[Fierce Critter]

Hi. This is my first post. This site was recommended to me by someone who knows my situation.

My husband and I are currently renting a house in Northport. Our landlords, however, are divorcing and are selling the house out from under us.

This is pretty devastating. We took a chance on moving up here March of last year (2010) and things had been going rather well when this was dropped on us.

We're not in a position to buy right now. Our credit is icky, and we had just consulted with a debt counselor and are (were) working on a plan to pay off our debts and start rebuilding our credit scores over the next 12-18 months. After that, we would be in a position to be able to get a mortgage.

We also have pets that we've had a long time and will not dispose of.

We've always managed to find landlords happy to rent to us. But we've always had much more time. The realtor was here yesterday and they have to have this house sold this summer. So we're in a panic. Today being the 26th, I don't think we'll be able to get into something by June 1st.

The landlady has assured us that we won't be thrown out on the street. She claims that even if they had an offer next week, the house will be in escrow for a couple months. The realtor yesterday (who was awesome, by the way) warned us that we could be given a notice to vacate and then have only 30 days. She didn't say this in a threatening way - just responding when I questioned her. She as yet has no idea how long it will take her to sell.

All of that is pretty moot at this point. We're not going to wait it out. We've looked at a few rentals, but thusfar things aren't panning out (only been looking seriously for about a week since the news was dropped on us).

I'm really frustrated because the only sources I'm finding to look for a new rental are Craigslist, the Record Eagle online, and the Leelanau News (Enterprise) online.

Does anyone have any suggestions for other ways we can look for rentals? We did talk to 3 different realtors about helping us find a rental. I'm doubtful that they'll be able to help because landlords that go through realtors usually are pretty strict about credit and pets.

We thought we wanted to stay on the Leelanau peninsula. But my husband works in Traverse City, so we're actually hoping to get something further south. We looked at a couple places in Interlochen yesterday and we really think that's the area we'd choose if we had the time to.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Fierce Critter]

So much for the awesome realtor. We're going to be given our 30 days notice to vacate any day now.

Panic. Ensues.

[Peter B]

Here's a list of some available rentals.

Available Residential Rentals | Traverse Area Association of REALTORS® (http://www.taar.com/residential_rentals - broken link)

You may also want to consider looking for a home with a "land contract", aka.. rent to eventually own. Good luck!!