Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Getting things lined up (House Story, part 5)

As mentioned in my previous post we went with a house that was bank owned.  That meant it was foreclosed on another family and we feel badly for that family to have lost such a great home.  It is obvious that the home was well taken care of and loved. 

The paint scheme is just as we would have wanted - enough color to have personality but not so much so as to be annoying.  Unfortunately, there are no paint cans in the garage so we don't know what colors to buy for the many touch ups we need to do!  There are vinyl phrases on the wall that we plan on keeping and the rooms pretty much tell us where everyone belongs.  It almost seems as if this house was waiting for us.

During the whole house hunting process, when we were feeling frustrated that we couldn't find what we wanted, I kept telling myself and Biju that God would lead us to where we needed to be when it was time.  The house had only been listed for 2 weeks when we found it so I really do think that God got his timing right.   (It always is, though, isn't it, whether we like it or not.)

But, as with most things in life, just because we'd finally found the right house that didn't mean the path to ownership would be easy.  Right? 

Our agent put our bid in for the house via the internet and we had 24 hours to put the bid in on paper.  We met with our agent at the house and signed what we needed to sign so it could be overnighted to HUD.  We took the opportunity to show the boys around their new home.  (We told them they'd be able to spot their bedroom pretty easily and Ajay shouted "I found it!" right off the bat.)

The perfect phrase on the wall and TWO closets - one for Ajay, one for Alex.  I've loved this "boy" definition since my friend, Angie, put it on her walls for two of her boys.  In fact, I think it's a little gift to us to help remember those friends who have recently moved to a new town.
 The next day we learned that the paperwork would need to be re-submitted because of this or that (all the Ts need to be crossed and all the Is need to be dotted with government transactions) so we met with our agent again.  This time it so happened that my parents were driving through town on their vacation so we were able to show them around. 

We set up an inspection but it had to be postponed because HUD was definite about following protocol and we needed to submit a written request to have the utilities turned on.   So did what we needed to do and set up another inspection date for the following week.  That got postponed, too.  Are you kidding me?? 

A whole mess followed suit but once it all got straightened out, we had another inspection date set up.  We scheduled all the other fun stuff that needs to be done prior to closing (termite inspection, bank apprasial, yadda yadda yadda) and FINALLY we found out that the house was in really good condition.  Our inspector was really impressed with the home and, aside from an issue with the air conditioner, we feel confident making this purchase.

Which is why we feel good about announcing to you all that we're buying the home.  Since this is an "as is" purchase we had the ability to back out of our contract without penalties if there was something horribly wrong with the house that we didn't want to fix.  We're not happy about the air conditioner problem but it isn't going to keep us from buying. 

We are so so sooo excited to move into our new home.  Little things around our current house make me stop and realize "Ooh, that will be different in the new house!"  We've done a little shopping to complete the new rooms and Biju and I have had dozens of conversations after the boys go to bed about how we're going to set up each room. 

There are a few things that put a small damper on our excitement, though.  First, Ajay will have to leave his friends at this school (but we do know a family who attends that school so hopefully that will help).   Alex won't even be able to attend school there to begin with.  We're on the waiting list so we're hoping another pre-k student moves so Alex can take their spot.  And lastly......now we have to PACK!!!  ugghhhhhh.  I feel a headache coming on just thinking about it. 

But hey - I can't wait to host Bunco once we're all settled!!!

1 comment:

Michelle said...

How exciting!! Can't wait to see your new home!