So here is the journey of house hunting Chiangmai style… (A LITTLE LONG, BUT WORTH IT)
When we arrived in Thailand, we wasted no time. For four hours straight on day one, we searched like no other for houses, apartments on different websites. Flat after flat was just not cutting it and on top of that it was nearly impossible to find a 2 bedroom place within budget inside the city. After my eyes began to protrude out of my face, Aimee and I called it quits and walked a half an hour to a realtors place to set up an appointment. We learned that in Chiangmai, relators will pick you up and drive you around to different housing locations. Um, yes please!
House Hunters International? I think so!
We waited and waited and then waited some more for a phone call. Finally, three days later on Sunday we were picked up in the afternoon to look at two different apartments. I wish that cameras were following us around because the whole experience was quite similar to H.H.I…very comical! The first place was in an old run down building that had an odor like no other, but hey it was cheap right? This apartment was 42 square meters with one bedroom. Not a whole lot of room. After that we ventured to another part of town and looked at a place that was double the size. It was much more appealing, but still no peace. Why settle when I know that God has the best for us…to me it was well worth the wait even if that meant living in a Guesthouse a little longer.
Then, the next day we met up with another real estate agent. We almost did not go with him because we did not have much interest in the place he was going to show us. As we were walking out of our Guesthouse, we passed some World Race Squad Leaders. They declared that we would find a house as we left and were praying it up. The real estate agent picked us up at McDonalds (funny, I know) and asked us if he could show us a one bedroom bungalow that was nearby his office. The more the merrier, I thought.
He took us to a place right by a secure naval base/airport with a long drive off the road. We met the landlord and looked at a one bedroom place. It was quite beautiful, a little small, but felt like a cabin. We asked if they could change the king size bed out with two twins. She took us over to another home that is for rent and showed us twin beds. Then she mentioned that there was another home for rent, but was quite over our budget. To make it more enticing, she was going to drop the original rent by 5,000 Baht which is around $167 USD. I knew that it was still impossible for the two of us, but some of our friends are moving here and we thought they might like it. I piped up and said, “Yes, we look.”
As we stepped foot on the front porch a great peace overcame me. We ventured inside to find beautiful wood floors with vaulted ceilings edged with crown molding. There was a spacious master bedroom with a changing room and a large bathroom with another single bedroom. So 2 bedrooms , 2 bathrooms, with a Western kitchen, washing machine, porch swing, garden (back yard), 3 aircons, and internet hookup. This place was too legit to quit!
Our changing room connected to our bathroom
our shared bedroom that is large and in charge!
Then the Lord placed an American girl’s name in my head that had just moved here around the same time we did. We had met her, 2 days prior to looking at the house, at a welcome to Chiangmai orientation that only happens ONCE EVERY YEAR. God’s orchestrating?? I do believe!
Because it was impossible for the two of us, Aimee called Debbie up to see if she would like to live with us. Within a half an hour, she was at the house looking it over. We gave a 3000 Baht deposit (about $90 USD) to secure our spot; Debbie wanted to pray/think everything over before she would be 100%. When night fall came, we received a phone call saying that she was in 100%.
Blown away and in Awe, I knew that God was behind it 100%. If you will remember, we were not even supposed to go and look at this housing community AT ALL. It just so happened that God led us here. On top of that God reminded me how I had to drop my rent, for the house I own in Indiana, so that 3 incredible women could live in it. Khun Eet did the same thing, so 3 incredible women could live in her house. He is FAITHFUL: Simply BREATHTAKING!
TOO BE CONTINUED…
