Open to ideas

By Jan Libengood

SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO HAVE a solution now. Careers, education, caregiving for children or parents—these can all present some pretty daunting crossroads in a person's path. And when crises-mode lurks just around the corner, you really need to know that help is at hand. My "near-crisis" situation? A place to live.

My husband and I were in a jam. We had sold our house and contracted for a new one. That was the good news. The bad news was that we had only two weeks to move out of our old house . . . with no place to go. The new house was months down the calendar. On the day that we would be vacating our previous house, the new one would still be just a large hole in a lot dotted with building supplies and snow.

My husband and I were looking for a temporary home that would be suitable—near the construction site, reasonably priced, large enough to hold our stuff, and flexible enough to include our large pet—Amber, a venerable golden retriever.