No more house hunting

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this or not, but our house hunt is over.  After viewing a few houses in the areas where we wanted to settled, Aaron and I came to the disappointing conclusion that, for various reasons, it just wasn't the right time to buy a house. 

Sooo, we started searching for a rental.  This proved to be pretty challenging, especially since the small towns where we'd like to ultimately buy (and rent in the meantime) don't offer much in the way of rental properties. 

At first we decided to try making an apartment in Ann Arbor work.  We soon came to our senses, though, and searched instead for a house.  We found a really cute historical home in the town of Dexter that, while on the small side, was situated about a block from the downtown area, which really appealed to us.  The idea of being able to walk to the library and the little restaurants and shops on the main street was just so neat.  Besides being well-priced, we also liked the charm the old house had, being built in the late 1800's.  There were certainly things about it that we didn't like (the steep stairs, having train tracks at the end of the street, lack of closets in the bedrooms, the disgusting carpet in the kitchen and the absence of a dishwasher) but nothing that was a deal breaker. 

We met the owners and answered a questionnaire that they gave us, then waited to hear their decision.  We really seemed to hit it off with them, so in the meantime we got our hopes way up and started planning and mentally moving in.  (Can you guess where this is going?)  On Monday evening while I was out by myself shopping, I got a text from Aaron letting me know that we didn't get the house.  The owners decided to go with another couple.  I wanted to cry right there in the middle of Forever 21. 

The rest of the night my lip was dragging the floor, I was so disappointed.  Aaron was probably more angry than disappointed, because it's hard not taking something like that personally.  They hadn't run a credit or employment check, they hadn't checked references or our background- they were making their decision solely based on the personal questions they'd asked us and meeting us.  We weren't faceless numbers and fact sheets, we were people they'd met and decided against.  That hurt.  But honestly, I think they made their decision because of the small size of the house and the large size of our family, not because they didn't like us.  At least that's what I'm going to tell myself.

Monday night was rough.  I had a hard time sleeping.  We had a Plan B house, but I didn't like it.  On paper it sounds good- plenty of square footage, in a quiet neighborhood out in the country on an acre of land with a finished basement and a 2-car garage... but the place was kind of a dump and the idea of living there for a year or more and having people visit us there made me cringe. 

So Tuesday morning I started hunting again.  Instead of scouring Craigslist (for the zillionth time) I hopped onto a local real estate website that also lists rental properties.  I'd checked it before but it had been a while.  A listing appeared that I hadn't seen the last time and I quickly made a call to inquire about it.  I half expected it to be under contract already or something.  The gal I spoke to was quick to find out what she could about it and got back to me.  It was still available and I gave Aaron a call to see if he could swing by to see it with her in the next day or two.  It was located in Chelsea (about halfway between Ann Arbor and where he works in Jackson), so on his lunch break that day he drove over to take a look at the outside of the house and the neighborhood.

After he'd seen the inside we decided to go ahead and put in an application for it.  I didn't want to see it in person, though.  I didn't want to get my hopes up and then crushed like last time.  Pictures were enough for me, and having Aaron see it in person and give it the thumbs up was just fine.  Once again, things moved quickly and smoothly between the agent we were working with and the owners' agent.  On Thursday evening we drove to Chelsea to meet the owners, sign the lease and they even gave us a set of keys!  I wasn't expecting it to be finalized that evening, so that was SUCH a relief. 

I know this is already pretty long, but I have to add something here.  Monday night, after losing that house that we so wanted, I was feeling really depressed.  I was so sick of looking for a place to live, and with our lease running out on this apartment at the end of the month, I was feeling a lot of pressure to just settle on someplace and be done with it.  Before I went to sleep that night, I prayed.  I prayed out loud and sincerely.  I asked for help and for another opportunity to open up for us.  I prayed that we could find a place where we could be comfortable and happy.  First thing the next morning, my prayer was answered.