houseforsale-1

How did we find our home on CL you ask? Simple … I posted an ad with the specific type of home and finance situation we were looking for and actually got a reply!

August 27, 2007:

Looking to rent or (preferably) lease to own a home in the area. Need at least 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, and 2 living areas. No pets. Only kids! Currently paying $1050 for this size home; our budget keeps us paying around $1200. Thank you! Interested in single family homes ONLY. No apartments please!

Looking for 4/2/2 LA

This is the original ad I posted on CL to try and find a new home for our family (our old home is pictured below).

The next day, I received an email from a lady who was putting her home on the market the following day and wanted to know if I was interested in buying before she did.

They were talking to someone about how to possibly sell investment properties.

We talked via email for several days before coming to an agreement.

The following week we came out to look at her home — and decided within the next few days on a lease contract — and moved in the last weekend of September.

family-starter-home

The family that we are currently leasing from was desperate to move into Dallas and out of the town we are in to be closer to his new job.

They were also in a rush of desperation to move before the new school year started so that their oldest child could start at her new school, and not have to change routines into the academic year.

Thus, the rush to agree on a lease began and we all ended up happy with the current situation! We were able to get a much larger home at an affordable price.

Basically, the owners are “eating” the PMI and taxes for the first year to make it affordable for our meek income.

Also, they allow us to split the rent up into 2 separate payments based on my husband’s paychecks.

This was put into effect by our former landlord and it worked much better for us, so we suggested it be allowed this time and they agreed!

What did I learn from the experience?

Well, I found that you really never know what you can get unless you ask. I mean, I didn’t really think that

  1. I’d receive a response so quickly (it was clearly a “God thing“). I had to post it and she had to read it.
  2. And I honestly didn’t think we’d find anyone willing to lease a home of this size at a price we could afford to live with!

So, I believe the Bible says it best:

Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

John 16:24

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