Finally, I feel like something constructive is happening. Selling a house can be emotional to be sure, but when it comes with financial difficulties and is not a traditional sale (it's a short sale), it comes with additional stresses. The main difficulty is that you don't know when you have to move! Well, that's not entirely true as one can certainly pack up and move anytime they want to, but moving is no small task and we didn't want to do it one day sooner than we have to.
We put our house on the market back in April, submitted an offer to the bank the first week in May and then we waited...and waited...and waited. Nothing. I advised Dave that we could get a call that the offer was approved and we would have to move with little notice, he didn't all the way believe me because the bank had not been fast to respond to anything. Well, that call came and frankly, I was glad. We have been living in a bit of limbo, knowing the move is coming, just not sure when.
Even though the call came because our agent had a hunch, we ran on to the field and began calling plays; scour the classifieds, call rental agencies, put the word out to family and friends, we're looking for a new place to live! There was lots of, "Fill this out..." and "How is your credit? We will be running a background check you know, AND it IS $40 per applicant. Oh, but don't fret, we will keep your file active for a full 6 months!" Which is all okay, but the fact of the matter is, we are your dream tenants...we are not the people who put holes in walls and allow our dog to chew and scratch everything in sight. No, we need to take a different approach, we need to market ourselves to homeowners looking for us!
I created a pdf and put it out via e-mail and social media, within a few hours we had two really great locations to choose from and we found a place to rent! It's less than one mile from where we live now and basically, in the same neighborhood close to town and Mason's school. I am over the moon about what a lovely little house it is. It's a 3 bedroom/2 bath on a lot that is maybe a little smaller than where we are now. It has a deck of the whole back of the house with a portion of the deck covered with a ceiling fan for those warm nights when you want to be outside. There is no grass but other outdoor living areas with rock walk ways, lots of little planters, fall trees, a fig tree, a lemon tree, an apple tree and an outdoor fire pit. Oh, and another perk, it has a hot tub! The kitchen is small, but it is lovely, all white tile with newer appliances. Finally, there is a breakfast nook popping right out of the front of the house, just another fun, quirky feature of the house. Having lived in a larger space, we will have some adjustments to make, but all in all, this is a great place for us to live until it's time to make the big move. I'll send out change of address once we sign our lease and know for sure our deal is done!
While we were finding our new home, we also got word that our short sale has been approved and we close on 9/25 - perfect for our 9/15 move in to the new house. Finally, it feels like things are going our way and working out without a continuous stressful effort!
I will comfortably call this Intentional Winning finding a place to live!!
