On the following Monday, we set up an appointment to see House 2 with my parents. My father and Hubbie tore the house apart(of course, not literally, but so much so that I think the realtor was hoping we'd go ahead and be DONE!). Looking for flaws. Checking out things. I tried to get a sense of the spacing and what we would be able to work with. It had promise and like I said, the yard was great. I didn't feel like the asking price was fair, but with the closeness to several sporting arenas, most home owners, in that area, felt like they could get those prices. We left the house that evening pretty certain that we'd be making an offer the next day. It was exciting, knowing we'd finally have a place to call home, but again, we were cautious. I was so scared about making a wrong decision and it being the worst financial decision EVER. We wanted to feel as confident as possible and at peace about this decision. We went home and on an inner hunch, I decided to check out a listing for sex offenders. There were 4 within a street or two.
Now, let me say this before I get comments and emails, I totally understand that sex offenders can move. Either into a neighborhood, any neighborhood, and it doesn't have to be a middle class one. It could be the richest neighborhood in town. I am not saying that creepy people can't be rich, have good jobs, make decent money, drive nice cars- WHATEVER! Also, I understand that just because the state classifies these people as sex offenders, it doesn't mean they are a threat, but just knowing that they are there, not knowing them and there were so many within a close distance to the house, terrified me and not knowing the area, again, scared me.
I broke down from the stress of this enormous decision. Hubbie held me as I cried. I wanted peace. I wanted assurance from God that we were suppose to buy this home. I had fallen semi-in-love with the space and the outside. In my mind, I already knew where we'd put things and people and we'd make it work. I just couldn't get rid the nagging thoughts and feelings. Hubbie did not want to make a decision on the home without me feeling confident about it, so we slept on it and the next morning, we told our realtor that we wanted another day or two to think and about our reservations. She felt like our concerns were unwarranted and we felt like she thought I(we) were being a tad bit silly (not her words). She continued to stress what a "great" area this home was in. That morning I called my Dad to let him know what I had found. I wanted a "man's opinion" because I knew my Mother's would be similar to mine! He agreed with me and Hubbie, if we weren't 100% confident, don't make an offer and keep looking. After a few conversations with my parents and with Hubbie, and as the day progressed, I had a little more peace about not making an offer on the home yet. In the meantime, we found a few more houses to look at and we set up another appointment to see homes.
Let me just say for memory sake, on all these house hunts, we took all 3 kids with us. Most of the time it was after nap and during dinner. They kids acted like baboons, especially in the empty homes, but even if we had a late dinner, they were still cooperating and we were thankful for their easy-going nature. (Thank you kids!)
The next few houses we saw were all in bad areas. One home that the realtor took us to was in the GHETTO! HAHA! Or at least on the boarder of the ghetto and we had to drive THRU the ghetto to get to it. Another one was on the border of another ghetto. The homes next to it were something you'd see in a "poorer" area with drapes falling, etc. The homes were in WONDERFUL condition. Completely renovated and perfect for us- price and all, but we'd be committing financial suicide in either of those two homes. The homes were too nice for the neighborhood and we would never get our money back if we tried to sell. The last one we saw was in a so-so area. Not super great or where we wanted to be but close enough to work with. The home had great space and even had a separate living room and den. The closets were tiny. No storage space and had a huge work shed out back. The price was very steep for us and our realtor suggested we not see homes in this price range if we weren't willing to go that high. We had a lack of communication and only saw this house because we thought the seller would be willing to budge, but after seeing the home and wanting to make an offer, we were told that it probably wouldn't happen. We ended our second house search feeling defeated and reminding our realtor of our time frame! We were beginning to feel like her last priority and even though our budget was small, we needed someone who was searching-daily- for US!
We continued to look for more rentals. Hoping that SOMETHING would pop up and there being no need to continue to find a home to buy. We had countless friends and family praying, offering encouragement and help. We knew we could live with my parents for a little while (as in a week or two before we all started going BONKERS!) or rent a small apartment if needed. I think by this point that was kinda the idea...... If we don't find a home by the first of May, we were gonna rent a 2 bedroom apartment close to Hubbie's work, put stuff in storage and stay in the apartment until after baby is born. We were looking for something that would end all the chaos and stress!
