find a new place to live

Did I mention that minutes before we were supposed to be leaving to see place #6, we locked the keys (house and car) in the house and I had a complete “straw that broke the camels back” meltdown while Markus broke in through the bathroom window? Not a good scene. Since the house went up for sale in June (and especially after realizing we’d been sucker punched) we’ve had relentless anxiety and seen crap hole after depressing crap hole. This whole thing has taken a huge toll on us, not to mention devouring what was supposed to be our summer vacation.

We’d pretty much decided that if we found a place for October that wasn’t hideous and we could possibly fit inside (barring setting all our possessions on fire) storage locker style while we looked for a better one, we’d go for it. We’d even considered camping out at my parents place while we looked, which would have been insane, but not as insane as our melting pot of bad emotions here has been, and with the new owners moving in, it would be worse.

On the way to yesterday’s viewing, we tried not to get our hopes up too high. We’d seen photos of the kitchen and bathroom (which looked very nice) but were assuming the other rooms were quite small. We knocked on the door and met a very friendly man (the owner), then took a walk around the block while the tenants were getting ready. The neighbourhood is so nice – clean, full of families, scenic – lots of gardens, parks, and pretty views. It’s also a quick walk to the community center, library, pool, schools, transportation, shops and restaurants, forest trails and the water. We LOVE the area.

By the time we got back they were ready to let us in, so we braced ourselves for another disappointment. It’s a bit of a quirky set-up – garden level, and you enter through a converted garage that is now a huge storage area (where the washer & dryer are set up). Then you get to the actual suite, which is LOVELY – the ceilings are high for a garden suite (at least 8 feet), it’s been freshly renovated, new appliances and loads of cabinet/counter space in the kitchen, even a double sink and plenty of room for a dining area – most places we’ve seen have had the kitchen/living room hybrid. The bathroom has a deep tub, lots of cabinets and two sinks, the bedrooms are a fine size (with closets!) and although the living room is smaller than ours, we can move the table & chairs into the kitchen.

I kept expecting to find some fatal flaw, but it just kept getting better. Like… the cat is fine (even though the ad said no pets) with no extra pet deposit required. Like… not only is it in our budget but free internet and cable are included. Like… the owners and their 7 year old son aren’t even there most of the time, they commute to Boston, and when they’re here, the owner is wonderful and the little boy obviously has the same taste as Isak. Like… the entire storage area comes with the suite.

And the very best part? After Markus and I exchanged silent mutual “love it!” glances and handed the owner the application info I’d printed out, he rented to us on the spot. We went directly upstairs, signed the tenancy forms, and get our keys TOMORROW!!! No waiting around holding our breath for him to meticulously choose one lucky soul from his stack of applications and references, just – done. I wanted to burst into tears of relief and hug the owner, but I restrained myself.

We haven’t spoken with the new owners here yet, but are VERY glad we didn’t sign their 29 day tenancy forms. We think it’s fair to offer 2 weeks rent (or the damage deposit of ours that they already have) and use the next half a month to pack and clean. Because of the massive storage area we can do the majority of the sorting at the new place and save a lot of time. I’m hoping they’ll go for this – they’d be able to use the first 2 weeks here to move in and settle themselves, then we’ll be gone and they can get in weeks early, fix the place up, show it and rent it easily, especially with bonus move in time. Hopefully this plan won’t be an issue – we don’t want to move everything in the next 24 hours OR pay double rent.

The important thing is, we found the place, we love it, and it’s ours. The frantic swimming stops here.

I want to thank everyone here for listening, offering ideas and support, cheering me up, cheering me on, there were even specific goals started to support us through this whole godawful process – thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. These next few weeks are likely to be hectic, but I feel like 1000 jackhammers have been lifted from my spirit.

...thanks universe.

Place #1: Lovely neighbourhood, but the ceiling of the suite touched the top of Markus’ head without him even standing up straight. And the biggest room? The bathroom – it was normal on one side, completely wasted space on the other (and it’s not as though you could put the kitchen table in there to save space). Impossible.

Place #2: We’re still hopeful about this one. We drove around the block there today and loved the area immensely. The actual viewing has been moved to tomorrow morning. We’ll see, we’ll see.

^{Just keep swimming…?}

After hearing back from yet another scammer, I’ve somehow managed to line up two real live viewings tomorrow. Two!

They both sound good, but if we find something we like enough to apply for and actually get, we’ll have to jump – either pay double rent for September or move in 3 days. Why not, I’m losing my mind anyhow…

^{(Crossing the fingers yet again)}

• 1). Following a perky “we got you guys a new fridge!”, our meeting with the new owners was quietly painful. They brought along a new lease. The new lease was for the amount we’ve paid all along, which perked me up immensely until I saw the lease was only for 29 days. Then we get our old damage deposit back, do a walk through, sign a new lease, and give them a new damage deposit – for 29 days. After that we pay $500 more a month or get the hell out. Grrreat deal. Thanks a bunch.

