Not a renter…
Wednesday, December 28th, 2005
Last Wednesday, Wife and I sat in the lawyer’s office reading and rereading the documents before us, ready to sign to buy the house on Ave. de France. It took three hours.
Wife’s father first bought the building in 1983. It was a mess. Though centrally located, the rooms were water damaged and the place unlivable. Three floors, and not a room you could sleep in comfortably. A year later, with contractors and help from brothers and sisters the world over, he re/built his radio broadcast recording studio, a worship place for the local church, offices for Slavic World for Christ, and a two bedroom apartment on the top floor.
That’s the apartment we rented in January of 1985. Much later, Wife’s parents moved office to home and we moved into the three bedroom apartment (1996).
He left us enough to make the down payment (Swiss law stipulates 20% of purchase price) and to get loan payments of less than 33% of salary (bank’s requirement).
The loan is for 100 years, renegotiable in 2015. Interest is 3.28%.
So the church will still meet in the neighborhood for at least 10 years. We’re glued here for another 100.
Boy, do I feel secure. ☺