Well, our weekend in Ohio rental-house-hunting was not nearly as successful as we'd hoped it would be. After spending 3 full 8-hour days in the car and, no joke, 500 miles (yes, five-huuuuundred) driving all around Cincinnati, we came away underwhelmed by our housing options. For the record, there are a lot of icky places for rent out there! Of the 15+ houses we saw and the many others we drove by or searched online, there was only 1 that seemed nice enough for our needs. Yes, ONE. Unfortunately, that one house -- a 3 bedroom, 2-car garage, beautiful fenced back yard -- was not available when we needed it.
After living in a condo for the past 7 years, we were really wanting our own house. We had a wish list of things we'd prefer to have in our new home, but most importantly we wanted a clean, safe, comfortable and updated space for Adam. Most of the houses we toured were outdated and cramped and a fair share were just icky. We saw boxy houses with huge basements (but the actual living space/rooms were tiny), tri-level homes (where we'd be 2 floors away from Adam's room), a few townhouses/duplexes in sketchy neighborhoods, and several bi-level houses (who knew there were so many bi-level houses in the area? And a better question is: why?). And while we could make any of these work for us and beautify them, we just weren't comfortable calling them home for one reason or another.
Our back up plan always was to go with an apartment, as we knew those would be clean and updated, would require no maintenance from us, and would offer a park-like setting and other amenities for us and Adam. After flying home on that Monday, we resigned ourselves to getting an apartment. It would be easy living -- and temporary.
We filled out all the paperwork and I was ready to scan it in, all the while realizing a deep feeling of disappointment and defeat on having to settle for the apartment. I wanted to at least get the application in, though, because I didn't want to run the risk of losing this place and being back at square one. But I forgot my checkbook. I would have to wait until the morning until I could write a check, scan a copy, and mail it in.
But.... God's timing is perfect. Before I had a chance to do all that (coincindence? I think not.) Michael emails me a craigslist listing for a single-family home in the area we wanted within our price range. Immediately we contacted our sister-in-law who agreed to go tour the property for us but we had to wait until Wednesday for an appointment.
Ok, long story short -- she approved of the house, we reviewed pictures and details, and made the no-brainer decision to take it! We called the owners and said we'd love to rent their home, sight unseen. It is in the township of West Chester, Ohio, not far from my new office in Springdale and where my office will be moving to in six months.
It's a 3-bedroom, 1.5 bath home, 2 stories with a partially finished basement and plenty of basement storage. The living area is a nice, open floor plan and the backyard is big and fenced, and our new neighbors have young children, too. And even more evidence of God taking care of us -- the home comes with a washer, dryer, lawnmower, lawn equipment, snow shovel, and patio equipment -- all things we were lacking! God is good.
We signed the lease and mailed the security check, but part of me won't truly believe it's ours until we move in on July 2nd. Pictures and address to follow. We have a home!
YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Roadtrip to Ohio!!!!
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