House Hunting

Finding housing seems to be one of the most confusing things we've tried to do so far since we moved here. Partly our fault and party things that are out of our control. We'd definitely appreciate your prayers!

The most difficult part's is that it's hard to do on our own. Even though we've driven around and looked for "For Rent" signs in neighborhoods we liked, we couldn't just call about the houses because it's very rare that someone will speak any English. So we have to rely on other's to do it for us. So not only is that difficult because we have to work around other people's schedules, but we also feel like we're totally inconveniencing them. It also seems like most people here just find houses by word of mouth. You know, someone with SIL lives in the neighborhood and sees that there is a house for rent. Or someone is moving out of their house so you can move in. But I guess we've come at a time where neither of these things are happening. Even the people who are helping us haven't seen much of anything for rent. The other problem is that it limits you to very few neighborhoods where the 5 other SIL people you know already live. Another problem we're having is that they really budgeted too little for rent. Pretty much every house that we've come across that is available is $100 or $200 over our budget. There is just very little that is in our price range. There are other families in the same situation...looking but finding nothing.

We asked people about using a Realtor. We had read in a few Chiang Mai books that Realtors are trustworthy and many speak English. But everyone we talked to said we shouldn't use one. No one ever had used one...but they had just "heard" that it doesn't work well. Hum, we were a little confused. That seems to largely be the attitude of the Western Ex-pat community around here. No one wants to try something new. They only do what everyone else does. Well, we are totally opposite of that. We don't just want to try the things that other people have tried. As with many things, just because most people do it a certain way, doesn't mean it's the best. But we certainly are getting that feeling around here. So, with the house (and with other things) we're branching out! :-)

Another confusing aspect of the house is WHERE to live. That is an entire issue in and of itself. The school Orin will be starting at in January for Kindergarten is South of Chiang Mai (Grace International School). It's almost out of the city. We chose this school because most SIL people send there kids there. It's a good school and we get a nice discount as well because we're SIL. Damien, will be working in the North part of the city...about a 25 minute drive from the school. There is another International School (Chiang Mai International School - CMIS) in the city as well and is very close to where Damien will work. In some ways we thought we might like that school better, but we didn't know anyone who sent their kids there so it would have been hard to actually choose that school before we moved here. And we had to choose last January because if you don't apply by then you won't get a spot. So, things were set. We figured we'd live by Orin's school and Damien would commute.

So, now we've moved here. And first of all, we love being in the city. The apartment that we're living in is in the middle of the city. But the school that Orin will be attending is REALLY far out...in the suburbs. Most SIL people live out there because of the school. And as I said, we were just going to go along because that's what everyone else seemed to do. But we started thinking, "Do we really want to do something because everyone else is doing it?" CMIS is a great school too. It's a little more expensive and less "American Christian". But besides the fact that it's a little more costly, we like it better. AND we found other SIL people that send their kids there. Not only that, but Grace (the school Orin will begin at in January) is moving 10km farther SOUTH! So it will be even farther from Damien's work.

So, all of those things made us change our plans. After lots of thinking and praying over the past 3 weeks we decided that we want to send him to CMIS next year. That way we can get a house closer to Payap University where Damien will be working. We can also live in the city as opposed to the suburbs. BUT, the only problem now is that Orin will be going to Grace all next Spring. CMIS doesn't have any openings in Kindergarten so he's go to go Grace. But if we we get a house in the North then we'll be driving him 30 mins every day. His class ends at noon so that's two hours of driving between 7:30 and 12. So, what to do?

One possibility is subletting. Lots of SIL and other people go on furlough for 6 months or a year and want people to rent their house while they are gone. We could sublet a home in the South by Grace until the end of the year and then move up North. We actually have already looked at a house of a family we know. It's a great house and a good price. It's nice because we wouldn't have to buy anything right away because it's already livable. The problems: It would be another 6 months before we're in our OWN house. We'd still feel like we're in transition. Secondly, we'd be living with other people's stuff and I'd always be worried that we (meaning the kids) would break things.

So we found someone who had actually used a Realtor before. And guess what? They had had a great experience.

But we also found a family who is retiring and moving out of Chiang Mai in April. Someone pointed out their neighborhood and it is in the PERFECT location. Close to CMIS and about 10 minutes from Payap where Damien will be. And it still feels very much in the city. They have a great price for it considering the size and location. So tomorrow we're going to look at it. I'm sort of nervous. I want to either really LOVE or really HATE it. If we love it we'll sublet the house in the South until April and only have to drive about 5 minutes to bring Orin to school. Then we'll move into the other house in April. If we hate it, we'll most likely not sublet and just use the Realtor to find a house that we like close to CMIS and just put up with commuting Orin to school during the Spring. My worry is that we'll think it's so-so and not know what decision to make.

So, if you think about it, please pray for all of this. It's been so confusing and somewhat frustrating feeling sort of helpless. We're excited that we have some options now and once CLI is over this Friday we'll have more time to devote to it as well. The one thing we don't want to do is stay in our Apartment any longer that we need to. :-)