House Drama - And Conclusion (Kind of Mostly, But Not Really Because We Still Have to Move)

For those of you who I haven't seen at church or talked to on the phone or who aren't on Facebook or are living under a rock...

WE GOT OUR HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THE house.  The one that started it all.  The one that we wanted to raise our expanding family (but not expanding right now, rumor mongers!) for the next 25 years.

Yes.  That one.

Where to begin?  Well, how 'bout with this post?  (In case you missed it.)

So there we were.  No house.  No real prospects.  Total frustration.

We looked and looked and looked at even more homes.  We drove all over this dang county.  We found a house we thought we really liked.  We went back for a second showing - not so much.  Then we looked some more.  (All the while I would be fine in the morning, a bit stressed in the afternoon, and then almost panicked by evening.  I think I do worse the more tired I get.)  

Then we found another home.  And this one we actually both liked.  I mean, it wasn't total love like the first one, but we could imagine ourselves being very happy there.  (After we tore down a wall or two, did some painting, and put in new fixtures, but I digress.)  So we prayed about it and decided to put an offer on the home Tuesday evening.

Wednesday morning I was sitting at the computer and thinking about both properties.  And then it hit me: an overwhelming, consuming knowledge that we should wait.  Wait for that first, perfect house.  

It was crazy.  This meant we would have to wait until the 15th to see if the deal would fall through with the first buyers.  And we didn't think it would fall through at that point.  And if we waited until the 15th and we did not get the house, then we would most definitely have to be in temporary housing, because there's no way we'd be able to find a home and close on it that fast.

But I knew it.  I had an excited, tingling feeling.  And the more I thought about it, the more excited and happy and peaceful I felt.  I just knew this was right.  I knew that it was spirit telling me that we should wait.  For what, I didn't know.  But I knew that we needed to wait.

So I emailed Lance.  Something along the lines of "I know you're gonna think I'm crazy, but I really feel like we need to wait on that first house.  Work with me here..."

To his credit, Lance didn't call me crazy.  But he wasn't so sure about my idea.  He had some questions he wanted answered first.

Less than an hour after I emailed him I got a call from our realtor telling me that that the original house would probably be ours.  The next day.

WOOOOOOOHHOOOOOOOOO!!!  So happy!  So impatient to find out!  So blessed!  Ecstatic ecstatic!!

Wait.  We had an offer on another house.

NOOOOOOO!  Oh no!  What if they accepted it and then we also got the other house?  We'd have to somehow break the contract!  What if they didn't accept it and we didn't get the other house and then we'd be homeless all over again?!  (I don't know if I could have withstood that.)

We decided to wait it out.  We had kind of low-balled the offer, just to see what they would counter with.  That's how you play the real estate game, right?  So we didn't think they would accept the offer right away.

It was the right move.  Because the owners of that house were C.R.A.Z.Y.

They countered with a price of just $500 below list price.

Plus we'd have to increase our earnest money from $1000 to $2500.

Plus we'd have to pay $3500 of their moving expenses since we wanted to close in less than a month.

Plus, if the appraisal of the home was at a certain amount, then they wanted to be able to raise the selling price.

Plus, our real estate agent would only get a percentage of $X amount of dollars, not the full sale price.

Plus, the refrigerator and the water softener would not be included in the sale of the home.  (Which would add at least $2000 more in upfront expenses when we moved in.)

Okay, seriously?  I mean, really?  I'm not quite sure they really wanted to sell their home... because what person in their right mind would agree to those demands?!  At least their agent had the courtesy to be embarrassed when sending the counter-offer to our agent.

But by the time we got their counter offer it didn't matter. 

I was at the library when my agent called with the good news that we were getting our dream house.  I wanted to cheer and yell and clap my hands, but I couldn't.  I was very restrained, given the circumstances.  The boys and I left and got celebratory milk shakes.

That evening, Lance and I happily wrote a rather large REJECTED across the counter offer and emailed it back to our agent.  

And then we did the happy dance of joy with the boys all evening.

Not really.  But we sure were happy.  And grateful.

I'm not absolutely sure why we had to go through all that we did to get our home.  But I have a few theories.  The major one being that I really needed to learn some patience.  And how to have a bit more faith.  And that I need to learn to let go a little - I can't always be 100% in control of my life.  Man... these theories are all about me.  Maybe it was Lance's fault; maybe he needed to have that experience.  Nope, it was probably me.

Whatever the reason, I'm not going to lie - it was hard.  

But.

I'm still grateful for it all.  It sounds trite, but I learned a lot.  About myself, about personal revelation, about following the promptings of the spirit.

So now?  Now it's time to really get down to work.  I've spent the last few days packing, changing addresses, transferring utility accounts, securing our mortgage, packing, renting a moving truck, changing plane tickets (we're going to a family reunion at the beginning of August), packing, trying to get the kids excited and accustomed to the idea of moving, and generally wearing myself out.

I love it.

Well, that's a lie.  I actually really hate moving.  Seriously, I just hate it.  But, the end result will absolutely be worth it.

Thank you all for your support, kind wishes, and prayers.  I was actually kind of surprised at how many people were concerned about our situation.  I mean, yeah, I expected family support.  But all of my friends really pulled through, too.  Thanks, you guys; I truly appreciated it.  I hope I can return the favor in some way some day.

The home inspection is on Thursday, and I hope to get lots of pictures that I will also post.  Until then, if you need me, I'll be the one in the middle of a huge pile of moving boxes, packing away... and smiling.