Swimming with Sharks. Part 3 Renting a home

By now I can relate renting a home to buying one. With buying a home its all about who has the most money. With renting its all about whose background looks the best. Either way its a toss up when it gets down to the wire. So another three applications and fees and I was losing my grip on reality. I came up with other options. We didn't have a family to be able to stay with. Most of our family members rent homes themselves or live in a place already to small for them. There was the idea of placing our stuff in storage (shelling out more money but of course we would need to stay in a hotel) and then within a few months our scores would go up enough to buy a house but we wouldn't have the extra money to spare again.
My realtor told me to be patient.
She told me to trust her.
So I replied. 'I waiting on my rock.'
A week went by and call after call was another reject.
This was depressing. It was stressful. As a writer, I can tell you, it wasn't helping my skills at all.
But then one night while I was packing away, clearing more space, I got a phone call. Another realtor calling to ask me questions. I don't know if she noticed the weakness of my voice or the tiredness of answering the same questions over and over again but she said a few things no one else did and my ears perked up. She asked the questions, and then a few more and when she gave me the breakdown of terms, I informed her I needed to discuss this with the family. Granted our kids were not helping with the rent. But I had them involved in every step. They are teenagers, this is a life experience they can learn from. So I called them into the dining room and explained to them what was asked of me. I answered all their questions and made sure we all were in agreement. When I got the answer, I talked to the realtor and she said the place was ours.
My heart sang!
I THANKED GOD for all, thanked my realtor, and the other agent.
As I let out the heavy breath I had been holding I texted my realtor with the good news.
'Fought the shark to the buoy and sent up a flare. A boat rescued me!'
She called me right then and we laughed about it.
With the results of finding a place behind us, we went to the office to fill out the paperwork and place our deposit. The new place is bigger and so are the rooms. Counting down the days until we officially get the key, I can honestly say I have learned a valuable lesson and so have our children. I am wiser when it comes to spending. I make better choices about what we need as opposed to what we want. For now, groceries are sparse because I don't want to move furniture and food. I like to stock up after the move. So I have money set aside just for that purpose. Next year, we will be ready. We will have all we need to buy the house we will spend the rest of our lives in. Making friends with my realtor, she will already know what I want in a place before we begin searching.
I will have to fight the shark again, but by then, I will have a spear and provisions.