On the Friday before Easter we found a home in the PERFECT area, for a good price. I fell in love with the location IMMEDIATELY! We were hoping to be able to see it on Good Friday, but never heard from our realtor. We spent all weekend wondering if THIS WAS IT which was excruciating! The waiting and wondering and praying! On the following Monday, we were able to get ahold of the realtor and scheduled a morning appointment to see the home. It was everything we needed and a ton of potential, but it had a lot of flaws. I left the home knowing that we were going to buy it. I wanted it. Hubbie told me over lunch that in my mind, I had already bought the house... and he was right. I was cautious, but it felt OK to me. Hubbie had a lot of reservations. It had major flaws such as only 1 bathroom and no kitchen. ( Hee hee! ) Thats right. The kitchen was more of something you'd have at an office space. It was a "break room". A sink. A fridge. A space for an oven. It was just depressing how small and how the kitchen lacked so much. I was determined to make it work and knew that with a little money (ouch!) and time, we could make it into something we loved. That evening my Dad went with Hubbie to look it over. The home after more searching, was a little sketchy. It had a basement, which we both loved and because of the possibilities, but the basement wasn't connected to the inside of the house and there was no disclosure on the basement- like when had it flooded last, built, etc. There were several things like that that we just didn't know about. The home owner had been sitting on the house since November and we just didn't know if we could afford everything it needed. We'd either go into debt fixing it up to liveable and suitable conditions or we'd be buying it and living with only one bath and no kitchen for months or up to a year. Plus, we didn't know how low we could get the seller. Our realtor didn't think he'd take a huge cut. But like I said, it was in the perfect location. A huge yard. Tons of room for expansion. It could be our "forever home" and I was excited! Hubbie and I talked for a day or so and decided that if he wasn't sold on it and had too many questions, we shouldn't buy it. I did not want to buy if we weren't both SOLD!
So, yet again, we were without any possibilities and it was the end of April. We were at the last Tuesday of April and our time frame was tight. We knew most house closings took about 30 days and we were nearing that for our move out of May 31st for the rental. We found two more houses that we wanted to see and our realtor couldn't show us any more houses until Friday. We were discouraged and stressed. My hormones were (and still are!) raging, I was at the point that I wasn't sure if God even wanted to hear my prayers. I had run out of words. I didn't know what else to say, but "we need a house" and "Lord, please provide" And the tears were coming and flowing freely, no matter what was said. Stress was high and the kids were feeling it. They began to act out and were unmanageable at times. I know Hubbie was doing everything he could to keep his brain focused on work, while at work, and to hurry home to help with the kids so that I wasn't losing my marbles!
On Tuesday afternoon we began debating finding a new realtor, because the inability for the realtor, from church, to show us any homes quickly. We asked our realtor again if she had any ability to show us homes before Friday evening. She was too busy but had an opening on Thursday evening. So, we wrote her an email letting her know that we were stressed and on a time crunch and were going to get someone else to show us those two homes. Originally we were going to get a family friend to show us those two homes, but Hubbie felt like we should go with someone else. I decided to call up the ELP (Dave Ramsey endorsed realtors) in our area. She had already tried to connect up with us, but we were trying to give the realtor from church a chance first, assuming that this is who the Lord had chosen for us. I explained the whole situation to the ELP and asked if she was willing to work with us. I didn't want to step on any toes and "fire" the other realtor. We had no personal issues with her, but her inability to show us homes quickly. We just needed to see homes immediately so that we could cross them off our lists quickly or pursue them quickly. We got lots of advice from family and friends, who had been through the buying a home process before and everyone encouraged us to get another agent. The ELP was encouraging and said that she'd be willing to show us some stuff. She asked if I'd write her a long email about everything we'd seen, what we didn't like, what area we wanted to be, if we had a home that we had really liked, that we weren't able to buy, etc. So I did. I wrote her an email, telling her EVERYTHING we had done in the 2 or 3 weeks prior. We told her what our price point was. We explained our down payment situation and how we had recently paid off all our debt. This woman KNEW IT ALL and probably more than she ever WISHED to know. Within 2 hours, the ELP called me back. She left a message saying she had "the perfect home". It was one of her listings, that she had just listed 8 days prior. She knew that these people had room to "move" on pricing, they wanted to get out as quick as we needed to get in AND she knew that in order to get out of the house, they'd pay closings costs, etc. It had everything we needed- 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, large fenced in backyard AND the kicker- in the EXACT location of where we needed to be- with extremely close access to trails that Hubbie could use for riding or running to work. We immediately started hoping and praying! Was this it?! We scheduled a showing for the next day, called family and friends and asked for prayer and wisdom! I couldn't even sleep that night... I was so excited!
We looked at the home on the afternoon of Thursday, April 28th. It was definitely smaller than we were use to, but it had been renovated. The bathrooms had been gutted and redone. The kitchen had been renovated. The backyard was flat and fenced in and large. The spaces were workable and it was indeed in EXACTLY the perfect neighborhood. We had actually looked at a rental home down the street about a month before and were discouraged that their backyard was NOT kid friendly. We had determined THEN that we wanted to be here, but we didn't think we could afford it, so had looked elsewhere! This neighborhood, we couldn't afford to be in, because most of the homes went for $30,000 more than we could pay. I searched the house for a "UGH!" moment. I wanted there to be SOMETHING wrong, because everything sounded so perfect..... no UGH! moments happened. Hubbie and I couldn't find anything wrong. Despite its small-ness, it was perfect for our family. We told the realtor that the sellers HAD to pay all closing costs AND come down to our price.
If we hadn't switched realtors, we wouldn't have seen it. If we had originally gone with this ELP, we may have not seen it, etc. etc. etc. It just all sounded too good to be true and definitely the hand of our Lord!
