This past summer my mom moved in with us. Due to her fibromyalgia, she was no longer able to live on her own. We were all scared of what this change would bring but it has actually been really great having my mom and my best friend living with us. The downside though is that our tiny 3 bedroom home is no longer big enough for all of us. So a few weeks ago I started the house hunting to find us a new rental home to live in. This shouldn’t be hard right?
Our House Requirements
- 4 Bedrooms
- Finished Basement
- Fenced yard
- Parking for 2 cars
- No carpets
- Pet friendly
- Meets our budget
Let the house hunting begin!
House #1
We thought we struck gold. The first day of my house hunting I found a house that met all our requirements on paper. Was 2 months earlier than we would like to move (our aim is the end of the school year) but we can make it work for the right house. We go see it and it is PERFECT! Meets every single one of our requirements and bonus, the rooms are huge. The basement is bigger than most bachelor apartments I have seen. This gives my mom the perfect place to have her own space. Well, that was a week ago. We submitted our rental application the next day and we have not heard anything back. I am losing hope.
House #2
House #2 caught my attention as it is on the same street that my grandparents lived on when I was growing up. It was supposed to be eventually my house but long story short my dad and step-mom sold the house 🙁 I know it is a great neighbourhood to raise a family in so I pack up the family and we go to see the house. This house actually has 5 bedrooms. This house was falling apart, everywhere we looked something needed repairing. The agent showing us the house assured us everything would be fixed before we moved in but there was too much work to be done for us to look past. I felt very claustrophobic in the upstairs of the house and the bathroom sink required you to be 6 feet tall to use it. We scratched this house off our list.
So far we have only actively gone out to see these two houses. Since we are not in a rush to move we are only investing our time seeing homes that truly meet all our needs. I have spent a lot of time searching Kijiji and Realtor.ca though and have come across a few things that leave me scratching my head.
WHY????
- Why do people carpet dining rooms? I can not understand it at all.
- Why do some not list the rent on their ad? Doing so saves EVERYONE a lot of time.
- Why say quiet family neighbourhood when your home is on a crazy busy street that sees thousands of cars a day.
- Why say pet-friendly then tell me you don’t want dogs or cats. Ummm those are the main pets people have.
- WHY WHY WHY post pictures where I can’t see the room. If the room is too small to get a picture, find a good angle or don’t take a picture. I don’t need to see pictures of half a wall and then try to picture the rest of the bedroom.
I have a feeling this house hunting thing is going to grow me a few more grey hairs.