Yesterday, I took a trip to Nanaimo, BC. I was looking for potential homes for my family. All but one were terrible. Each boasted a yard, and all but one had wide open yards, and typically on the busiest of streets. The one that was off the beaten track, with an enclosed yard, was nearly perfect. It was as the realtors put it, “cozy”. It was small, but had an amazing yard in a quiet area.

We were denied for one simple reason.

We are looking for something a bit more long term, and the owner of the home is currently thinking she may move back into the house once her lease in her condo is up.

She was a nice lady to chat with however, and I can’t fault her for not wanting anyone long term “just in case”. I just wish she would have put that in the ad.

Now, I have an ad out looking for short term rentals until we can locate something long term. I need to get my wife situated, so we can get the hospitals and doctors worked out. If I can’t, I will miss my daughters birthday, and my sons birth. If I can’t find something even short term, my wife will go stay with her dad in Ontario.

How fair is that? Potential landlords don’t want to rent for fear they may need to move back, or boast about their place being “family oriented” with no fence and on a busy street where my child, if she were to run chasing a balloon could get hit by a car, and now, I risk missing two of the most important things that I have been waiting for?

Renting sucks, and this economy sucks. We get a boom, it raises housing prices, and when theres a bust, the real estate board pretends to not notice. Thus, home ownership gets even further out of reach.