Click on the Photo Gallery link above to see more pictures of the house.
Over the summer we have been searching for a house to rent. The search started in the Royal Oak and Clawson areas. We really wanted 3 bedroom, 1,200+ square feet, and a fenced in yard for the dogs. When we first started looking we didn't think it would be hard to find houses that met our criteria. However this was not true. All we found were smaller homes for much more then we wanted to pay. The amount they want to charge for the small homes in Royal Oak is absurd!
Fast forward a month, and we found out that the baby would be born with Down Syndrome. Finding that out really made us realize that we had to move closer to family. They say it takes a village to raise a child and in our case this was more so. The search then continued and we started looking for a house in Lake Orion, Oxford and Rochester Hills. Again, it was difficult to find a house. So many rentals that wouldn't allow dogs, or didn't have fenced in back yards, or ones that were just hideous. Our stress levels rose as the clock was ticking toward the babies due date. We finally found an acceptable house in Rochester Hills and submitted our application. After a few days we found out another applicant was chosen over us. This was somewhat infuriating because I've never been denied for anything. Shortly after that I started expanding my search to more rental websites and also started searching craiglist as well.
On August 1st a house was posted on craigslist. The description said Lake Orion, 5 bedroom, 2 bath, newly remodeled, but the posting contained no pictures and no address. I hesitated at first, but the description sounded really good. I then contacted the owner asking for photos and the address. Hours went by without hearing anything back. At this point in the rental search I was getting impatient. There were many times I would call on a house and not get a call back. Later that afternoon the owner finally emailed me back, but he was very vague. He told me what street it was on but not the address, and said that he would start showing the house until the following week. He did not have any photos to send. It sounded a bit sketchy. I emailed him back though and told him I would like to see it first thing. So an appointment was set up to see the house on August 5th. In the meantime Melissa and I did some sleuthing and determined which house it was and we had our concerns. Public records stated the house sold as a HUD home a year ago and contained lead paint. From the craiglist posting it stated that the house was newly remodeled though so that gave us some hope.
On August 5th Melissa and I met at the house during our lunch break. When we arrived there were people still working on the house. The owner was not there though. We did a walk through and asked the workers what they have done to the house. Their response was that it was pretty much gutted. That was good to hear. Everything in the house was new, carpet, walls, paint, bathrooms, etc. However the house was a bit quirky. It's a tri-level house. On the main floor was a small bedroom, the master bedroom / master bath, kitchen and eating area. On the upper floor is another full bathroom and two bedrooms but they have very low loft type ceilings. On the lower level is the living room, with another small room off to the side. So it was technically a 5 bedroom. Some of the rooms were just small. It also had a nice back yard that was fully fenced in. So all in all it was looking good. Later that day I came back and met the owner and gave him our application and we waited.... The following Friday I was starting to grow more and more impatient. I needed to know what the status was, so I decided to text the owner. I asked if he was done showing the house and done accepting applications and he said he was. He said he would be making a decision over the weekend. He also said he was strongly leaning toward choosing us. That was awesome to hear. He said he would let us know by Tuesday, August 13th.
Over the next couple of days I continued to search for rentals. At this point it had become kind of addicting. I wanted to continue to look just in case we didn't get the house. Sunday evening a house popped up on realtor.com that was located in downtown Oxford. It was even closer to my family, and the pictures really made the house look nice. Nicer than the one we were waiting to hear back on but also more expensive. I decided to contact the agent to find out some more info. It turned out the owners had been trying to sell the house, but now put it up for rent. They were trying to find the "perfect candidate". I told him I was interested, but I was waiting to hear back on another house by Tuesday. He said to call him back if I wanted to see it.