We left the house showing with talk of putting an offer in within the next 24 hrs. We talked to my parents. We prayed for something to hinder this offer if it wasn't meant to be. We felt at peace about the purchase- knowing we were buying under the appraisal and comps. We knew it was the location we wanted. The space, again, had me a little concerned. Could we live in such small sq. footage for up to 5 yrs?! Or more? We prayed and felt no hesitations and knew that if God didn't want it to be, that something would happen. We put an offer in, again, praying that if it wasn't meant to be, that God would take it from us and quickly!!
The next 24 hrs was a gut wrenching process. Time passed slowly. We waited for the mortgage guy to get certain numbers to us. Then we had to wait for the realtor to get the offer worked up. Then we waited for the sellers to agree. We had been told that the sellers had until 5 pm to agree. Friday night - 5pm and 6pm passed and we hadn't heard anything. We weren't sure if we'd hear anything before Monday. We assumed they hadn't accepted the offer. Hubbie came home and we prepared dinner.... again, thinking that our offer hadn't been accepted and life for a few months in a 2 bedroom apartment was ahead of us. Then, FINALLY, we received word from the realtor and the offer. in our email, stating that the seller had signed the offer! They had knocked almost $15,000 off the price AND had agreed to pay all closing costs. The best part was that they had agreed to our May 27th closing date.
sorry for such poor quality photos- not the best lighting!
That night, after dinner and baths, we went out and celebrated with frozen yogurt and a drive by of our new place to show the kids! What a dream come true for our family! To own our first house so quickly after paying off debt! God is good! And we are so very thankful! Never did I dream that at the beginning of the housing search, we'd end up buying a home.
We are forever grateful to those who have helped us to achieve this milestones and for the love, support and encouragement!
GOD IS GOOD! When I say that He met EVERY SINGLE NEED, He did. And even gave us a home that needed no renovations! He gave us the space we needed...maybe not what I would have dreamed of, but what was needed for our family at this time. He also gave us the location that we so desperately wanted but didn't think we could afford. And He met our need of being in our new home and out of the old home, all before May 31st.
We are thrilled with our new home. We cannot WAIT to close and be settled. The fact that we'll soon be owning a house isn't leaving us without concern. We know we have other costs coming up- such as car repairs, home repair(a few minor things that mostly take up time, but will be another cost) and a baby. We know that life as a home owner can be unexpected and expensive. We prayed that the Lord would give us wisdom in this process and if home ownership was not what He wanted, to provide the perfect rental for us. We feel like this home was "it" for us and the only thing we can do is continue to trust in Him for provisions for our needs and for the upcoming costs of living. Even though there is stress and concern, there is also hope in Him providing. Of course, even though you believe in His good and perfect will and timing, its still a bit emotional for me and I have my doubting days... days where the overwhelming thoughts of "what in the heck are we doing?!" flood over me.... but God is gracious and has continued to meet needs.. even the small ones.
The inspections were on Wednesday. While Hubbie and my Dad went through with the home inspector, my Mom and I measured to find out what furniture needed to be sold at the yard sale. We have 17 days until we close. The inspections went well. There were a few things that were "uh ohs" but nothing that wouldn't allow closing or be a major cost. I truly believe God sent us the perfect home inspector and gave Hubbie the knowledge and wisdom while picking this certain person. Hubbie and my Dad were both impressed with the inspector and what he was able to find. We continue to give God praise for every step of this process.
If you think of us, say a prayer for peace and for the ability to get everything done. We had a yard sale on Saturday and it was pretty successful in helping us get rid of quite a bit. Some of the stuff, after the sale, went to Goodwill and we are saving the rest for another sale in 2 weeks. After all that work preparing and being on my feet, I had a hard afternoon on Saturday of some pretty strong contractions and back pain which left me laying on the couch the rest of the day. Things like this have me convinced that I just cannot over do it and cannot forget that I am pregnant.
My goal is to be completely packed by moving morning and then take the kids to my parents for the day to wait out the move. Several friends have offered to help and without their help, we wouldn't be able to do this. This is the first move that I plan to not help with. I've always moved boxes and help do things on moving day, but this time, I just don't think its wise for me to be in the action. If I'm there, I'll be ordering people around and stressed and feeling helpless and I think its better for Hubbie to take charge and me to lay low for the day. I just pray that my body can hold out for the packing and unpacking process and that Baby Girl will stay put until 38 weeks. I do not want to be put on bedrest or worse, have her early or cause some concern to where I would need to be in the hospital til d-day!
I know God has a good and perfect plan for our family and I am continually being amazed, strengthened in my faith and walk with Him and being taught to rely and lean on Him. Ever since we found out that we were expecting no 4, my walk with Him has been a daily reminder that I have no control and life has been a whirlwind! I am not the one "ordering" life around and God is the author of history. God has taken us on such a journey and its taught us to never doubt Him and His plan and provisions. Again, even when I have doubting days of discouragement, I am always reminded to focus back on Him and to continue to trust Him for all our needs.
Less than 3 weeks to go.........
