo. But if we want to take the chance that he will find a job in the city, which isn't entirely impossible, then we should dive into this house-owning thing because the idea of another condo association makes me want to blow my brains out.

We talked about it for a little while, but the financial risk was just too great for my husband to get past. I totally respect that, especially since he is the primary bread-winner. I know if something financially bad were to happen, he would feel like it was his fault for not pulling in a large enough salary, even if the financial risk was my idea in the first place.

So I went to sleep knowing we were going to be in the condo for a few more years. In the morning, I woke up, my husband rolled over in bed and said, "After you went to sleep, I heard one gun shot, followed by at least fifteen more in rapid succession. The gun fire sounded like it was only a block or two away. We are moving. I've been thinking about the high Oak Park property taxes and you know what? Property tax is deductible. We might pay more in taxes, but we won't pay a condo assessment anymore and the condo assessment isn't deductible. I want my son out of this neighborhood."