3 Strikes...

...and you’re apparently us.  This will be the third house that we thought we were going to buy, that will we will packing up once again.

In 2009, right after we got engaged, we fell in love with this cute little house in NoDa.  The process with this one went all the way to us giving up our deposit due to an “iffy” inspection.  Things like, “well, there might be a mold issue.. and there might be water damage in the foundation...” and “if that’s true it might cost you $10,000 to fix” = a no go.  We were thankful a year later when we realized that losing that house and renting for our first year of marriage gave us the freedom and availability to move to Chile.

House #2 came after being in Chile a few months.  We found the perfect corner lot, with an ok 2-story house that we could make the needed improvements but showed great potential.  We put down a deposit that was time-sensitive (NEVER do that in Chile) and as long as we got our temporary visas on time it would be fine.  Obviously paperwork here is never on time, which we know now.  Strike two.

So here we are in house #3.  Last February we signed a contract to buy the house and rent until we got our permenent visas and a bank account.  With no time restraints (we learned our lesson the first time) and a $1,000 fine for either party if they broke the contract.  So we painted it, fixed it up, made it our own, brought home 2 puppies and then a newborn, because we knew we were staying here. 

A few weeks ago we got a letter from the landlord saying he is breaking the contract and we have 60 days to be out.  After talking to him, he informed us that no, he is not going to pay the fine.  After talking to lawyers we’ve been told that “yeaaaah, there’s kind of an unspoken thing where if you guys take too long then the contract isn’t really valid.”

If this makes no sense to you, then you are understanding our situation completely.

There are more variables, but it’s funny, in a completely frustrating way, that this will be our third strike at being home-owners.

Which has made me wonder: Are we just supposed to be nomadic forever?

One good thing about moving so much is that it makes you get rid of a lot of junk since you get so tired of moving it from place to place.  Tracey and I both have long-time held the conviction of living simply on what we need, which to me means using and sharing everything we have and getting rid of anything not being used.  (Which does not explain why I have transported an Old Navy rainjacket I bought for 6th grade camp not only from high school to college and then every move post-college, but also to another continent, when 1) I don’t think I’ve worn it since middle school, and 2) it is of horrible quality and has never even worked as a rain jacket.... Some things just slip through the cracks I guess...) 

Another positive about leaving this house, although we’ll never beat the location, is that it was built really poorly.  To the point that we talked about destroying the entire thing and starting over when we were ready to add onto it. 

And on a not-so-important-but-it-is-still-nice-to-think-about-changing note, I won’t miss having to ghetto rig our dryer like this every winter to dry clothes:

 Our only bathroom

or wonder where we’re going to put Lil’ Man when he gets too big for our room:

Not to mention siblings 

and of course the other kids need more space, too.

Rough life

So there are positives to be said for this frustrating legal situation, and on those we will choose to focus.  Although it will be sad to leave the home we really did think was going to work out this time, we’ll keep trusting that there are reasons that it won’t be, and that hopefully someday we’ll finally be home-owners.  Until then, here’s to packing...