Swimming with Sharks. The ups and downs of renting a home.

This is not my normal type of subject and it has nothing to do with a book although with me any experience I have involving action, suspense and adventure will somehow find its way into a story of mine. But this right now is just a summary of what I have gone through in the last three months.
     At this point in my life I shouldn't be renting a home. I managed the getting married and having kids part and then raising them away from home but in reality I should be halfway through owning a home or making some additions. Well, I was on the short bus growing up and the important things such as taking care of your credit, having credit, maintaining credit and keeping track of all you do wasn't on the top priority list in school and it wasn't anything I learned from my grandparents as they were raising me.
     (No, my parents weren't there and that's a different story.)
     My grandparents paid cash for EVERYTHING. When my grandparents did get credit, it was to purchase a much needed item for the house, like a washer or dryer. Once it was paid for the card was cut up. I repeated the teachings and I didn't learn about my credit being a problem until a year ago. It took me that long to get it to the point I could obtain a credit card.
     I had medical bills I ignored. Yeah, like you haven't ignored a bill or two. At any rate, they accumulated and didn't go away. We had been living in houses for the better part of twelve years and When we came to dwell in this particular house we or I was ready to get myself straight. I had to. I was taking on the title of indie author. I needed to be a responsible business person and if I was ever going to show the world (my children) I was serious about what I do, I had to have a grip on my personal finances.
     I needed a home. A permanent residence where I could set up shop and grow from there. A place where our children and myself could be free to do what we wanted. I love to paint, DIY, woodworking, and having a flower garden.
Its been too long I haven't been able to play in the dirt. We cut the grass and clean the gutters but to do a proper landscaping, we couldn't because it wasn't ours. So why were we so eager to leave our humble abode? It wasn't us to be honest. It just so happened, the owner wanted to sell the house. Which they have every right to do.
     So here is where the fun came in. I was diligently using extra funds to pay off all medical bills and when I got them down far enough I received an offer for two credit cards. They were secured but nonetheless an added feature for me. Hubby credit was great, but because we are married my lack of payment was dripping down on his causing his score to go down. The theory being what I wont pay, he eventually will.
     I got in contact with a realtor, they are very handy in these types of situations because they can get you access to houses faster than most and can tell you of houses you may not see on those famous housing sites, but she took us to her financial office where we sat down and had a good look at our credit. Little did we know, what we were seeing, wasn't anywhere close to what we actually had. Our scores were much lower than what we were viewing on the free credit app. Shockingly lower and even with me paying off my bills, it barely made a dent. Because I didn't have the credit cards long enough. Need at least six months payments and no late payments on ANYTHING. At least no more than thirty to ninety days worth on some cases. Yeah, imagine our surprise.
     We would still have to pay another large amount to come close to getting a home loan. So we stepped out of that phase and looked into renting again. The first house we saw was great. The rent was about the same and it was further out than we were but we needed a place.
     First thought, desperation.
We or rather I wanted a place so we wouldn't be out on the street. We had time. It was January and we had until April. My realtor was like, no. Lets wait and see. There may be better places coming up since the weather was getting warm. So, we waited. Another place did open up. We took a tour, liked the size and location and applied for the place.
     Second thought. This was easy.
It could not be further from the truth. I don't know why I even considered the idea we were the only people looking for a place to rent. Kids just graduated from high school, going to college and looking for a place of their own. Well guess what. We were not the only ones who applied for the house. So we paid a non refundable application fee, for the both of us.
When renting, make sure you have plenty of extra cash for this.
     We gave them all they needed and it was a matter of the owner sitting down and deciding on who should have the place. Its all on who they feel is more responsible with having in their home. Once the application was put in.
We waited for the call.