I went straight from living with my parents to living in this house. I never lived in an apartment or a rental home, which I realize sounds weird to some people, but that’s just how life happened. When we bought our house in 2006, it was as easy as writing a check and signing some paperwork. Anyone could buy a house back then. We bought brand new; there was no competition, no other offers. We saved up our money, wrote a big fat check, and signed our souls away on the dotted line.
This whole renting-a-house business is new territory to me, and in a lot of ways it just feels awkward. Brett and I have been stalking Craigslist and Trulia and Zillow on a daily basis, making phone calls and sending e-mails, trying to put our best selves forward. The rental market in Sacramento is highly competitive, at least with the nice houses.
And I can’t get over this feeling like I’m on a job interview, or stepping out of a long black limo on the bachelor. I feel like I should put on a ball gown and tease my hair up high and think of something super clever to say while the underlying message remains the same: Pick me! Pick us!
We don’t have pets but we do have a baby, so I guess you could say we’re carrying slight baggage. We’ve brought Everett to all of the showings, crossing our fingers that his big blue eyes will flirt their way straight into a one-year lease.
Last week we found the one. The house we wanted with the huge master suite and the perfect backyard and the tall ceilings and the beautiful dining room and the hardwood floors. We fell for it. All of it. And then we found out it was walking distance to Chipotle and I just about dropped to the floor and started begging. Pick me! Pick us!
I needed to convince the owner that we were the perfect family without sounding too desperate. I had to refrain from shouting things like, “We are SO CLEAN! I am SO ORGANIZED! We are totally FINANCIALLY RESPONSIBLE!” That would be like telling the bachelor that you’re pretty and have a good sense of humor. You can’t come right out and say it; you have to play it cool. While I didn’t end up begging on the floor or writing a list of the top ten reasons why we would be perfect tenants (contemplated it), I did send him pictures of our current house and the link to this post, crossing my fingers he would like us as much as we liked the house.
And guess what folks?
It worked! They picked US.
*applause*
On Tuesday morning we received two e-mails within two hours of each other, the first informing us that our house had sold (!!!) and the second informing us that we had gotten the house we wanted to rent (!!!). God is good. We move in a few weeks. I am excited to 1) declutter, 2) redecorate, and 3) walk to Chipotle for dinner ever night until I get the kitchen organized.
Have you ever rented a house before? Did it feel like being on the bachelor?