"The One"

Over the last month, we have looked at 25 plus houses met with disappointment.  At one point, we considered new construction, but finding a builder who offers an oversized lot without a premium charge and what we wanted at our price point was difficult.  Around the end of June, we started to get a little nervous about finding the "right" house. 

A few weeks ago when the kids and I were visiting G-ma and Grandpa Jerry in New Mexico, a new listing came up on the MLS that Danny really liked.  He called me and said, "I think I found our house."  Therefore, I checked it out on-line and was surprised to why he thought "this house" was our house.  The listing showed a house, that was clearly an older home with very few pictures (which usually means a short sale, foreclosure or something is wrong with it.), hideous decor and not really, in the area, we have been looking, but I agreed to look at it when we returned home.

About two hours after me and the kids arrived home from New Mexico; we met Danny and Mary (our realtor) to check out Danny's find along with five other houses on our list.  That afternoon was the first time we left a house with a filling of promise.  We actually saw two houses we thought would work for our family and one of them was the house he liked so much.  

The problem now was...Which house?  One was close to our old neighborhood, which would keep us really close to our friends, Danny's family and our church.  Everything familiar.  The other is 15 minutes away in another zip code.  I was torn. Danny was not.  He knew immediately which house he wanted and it was the one 15 minutes away.  I guess I never really thought we would leave Leander.

We decided to sleep on it and then went out of town for a family reunion for five days.  The break could not have come at a better time.  While we were away, we got the chance to go over all the pros and cons of both houses and eliminated the one in Leander.  When we returned home went to look at "the one" again.  We threw a few others in that came on the market while we were in Missouri (keeping our options open).

After a full day of looking, we came back to "the one".  I was puzzled over this because the entire time we have been looking we have gravitated towards homes with new modern "open floor plans", the have-to-have game room and move-in readiness.   This house is the complete opposite.  It needs major updating, every room in the house needs to be painted, including the doors and trim (they are grey), it has hideous wall-paper, bathrooms that need to be gutted, the is no game room and the outside paint is a color we wouldn't choose in a million years. 

Nevertheless, it has character, a gorgeous backyard and HUGE trees.  It is a place I can actually see our family for years to come.  The schools are excellent and yes, it will take some getting used to, but how many times have I had to do that?  Plenty.  In addition, the updates are actually something I am looking forward to. 

With that said, we made an offer on it last Thursday and as of yesterday, we have an agreement and a signed contract by all parties.  We are excited.  Now we wait for the inspection, appraisal and our final loan approval. 

Please pray there are no kinks in the process and everything goes smoothly.  I'll keep you posted, I promise. 

P.S.  Sorry for the cliffhanger on the last post, but as you can tell we finally closed on our old house.  Things got crazy around here with vacations and life!