In Search of a New Home

We spent 8 months last year looking for a new house to rent.  The "pickins" were slim, so we just had to wait for different ones to come available to see. 

One we looked at had formally been used as a school, and Keira was sure if we rented it, we could keep the paintings.

 

Also, all the houses in the city are not on one computer system.  A renter has to drive to a neighborhood they are interested in, find a realtor in that area, and then tell him what you are looking for.  He calls when he has something available (if he remembers).

We actually went to one realtor in an apartment building one day, and he drove us to some houses he knew of, but they were pretty far away from where we were originally looking.

Some were very modern looking, but their location made them a “no” for us.

I am sad to say that I did not photograph the “absolute NO’s,” because either I was so horrified or I never saw it in person.  Doug was so amazing to go and vet so many of them before I ever went. 

One had three dead birds on the front porch.  One had two dead birds on the inside.  Three of them had been vacant so long and birds had continually pooped on the porches, that when Doug walked inside, the dried excrement crunched under his shoes.  One house that all of us visited had an inch-thick blanket of excrement leading to the front door...and Kylie walked it in crutches. 

When you do find a house, the realtors give you about 24 hours to make a decision, mainly because the market is so slim, and someone else might want it.  It can be pretty high pressure.

There is no chance to do an inspection and figure out what works and what doesn’t, so you never know what you’re going to get.

We actually were given a week to think and to visit with our potentially new landlord, but of course, he was on the fence about whether his family would want to sell the house or rent it again.  It hadn’t been lived in for two years.

We finally came to an understanding at the end of November last year, he gave us the first month’s rent for free (December), and then the real work started.

 


These are two of the bathrooms in the house we chose.  Can you see that the shower head is not even over the bathtub, but over the floor?

Well, it least it has one Western toilet

Definitely a feature we would not have chosen :)

Many times the owner leaves things
that you just have to deal with

Well, we know the kitchen carpet will have to go, plus the small pink wall Kylie is leaning on,
but we have to make do with everything else.

You can't tell, but the sink stand is broken, so we will need to replace the counter and storage underneath,
and then figure out where to put his stove and some other cabinets he left behind.

We just thought FINDING a house was hard.  Now we had to make it LIVABLE.