Who knew that buying a house could be so exciting? Once upon a time (before we were married just one short month ago), we made an offer on a very wonderful home close to Mom and Pop Eades. We were excited. It would have been PERFECT--a master suite, two bedrooms, and one large bedroom that would have become the bonus room. It was wonderfully situated behind a little common park. It was a short sale, and our real estate agent extraordinaire (Kathy Karr--360.571.8383) let us know that these can sometimes be tricky. Before the property can be sold, the bank must approve the selling price because it is left having to go after any residual monies owed by the former owner. We got the answer back from the bank in record time, and all seemed to be moving forward in surprisingly smooth fashion. In fact, Kathy commented on how smoothly all things seemed to be falling into place. We were commenting on that right up into our signing at the title company on Friday at 4 pm.
All this was compounded by the blessing of having our current home rented as of May 1. We knew it was going to be a tight turn-around (close on Monday--start moving in on Monday finish moving on Tuesday--clean on Wednesday, give the keys to our new tenants on Wednesday night), but felt it was a blessing that we would not have a lot of down time trying to rent our place. We have a wonderful Russian family moving in, and they are quite excited about living here.
Friday at 5 pm (with what in retrospect were small hints, but in reality was NO warning), we got the call that the sellers of our new home have retained/talked to an attorney who has advised them to NOT "abandon" the property which (s)he states will put them in a tough spot when negotiating with the bank. This meant that our family had one of two options: choose to not honor our agreement (in spite of the deposit given) with our new renters or try and figure out how to move all our remaining stuff as well as the items purchased specifically for our new home into some temporary facility for however long it might take for the home sellers to resolve their issues with the bank. Neither of those options was appealing.
God is SO good. Both of our insides were churning, but I can tell you that I understand the "peace that passes understanding" part in the Bible. I have come to understand that God is amazing, and because I KNOW how much he cares when any of his children hurts, I had utter c
onfidence that he was looking out for us. On Saturday, when Russ and I woke up, we had a calm discussion about what our options were, and, I believe, God inspired the solution. We would find a vacant house (preferably new construction) that had sat on the market for a while, and would tender an offer. Because we had completed our part of the requirements to purchase the new home, we already had our down payment and the loan in hand and in escrow. The only thing we would be lacking is an appraisal on the new property, and that can be done rather quickly. We were going to offer to pay the owner of the house $50 per day to rent it until it closed and move in on Monday, as planned, IF our other deal fell through. It also means that our closing time is greatly reduced since all of our documents are in order and current.
So. . .as of Monday. . .we don't know WHERE we are going to move, but we do know WHEN. I keep likening it to Abraham's experience. God told him to get moving, he just wasn't sure where. Add the kink that, once again, I am fighting the flu. . .and it's been a hoot.
Stay tuned sports fans to find out how it all turns out. The good news is, we KNOW that all things work together for good for those called to God's purposes (Romans 8:28--thanks Mom Hardy for teaching me). It gives us all the more reason to make sure that we have a purpose in His plan.
All this was compounded by the blessing of having our current home rented as of May 1. We knew it was going to be a tight turn-around (close on Monday--start moving in on Monday finish moving on Tuesday--clean on Wednesday, give the keys to our new tenants on Wednesday night), but felt it was a blessing that we would not have a lot of down time trying to rent our place. We have a wonderful Russian family moving in, and they are quite excited about living here.
Friday at 5 pm (with what in retrospect were small hints, but in reality was NO warning), we got the call that the sellers of our new home have retained/talked to an attorney who has advised them to NOT "abandon" the property which (s)he states will put them in a tough spot when negotiating with the bank. This meant that our family had one of two options: choose to not honor our agreement (in spite of the deposit given) with our new renters or try and figure out how to move all our remaining stuff as well as the items purchased specifically for our new home into some temporary facility for however long it might take for the home sellers to resolve their issues with the bank. Neither of those options was appealing.
God is SO good. Both of our insides were churning, but I can tell you that I understand the "peace that passes understanding" part in the Bible. I have come to understand that God is amazing, and because I KNOW how much he cares when any of his children hurts, I had utter c
onfidence that he was looking out for us. On Saturday, when Russ and I woke up, we had a calm discussion about what our options were, and, I believe, God inspired the solution. We would find a vacant house (preferably new construction) that had sat on the market for a while, and would tender an offer. Because we had completed our part of the requirements to purchase the new home, we already had our down payment and the loan in hand and in escrow. The only thing we would be lacking is an appraisal on the new property, and that can be done rather quickly. We were going to offer to pay the owner of the house $50 per day to rent it until it closed and move in on Monday, as planned, IF our other deal fell through. It also means that our closing time is greatly reduced since all of our documents are in order and current.
So. . .as of Monday. . .we don't know WHERE we are going to move, but we do know WHEN. I keep likening it to Abraham's experience. God told him to get moving, he just wasn't sure where. Add the kink that, once again, I am fighting the flu. . .and it's been a hoot.
Stay tuned sports fans to find out how it all turns out. The good news is, we KNOW that all things work together for good for those called to God's purposes (Romans 8:28--thanks Mom Hardy for teaching me). It gives us all the more reason to make sure that we have a purpose in His plan.
UPDATE: The first photo is of the landscaping of the "house that got away." The photos that follow (the empty house) is the house we subsequently moved into. It is located off of Padden Parkway. It has proven to be the better house for us at the moment AND we have been blessed with some amazing neighbors--an important feature when you are sharing flag lots.
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