Well, that answered that.

We were debating whether or not to renew our lease here at this house, or to move on to (hopefully) greener pastures.    Apparently our debate has been answered for us!   El Landlord called Wednesday morning and let us know that he had someone interested in buying the house.  He was calling to give us the option to buy it before the other guy, but the price he named was way too high!  We know how much work still needs to be done to this place and there is now way we could justify paying what he was (supposedly) being offered.    Anyway, we jumped online and started looking for other homes to rent!  However, two things are working against us right now. 
Number 1: The Economy.    There are lots of homes for sale right now, but those aren't going anywhere anytime soon!   Even foreclosure homes are being held in limbo by banks who can't afford to fix them up enough to get a decent buyer!  Yikes.   We have seen a ton of "For Sale By Owner" homes as well.   But, the rental homes are either way too small for us, very run-down or asking wayyy too much for the house.    Our best possible scenario would be to find a house we really like that the owner would be willing to rent/lease-to-own.  Best possible scenario. 

Which leads me to problem Number 2: Refinery Contractors.
The industry in our area is predominantly OIL.   Several of the refineries in our area are expanding and they have brought contractors to this area by the literal hundreds!    So, the game for the rental companies became "name your price" as far as rental homes go.  We have talked to a few different rental companies and they both told us they have plenty of luck renting a house to a few contractors for $2000, when it would normally rent to a family for around $1200.   How in the world does that work?!    Basically, they know that the workers are usually staying 3-4 to a house, splitting per diem and they don't mind paying a few hundred dollars each.     
Now, in a few years, when all the expansion is done, and these guys all move on to the next area, these landlords will be left with homes that are really only worth $1100-1300, but they'll be used to getting way more than that!     Disastrous.    
We have a few needs and then some basic wants that we are trying to find in a house.  Right now, we're in a 3 bedroom house, and it is working okay.  Actually, the sleeping space isn't an issue at all.  The kids all share the same room and it hasn't been a problem.  We even situated their closet to fit the clothes for all 3 of them.    The other medium-sized room is the playroom/schoolroom, and then the office area is in our master bedroom.    We also moved the washer/dryer inside into the small room off the kitchen.  It wasn't nearly big enough to serve as a dining room, so we made it the mudroom.   (My children tend to take that seriously, ha!) 

We are looking for this amount of space, if not just a tad bit bigger in the next house.   We also HAVE to have a garage or shop for Hubby's tools.   That's an imperative.   We would really like to have a big yard, for a garden and for the kiddos to run and play.   Tomorrow morning, we have another house to go look at, so I am hopeful that we are getting closer to finding something that will suit us!    We have time, as our lease isn't technically up until May 1st.   But, we're also pretty swamped with taxes, school, Hubby's chaotic work schedule and my sister's wedding in NC coming up in May.  What's a giant move thrown in on top of that?!  Piece of cake.   ;-)