Rental Woes

My husband and I have always rented the homes we've lived in, we have never owned.  Our mind set has always been, why buy, when you can rent?  Someone else would be responsible for repairs, taxes, insurance, etc...  Plus, why be chained to one location?  When you rent, you're mobile, you can choose to find a new home should you tire of your current one.

Well, our mind set has changed.

In December, we moved.  We'd lived at our previous residence for 3 1/2 years, dealing with an anal landlord/owner and our elderly next door neighbor who thought he was the Mayor of the road we lived on.

It takes about a year to really get a feel for a new place, and to really feel like you're home.  It was about this time frame that we began looking for somewhere new.  We were so relieved to finally find something, and moving our of our previous place was stuff of nightmares.  The owner was so anal with details of our move out that he hired a cleaning company to go over the work of the cleaning company we hired.  He was spiteful and abusive in his communications with me.  I am so glad we no longer have to deal with him.

It took 2 1/2 years of looking, off and on, to find the house we're in now.  Best house yet in all our 21 years together.  2300 square feet, 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, REC ROOM - hello!!!  Not to mention that even though it's five minutes from a large shopping center, it's rural.  Deer walk through our property ALL THE TIME!!!  Tons of quail, rabbits and birds.  Even though with the tremendous rainfall this year and the rec room flooding, even though the water pressure sucks, even though the windows need new seals, even though the kitchen faucet needs replacing... even though all of these things, we loved the house.  Loved it! 

Catch that past tense?  Keep reading...

Two days after we signed the year lease, the owner died.  That's right, died.  The house is now in a trust and and the FIVE siblings have decided to sell the house, putting it on the market first week of April.

FUCK.  ME.

Now, I have to say this.  The trustee that we've been dealing with, who lives just two houses down, has been very kind and generous.  He has offered us incentives to break our lease early, and has reduced our rent by $300 since we will have to give realtors next day access to view the house.  Plus, we've been promised our full security deposit returned.  Very generous.

This does not, however, make me feel better.  The first week after hearing the news, I was all screwed up.  Couldn't sleep, on the edge of tears, frantic.  I am normally the glue in the family.  I don't stress easily, but this has me by the... ahem....

So, the search for a new home begins... again.