Finally Tuesday, August 13th.. waited around until noon and I did not hear back on the Lake Orion house. I decided then to call on the Oxford house and setup a showing the following day at 3:30. I got home from work and we ate dinner, watched TV, still didn't hear back on the Lake Orion house. It was around 7:00pm that I finally received a text. It said, "I wanted to let you know that your family is the ones I would like to live here. Let me know if you are on board". This was what we had been waiting to hear for months. We should of been jumping up and down with joy, but we weren't. There was a house in Lake Orion that we finally were accepted for, but there was also this really nice looking house in Oxford. We both agreed in the beginning of the search that we wouldn't settle on a second best house. If there was something better we wanted it. I decided to give the owner a call and asked him a few more questions about the property, and I told him we were on board. He wanted me to meet him at the house at 5:30 the following day to put down a deposit. So the following day on August 14th I was supposed to go see a house in Oxford at 3:30 that I really liked. Then at 5:30 go put a deposit down on the Lake Orion house. My head was going crazy trying to figure out what to do. I surely didn't want to lose out on a house, but if I had a chance to get a nicer place was it worth the risk? That night I could not sleep.
I woke up on August 14th just completely stressed out. I had no idea what I was going to do. When I arrived at work I messaged Melissa and we agreed that I would at least go see the house in Oxford. My dad let me know that he could go see the house with me. I then decided that I should go over to the Lake Orion house during lunch and just make sure the house would work for us. We have a larger size couch so if that didn't fit in the living room it would be a big problem. My dad managed to meet me at my work at lunch and we drove over to the house. It was also important to me that I had him take a look at it and give me his advice. He too agreed it was a quirky house, but was nice and new inside. We actually then drove over to another house in Lake Orion that came up for rent, but it turned out to be in bad shape from the previous tenants. It was then time to return to work and I asked my dad to stay in the area so he could go with me to see the Oxford house. At 2:00 I received a phone call from the real estate agent showing the Oxford house. He told me that the owners had a change of heart and decided they would not allow dogs. At that moment it was like a wave was lifted and I no longer had this difficult decision to make. I then called up my dad and told him the news on the Oxford house. We then discussed the Lake Orion house so I could get more of his opinion. In the end we agreed that it would be a good house and really did have a lot of nice qualities. I then called Melissa and told her the Oxford house was out and the Lake Orion house was in.
Later that day I went over and met with the owner and gave him our deposit. While I was there I got more excited about the house. The workers were continuing to work and it was really coming together. I envisioned our belongings being in the house and thought this was going to be a great new beginning.
Over the summer we have been searching for a house to rent. The search started in the Royal Oak and Clawson areas. We really wanted 3 bedroom, 1,200+ square feet, and a fenced in yard for the dogs. When we first started looking we didn't think it would be hard to find houses that met our criteria. However this was not true. All we found were smaller homes for much more then we wanted to pay. The amount they want to charge for the small homes in Royal Oak is absurd!
Fast forward a month, and we found out that the baby would be born with Down Syndrome. Finding that out really made us realize that we had to move closer to family. They say it takes a village to raise a child and in our case this was more so. The search then continued and we started looking for a house in Lake Orion, Oxford and Rochester Hills. Again, it was difficult to find a house. So many rentals that wouldn't allow dogs, or didn't have fenced in back yards, or ones that were just hideous. Our stress levels rose as the clock was ticking toward the babies due date. We finally found an acceptable house in Rochester Hills and submitted our application. After a few days we found out another applicant was chosen over us. This was somewhat infuriating because I've never been denied for anything. Shortly after that I started expanding my search to more rental websites and also started searching craiglist as well.
On August 1st a house was posted on craigslist. The description said Lake Orion, 5 bedroom, 2 bath, newly remodeled, but the posting contained no pictures and no address. I hesitated at first, but the description sounded really good. I then contacted the owner asking for photos and the address. Hours went by without hearing anything back. At this point in the rental search I was getting impatient. There were many times I would call on a house and not get a call back. Later that afternoon the owner finally emailed me back, but he was very vague. He told me what street it was on but not the address, and said that he would start showing the house until the following week. He did not have any photos to send. It sounded a bit sketchy. I emailed him back though and told him I would like to see it first thing. So an appointment was set up to see the house on August 5th. In the meantime Melissa and I did some sleuthing and determined which house it was and we had our concerns. Public records stated the house sold as a HUD home a year ago and contained lead paint. From the craiglist posting it stated that the house was newly remodeled though so that gave us some hope.
