A new journey - part 1

I'm going to take a detour from the normal hiking posts for a while (as if I'm been really busy posting lately!), and allow you to journey with us on a new venture if you want. In short, we've bought a house! It sounds easy and straightforward, but it has been far from it. It's already been quite a journey up to this point. If you're interested, I've chronicled the path leading up to where we are now.

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We've lived in our current house for almost 17 yrs. It has been a great place to raise the kids; wooded lot, creek, dead end street, tree house. But Sonia had been hinting at getting something different for a couple years. Always looking, but never serious. That was about to change.



12/08/07 - Sonia reads thru the Homes section of our paper, as she normally does on the weekends. Before I realize what has happened, she has contacted the Realtor and set up an appointment for later that day! Here we go! It was a "short sale". The previous owners had moved out and it was listed "as is". Oh boy! :-) It's well built, laid out nicely, but hasn't been taken care of.



12/09/07 (+1 days) - We go to see the house again. Since it's a "short sale", the seller's bank is wanting an offer by Wed (12/12/07). Yikes!

12/10/07 (+2 days) - I go out again, with a friend who was a building inspector. We love the house, but it just seems a little quick to make such a big decision. We back away reluctantly.

03/30/08 (+113 days) - Fast forward to Spring Break '08. We're driving home from our trip to South Carolina. Kids are asleep. We're making small talk, discussing the spring, plans for summer, etc. Sonia comments, "We shoulda bought that house." Oh well. But we began discussing what we would like to look for in a home. Sonia wanted a house that was laid out better for entertaining (she is a wonderful host!), with a little more space (perhaps for grand-kids someday?). We also have to consider caring for our aging parents. The unavoidable steps in our current house just weren't suitable. She also mentioned that it would be nice to get something that had not been taken care of; one she could go into and put her magic touch on. Hmmm. Sounds like the one that "got away"! We decide to make it a matter of prayer.

04/14/08 (+128) - Sonia drops Jesse off for a Young Life meeting that happens to be "in the area". She decides to see if anyone has moved in yet. As her headlights rounded the corner, she catches a glimpse of the For Sale sign. It's still for sale!

04/21/08 (+135) - We contact the realtor, Debbie Northrop, again and take another look. This time, with less deadline pressure, we decide to make an offer. Realtor says we should hear something within 2 wks. We're excited.

04/27/08 (+141) - The bank decides they want another appraisal, and assigns the case a new negotiator. It will take about 3 wks for the negotiator to review the case and respond.

05/30/08 (+174) - The realtor tells us that the bank has assigned another negotiator (#3!). You guessed it; another 3 wks. It is frustrating, but we continue to leave the process in God's hands, knowing that His timing is not always our timing! This will become quite evident in a couple months.

07/07/08 (+212) - The realtor tells us that the bank has assigned another negotiator (#4!). Yes, it was another negotiator. Yep! Another 3 wks.

07/15/08 (+220) - There is another offer made on the house. Uh-oh. And, we find out that the house us scheduled for Sheriff's Sale on Sept 12th!

07/16/08 (+221) - Another negotiator (#5!). Another 3 wks! It has now been almost 3 months since our offer. We're learning patience the hard way! Maybe the only way, actually; through uncontrollable delay. Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: "Cooperate with the inevitable".

07/24/08 (+229) - The other offer is withdrawn for lack of funding. Whew! But the bank declines our offer.

07/29/08 (+234) - We decide to counter.

07/31/08 (+236) - Let's see. We haven't had a new negotiator for a few weeks. Never fear! Negotiator #6 is assigned! But this one starts off the process by asking for a "payoff letter" from the mortgage company. This is a good sign, actually.

08/08/08 (+244) - Another negotiator (#7)! Another 3 wks. We're learning that "short sale" doesn't short time!

08/22/08 (+258) - We feel we are getting close, so we set a date for the realtor to come by and begin the paperwork for listing our house. The date we pick is Tues, 08/26. We're finally making progress. Or so we think...

Read on...