Is not fun. At all. Even a little bit.
I do not understand the Massachusetts way of doing property. Realtors are a strange concept, and you have to use them. Santa Clarita Diet it is not.
The rental price also fluctuates dependent on time of year, and as this is peak season (thank you student city) we will be tied in to the raised rents until we decide to buy or leave the USA.
We have seen a number of properties today. Several were okay (one would have been perfect but no garden – can’t do that again).
Another was stunning but nothing included in the rent, which was top of our budget.
One was, frankly, grotty. Which is a new word that we taught both our realtor and the Destination Services Consultant. Honestly it needed a handyman badly.
There are two in contention. Both are, sadly three bed, but they have 1.5 bathrooms, which we have determined is the thing we can compromise on the least.
The one I’ve fallen for has a balcony, a stunning kitchen, and the kids rooms are separated in a really cute way. However the layout means that #1 Son will need to have the slightly smaller room, else he would have to walk through that of the Tiny Tyrant to get to bed – so the child who goes to bed sooner gets the bigger room. There are ways to make it fairer.
So no, not ideal, but we were always planning on getting a good quality sofa bed or the kids can bunk up when we have guests.
We also met the landlords who were lovely (offering to install new fences and put bars on relevant windows to protect the kids lovely) and the Tiny Tyrant totally charmed them.
Actually she charmed everyone she met today. The realtor called her a princess (he thinks she has a very regal wave 🤣😂)
And the DSC told me #1 Son was a wonderful and unique young man and she was full of praises for both children (and us as parents actually) and it was lovely to hear.
We were finished by 15:30 and as we were all cranky and exhausted we decided to stop for a treat. So, may I present:
The children’s first Dunkin’ Donuts
I had a blackberry-strawberry iced tea and it was lush. (The chocolate-strawberry croissant donut was gorgeous too)
