Friday, May 24, 2013

Moving???

Sooooo.... Monday, we put an offer on a house.

I know. I know. We said we were staying put (more here), but we had an opportunity fall into our laps, one we couldn't pass up.

It began a couple weeks ago.
Our friends called us about a house on their street that was becoming a short sale. Apparently this house was incredible: built in 1899, 7 bedrooms, 2 fireplaces, off-street parking (big deal for city living), brick, original hardware, ornate staircase, and beautiful wood floors.

We were instantly intrigued. We set up a time with the homeowner to view the house and Bob called about getting pre approved for a rehab loan, thinking it'd take days to hear back.

When we arrived at the house we were immediately impressed: young families everywhere, kids played on the sidewalk, there was a wrap around porch on the house, and beautiful trees lined the street. We go inside and the vision appears quickly. Within 15 minutes Bob and Ricky (our friend) had laid the floor plan and we could all see it's grand potential.

As the tour continued, we grew leery the house would take more money than we could put into it. After all, it is 7 bedrooms and over a 100 years old. But then we saw the basement. Those that know much about old homes know rewiring electrical and installing central air is usually necessary and very costly. However, the basement revealed all of that had been redone. A total game-changer.

Excited, we wrapped up the tour and left to chat with our friends. Everyone was over the moon as we discussed the potential of living two doors down from one another. Mid conversation Bob received an email from our loan officer. We had been pre approved for a rehab loan! Now, I won't bore you with the details, but given the circumstances with which we were approved this pre approval is rather promising (at this point, we're now pre-qualified).

We drove home with our heads spinning. What is happening? Did we set ourselves up to fall in love only to get heartbroken? Were we being unwise by considering this?

When we got home we talked through the situation and fervently prayed for God to protect our hearts and grant us wisdom. Then we gave ourselves permission to get excited. Living in Midtown is a huge desire of ours and we can't deny how certain details have fallen into place over the last few weeks. Details like being forced to renovate our bathrooms and having the money to do so (this had to be done before selling), deciding to put our house on the market and having a plan to do so (pre-brick house), downsizing our belongings through project clean sweep (makes moving easier), and moving to one car (getting us in a great place financially). While none of this guarantees moving is the best decision, it at least affirms that the Lord is orchestrating our steps.

Since our "what the heck are we doing, God help us" conversation, we've spoken with the realtor and met to submit our offer.

Short sales are anything but short, so our agent told us to expect up to 2 months before hearing from the bank. Once we receive their response it will take another several months to complete the process. This is actually good news for us, as we will take all the time we can get to sell our house.

Then we wait. We wait to hear from the bank and we wait to sell our house.

We are super excited, and strangely calm. This will be a long road and we're aware the opportunity may crumble to the ground. But we trust in our Lord more than our dreams and we KNOW his goodness. So we will continue to pray that everything falls into place, that we have the endurance to deal with complications (b/c they will come), and the wisdom to know when closed doors can no longer be open.

And we will walk (with His help) in His faithfulness and promise to work all things for His glory and our good.

"For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness. (Psalm 26:3)"

She's a beaut isn't she? :)
Look at that circle window and porch! So much potential. 

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