On August 5th Melissa and I met at the house during our lunch break. When we arrived there were people still working on the house. The owner was not there though. We did a walk through and asked the workers what they have done to the house. Their response was that it was pretty much gutted. That was good to hear. Everything in the house was new, carpet, walls, paint, bathrooms, etc. However the house was a bit quirky. It's a tri-level house. On the main floor was a small bedroom, the master bedroom / master bath, kitchen and eating area. On the upper floor is another full bathroom and two bedrooms but they have very low loft type ceilings. On the lower level is the living room, with another small room off to the side. So it was technically a 5 bedroom. Some of the rooms were just small. It also had a nice back yard that was fully fenced in. So all in all it was looking good. Later that day I came back and met the owner and gave him our application and we waited.... The following Friday I was starting to grow more and more impatient. I needed to know what the status was, so I decided to text the owner. I asked if he was done showing the house and done accepting applications and he said he was. He said he would be making a decision over the weekend. He also said he was strongly leaning toward choosing us. That was awesome to hear. He said he would let us know by Tuesday, August 13th.
Over the next couple of days I continued to search for rentals. At this point it had become kind of addicting. I wanted to continue to look just in case we didn't get the house. Sunday evening a house popped up on realtor.com that was located in downtown Oxford. It was even closer to my family, and the pictures really made the house look nice. Nicer than the one we were waiting to hear back on but also more expensive. I decided to contact the agent to find out some more info. It turned out the owners had been trying to sell the house, but now put it up for rent. They were trying to find the "perfect candidate". I told him I was interested, but I was waiting to hear back on another house by Tuesday. He said to call him back if I wanted to see it.
Finally Tuesday, August 13th.. waited around until noon and I did not hear back on the Lake Orion house. I decided then to call on the Oxford house and setup a showing the following day at 3:30. I got home from work and we ate dinner, watched TV, still didn't hear back on the Lake Orion house. It was around 7:00pm that I finally received a text. It said, "I wanted to let you know that your family is the ones I would like to live here. Let me know if you are on board". This was what we had been waiting to hear for months. We should of been jumping up and down with joy, but we weren't. There was a house in Lake Orion that we finally were accepted for, but there was also this really nice looking house in Oxford. We both agreed in the beginning of the search that we wouldn't settle on a second best house. If there was something better we wanted it. I decided to give the owner a call and asked him a few more questions about the property, and I told him we were on board. He wanted me to meet him at the house at 5:30 the following day to put down a deposit. So the following day on August 14th I was supposed to go see a house in Oxford at 3:30 that I really liked. Then at 5:30 go put a deposit down on the Lake Orion house. My head was going crazy trying to figure out what to do. I surely didn't want to lose out on a house, but if I had a chance to get a nicer place was it worth the risk? That night I could not sleep.
I woke up on August 14th just completely stressed out. I had no idea what I was going to do. When I arrived at work I messaged Melissa and we agreed that I would at least go see the house in Oxford. My dad let me know that he could go see the house with me. I then decided that I should go over to the Lake Orion house during lunch and just make sure the house would work for us. We have a larger size couch so if that didn't fit in the living room it would be a big problem. My dad managed to meet me at my work at lunch and we drove over to the house. It was also important to me that I had him take a look at it and give me his advice. He too agreed it was a quirky house, but was nice and new inside. We actually then drove over to another house in Lake Orion that came up for rent, but it turned out to be in bad shape from the previous tenants. It was then time to return to work and I asked my dad to stay in the area so he could go with me to see the Oxford house. At 2:00 I received a phone call from the real estate agent showing the Oxford house. He told me that the owners had a change of heart and decided they would not allow dogs. At that moment it was like a wave was lifted and I no longer had this difficult decision to make. I then called up my dad and told him the news on the Oxford house. We then discussed the Lake Orion house so I could get more of his opinion. In the end we agreed that it would be a good house and really did have a lot of nice qualities. I then called Melissa and told her the Oxford house was out and the Lake Orion house was in.
Later that day I went over and met with the owner and gave him our deposit. While I was there I got more excited about the house. The workers were continuing to work and it was really coming together. I envisioned our belongings being in the house and thought this was going to be a great new beginning.
Leave a comment
Please login with your Facebook account if you wish to leave a comment.