We are so excited to finally be getting on our feet here in Missoula!
We got here a few days before Easter, over two months ago, and have still been living at my parents house.
I love my parents. I love this house. I hate not having our own space or enough space. I hate going through the mountain of boxes in the garage whenever I need something. I hate not being able to walk around naked.
Last week I did an audition for Old Navy and then got a call back for an interview too! And as most of you know from Facebook, I got the job! First I applied to ;) I will start next week.
All month we have been looking at houses, and not having much luck. Not only did we have a $800 budget, but we also have two dogs. Even though Sophie is a service animal, we were still having a hard time finding somewhere that would accept Ranger. Everything we were finding were tiny two bedroom apartments and four-plexes, with no yard.
We went to check out a few places, but didn't put in any applications. It was astounding how much less we got in the Missoula housing market compared to Fayetteville.
(We had a three bedroom/two bath single family home with a garage and huge yard AND in a better neighborhood- All for $795/month!)
We were feeling so discouraged that all the crappy places we were looking at already had other applications. It's hard to justify paying $30 per person just to apply to a house you really don't want, that others are already ahead of you in line for.
And then the pet deposits are ridiculous. I can understand charging a $150. $200. even $250 pet deposit. But some places were asking $800, or more!
One rental company took it even further, not only asking for a pet deposit and additional pet rent every month, but then a $50 application fee per pet (on top of the application fee for people!)! Why? Really, why? What are you going to do, run my dog's credit and criminal background?
Ridiculous.
Then one day, driving back from a friend's, we saw a "For Rent" sign in front of a duplex on 55th. So we gave a call and left a message. We were sure it would be out of our price range, since every other duplex we had called on was at LEAST $900, even on 55th. We had basically accepted our four-plex fate.
The guy called, it was a *3* bedroom, one bath with a garage and fenced yard, they accepted dogs and it was....wait for it.... $850 a month. Yes, $50 out of our price range, but I re-ran numbers and figured we could do it. Especially for everything else we were getting.
So we went to the showing, where there were already about 3 other families, and more people pouring in. We asked about the application fee-none.
We asked about the pet deposit-none.
We asked about pet rent- Only $25.
We applied.
Waiting was so terrible. They called the next night to tell us it was between us and another couple they "really liked". In the words of my dad, "Cruel."
But then this morning they called, and-you guessed it-
WE GOT IT!
We will be signing the papers this afternoon and hopefully moving a few things tonight.
But tomorrow *should* be moving day.
So please clear your calendars and come move a few boxes...
Thank you all so much for your prayers, we know that everything coming together right in the nick of time is nothing but God. We've been starting to get a tad stressed, trying to remember God's timing, only for Him to remind us that he's got this under control.
(We had a three bedroom/two bath single family home with a garage and huge yard AND in a better neighborhood- All for $795/month!)
We were feeling so discouraged that all the crappy places we were looking at already had other applications. It's hard to justify paying $30 per person just to apply to a house you really don't want, that others are already ahead of you in line for.
And then the pet deposits are ridiculous. I can understand charging a $150. $200. even $250 pet deposit. But some places were asking $800, or more!
One rental company took it even further, not only asking for a pet deposit and additional pet rent every month, but then a $50 application fee per pet (on top of the application fee for people!)! Why? Really, why? What are you going to do, run my dog's credit and criminal background?
Ridiculous.
Then one day, driving back from a friend's, we saw a "For Rent" sign in front of a duplex on 55th. So we gave a call and left a message. We were sure it would be out of our price range, since every other duplex we had called on was at LEAST $900, even on 55th. We had basically accepted our four-plex fate.
The guy called, it was a *3* bedroom, one bath with a garage and fenced yard, they accepted dogs and it was....wait for it.... $850 a month. Yes, $50 out of our price range, but I re-ran numbers and figured we could do it. Especially for everything else we were getting.
So we went to the showing, where there were already about 3 other families, and more people pouring in. We asked about the application fee-none.
We asked about the pet deposit-none.
We asked about pet rent- Only $25.
We applied.
Waiting was so terrible. They called the next night to tell us it was between us and another couple they "really liked". In the words of my dad, "Cruel."
But then this morning they called, and-you guessed it-
WE GOT IT!
We will be signing the papers this afternoon and hopefully moving a few things tonight.
But tomorrow *should* be moving day.
So please clear your calendars and come move a few boxes...
Thank you all so much for your prayers, we know that everything coming together right in the nick of time is nothing but God. We've been starting to get a tad stressed, trying to remember God's timing, only for Him to remind us that he's got this under control.
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