• 2). Afterward, in an attempt relieve my seriously shitty mood, I went online to try to find something decent to rent. Lo and behold, I discover a fresh ad for a gorgeous 3 bedroom recently renoed suite over on the west side of town, close to where I grew up. It’s got everything we want, laundry room, allows pets, AND has an extra bedroom. Lovely photos, and for a shockingly good deal. We got very excited and spent 40 minutes carefully writing a response to the ad. I went out for a walk, visions of fortunate circumstances in my head, soothing my woes. Upon my return, I race to the computer and find an e-mail waiting for me… and… and… and it’s obviously a scam. The “oh we’re over in Africa doing the lord’s work, but if you can fill out this application full of pertinent information that could easily be used for identity theft” type. Insert appropriate expletives here. Thanks for getting our hopes stoked and wasting our time.

• 3). Then, as I’m woefully typing up #2, our doula friend rings up saying she got facebooked about a hella cheap 2br suite in the neighbourhood, yard, inclusive, the people sound nice, and I should call right away. I do, and everything sounds fantastic until it comes out that the lady I’m talking to is actually in one of the rooms and is looking for a roommate. It isn’t a whole suite at all, it’s a room. Bugger.

BIG
FAT
SIGH

Home? Where are you?

^{I’m glad I have a place to unload. I feel a little better now.}

Here’s an idea…

I found a 2300 sf, 3br houseboat for sale. It’s in a great area near transportation and has a separate rentable suite downstairs that comes close to covering the moorage fees. They want such a good price for it that we could pay half down and mortgage payments would be a few hundred a month.

I know. Crazy.

This morning I got up early and did extensive research into co-ops in our area. I made a list, then dug up all the info I could on each one: area, share purchase, monthly housing cost, size & types of units available, min-max income and time requirements, subsidies, wait time/availability, web sites, extras: storage, playgrounds, common areas, laundry facilities, etc. I have everything on one page now, so I can compare them easily (I counted them and was amused that there were 43).

I also went to talk to a woman who co-runs numerous rental suites and houses in the area. She has notes on what we’re looking for and said she’ll call if anything comes up (a 3-br a bit our of our range is available in October, but others may surface).

I spent more time looking online and mid-august is severely lacking in straight, decent rentals. I’ll keep looking, asking, brainstorming.

I’ve been searching online, e-mailing rental places, and filling out co-op paperwork. We have an appointment to see a suite across the lake in a couple of hours, though after measuring our place, I’m feeling even more distraught – we have about 150 sq. feet more than I thought we did, not even counting the garage or storage room. Most of the places we’ve seen are $200 more for 200 feet less. I’m going to take a bubble bath and freshen up / lighten up for today’s viewing.

Of the other people I’ve heard back from, one is gone (but he lost his craigslist password and can’t take the ad down) and the other is actually close to $2000 a month. Ouch. We might as well get a mortgage for that.

Insult to injury, one of the new owners has been wandering around the yard here with her mom, oohing and ahhhing over the flowers. It hurts.

^{Chin UP…just keep swimming just keep swimming just keep swimming…}

Arg.

After a lousy sleep and forcibly dragging my butt out of bed to stumble around the kitchen attempting to make coffee, drinking said coffee, then preparing myself for either great disappointment or elation at a shot at this place, I called the owner, who’d asked me to ring him this morning.

...and he said could I please call later, perhaps around 4:00.

Well, the bright side is, if he’d decided to rent to someone already, he’d have said so, and the ad’s still online, so I’m hoping he’s planning another showing. In which case, we’d be there with bells on.

^{Or it could just be prolonging my pain. Drat, I should have asked if he had an e-mail address, mailed him some references. Fingers crossed I still get a chance. Oh Henry…}

For Markus’ sister, who’s been searching online and sending us daily lists of potential places. She’s really nailing what we want, too – and thinking outside the box, like the place we checked out tonight – it’s outside of the area we’ve been aiming for, but 2 blocks from the skytrain, the main floor suite, much more room than we have here, a laundry room & dining room, across from a big park, and about the same price as we’ve been paying here. It even has a fireplace (swoon).

It’s late, so we only drove past the house (stalker tenants – it’s good to check the neighbourhood at night), but I’m calling in the morning. Hopefully it hasn’t been rented yet and we can get a viewing. Fingers crossed. It would make me so happy to see a light at the end of this tunnel.

Exploring options. We’re looking into co-ops – there are many scattered throughout the city. The right one could be amazing. The wrong one could be disastrous. We drove by one that looked charming online, but it turned out to be in an extremely unappealing area.

This whole thing is really getting me down. I keep telling myself that we’ll be settled into a new place by the new year, but that doesn’t exactly warm the cockles of my present heart or soothe a little boy who’s never known another home and doesn’t want to leave. Not knowing the where or the how is really knocking me off balance, causing relatively constant anxiety. I try to brush it away by sorting things, but it’s hard when I don’t know how much space we’re going to have. The “It’ll all work out” mantra wears a bit thin sometimes. I know it will, I’d just prefer to be there already.

^{If anyone out there has any co-op tales, I’m all ears.}