Looking is a race....

We rented a car this weekend, because we can't buy Eric's hooptie until Tuesday because of the holiday.  We decided to get a head start on house hunting......or so we thought.

The situation here is that there is a long waiting list for mil housing, so you automatically go off post on the German economy for an average of the first year.  That would be fine, except that EVERYONE getting here is in that same boat. It is literally a race to find a house and a competition.  The other complex part of this situation is that you can't enroll your children in school, until you have an address.  Until you do, you can enroll them at Ramstein, where our hotel is, but you will most likely have to move them in a week or two. We already know Eric will work on Panzer Kaserne, which is to far to drive to Ramstein schools.

It is as frustrating as it sounds.  Yesterday we found three houses online.  We went out driving and the first house the Landlord was there cleaning, we stopped and he welcomed us to look inside. While we were looking another military couple showed up who had first dibs because they had called him, so one off the list.  So we moved on to the next house, and it was excellent for us, however it wasn't ready and needed painted and cleaned, left our number.  The third house was already taken, however still on the housing list, go figure.

Today we headed back out, only in the opposite direction.  We met a young Airforce couple on one of the streets where we were looking for a house.  They ended up inviting us in to see pictures she had just taken for her German neighbor who was renting out a nice house down the street. We scrolled thru her photos on her computer and it was great looking, but not enough bedrooms for us. So we carried on our search.....

The last house of the day was the most beautiful, with the most beautiful view.  We all loved it and we left with "we will call you" because Eric wanted to go back out to look at the house that still needed painted from yesterday one more time. It had a much larger layout, and carport for our vehicles, something this house was lacking. It did not have this view,but it had alot of extra room for everyone who promises they are coming to visit (lol) and the American bus stop was right up the road, which was a plus.

Once out at that house, we really decided it was the best choice.  We decide to do the contract,  only to learn there is a list of people who have looked at it before us that they have to call before we can sign the contract. The landlady was ready to sign the contract, but the son was managing the viewings and felt he needed to call everyone to be honest.  Fair enough, but we bet we loose this one too!! However,  Eric had the German land lady rolling with his attempt to say German words and they hit it off immediately.

Frustrating for sure.....but at this point, we are going to follow God's lead and see where we end up calling "home". This picture is of our 2nd choice, and this picture really does not do it justice for the actual view from over the garden, so if we end up here, we will make the layout work the best we can and enjoy the view!