Juicy Details

WARNING: Extemely Long Post!

I need to record this whole house-buying story for my own journal and I know many of you are interested, so I’m just going to write it down once and send it to all of you. That way you can know the juicy details. If you aren’t interested (or have heard it already) feel free to quit reading right now. =)

The plan Jason and I originally had was to move here and rent. Then we could decide if we liked it here in Blackfoot and wanted to stay. Renting would make it much easier to pick up and move if we had another “Preston” experience. If we did like the school district and the community, we would buy a house this next summer. Well, the district is awesome, Jason loves his job, and we really like this area. So, at the beginning of this year, we began to get more serious about the house hunting and seeing what was out there. Somehow we got connected with our real estate agent, Samantha (I’m not sure how) and we decided to give her a shot at working for us. (She has proved to be awesome, by the way!) I gave her a list of houses we might be interested in and she got me information on them and we went to look at some.

The first house we saw was the house we’re buying, however, it took some time to come back to it. We weren’t sure what we were looking for or what features we wanted so when we saw it the first time, we just noted that it had potential. The sellers had actually withdrawn it from the market but still had a sale sign in the yard. We looked at several more houses over the next month or so and talked to a mortgage guy to see what we could even qualify for. We finally looked at another house that I really liked and decided that it would probably come down to that house and the first one we saw because they had the most square footage for the price we needed. Everything else we saw was the size of our current apartment (or smaller) with no basement or garage or storage of any kind. Not a good thing when you know you’re not finished having kids like we are. Remember, Jason says we’re not stopping until we get at least 2 boys.

A day or so after we saw the other house, we went on a drive to look closer at the two neighborhoods the houses were in. As we drove by the first house, I noticed that the sign had been taken down and was worried that they had sold it. We called Samantha and asked her to find out for us and if possible set it up so we could look at it again. She found out that they had taken it off the market but were still interested in selling it.

This house has been in their family since it was built in 1935. However, they have a construction loan that they need switched to a mortgage. But they can’t get it because this house is on their credit and that’s why they need to sell it. So, they opened it up again exclusively to us for 45 days if we wanted it. During the next couple days before we saw it again, Samantha went to work finding everything she could on both houses like utilities, appliances, etc. Then she broke it all done so we could compare the two side by side. As the information poured out, we were warming up more and more to the first house.

On the day that we went to see it again, it was like in the movies when a heavenly light comes down and lights up the house and a little tune plays. We had a list of things we were looking for now that we’d seen a few houses and this house had them all. We were so impressed the second time! There were things that we didn’t even notice the first time like the big pantry/fruit room downstairs for food storage, the giant shed in the backyard, the covered patio, the huge closets in the master bedroom, and just how big it really was. Our plan was to go look at the second house again right after, but we didn’t because we knew that this house was the one.

I guess here I need to describe the house a little: it’s a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom 2200 square foot house. The upstairs bedrooms are big while the downstairs are smaller. It has a nice open kitchen and good sized living room. I already mentioned the giant his and hers closets in the master bedroom. Both bathrooms have a long counter (something I find is necessary. No-counter bathrooms are stupid!) and a tub/shower and are good sized too. There is a full basement (which needs carpet but we can do that later) with a giant family room, 2 bedrooms, bathroom, and food storage room. The laundry is downstairs which I wish was upstairs, but I can live with it! =) There is a “cave” under the stairs with a door which can make a great playhouse for the kids if we fix it up a little, and a bunch of cupboards to store stuff down there. The house also has a detached one car garage with a shop inside (I think this family built things out of wood for a living) plus a huge shed in the backyard that needs to be ridded of stray cats. The backyard is fully fenced and the back patio is covered. There are trees but we’re not sure what kind yet. Right now they look rather “twiggy.” We will be a whole block closer to the school for Jason and a lot closer to the library which is where I tutor. It is not in our current ward which is the only downside to it. I love our ward but it will be all right.

So, feeling really good about it, we decided to make an offer on Jason’s birthday. Again, this was sooner than our original plan but we only had a 45 day window if we wanted this house. The sellers counter offered and we accepted it. We had the issue of being short on our one year lease for our apartment, but our landlords are being awesome and working with us on it.
As I reflect back on the whole thing, I am impressed with how, I feel, the Lord had a hand in it. We weren’t going to start really looking for a few months and if we did that, we would have missed this house completely. It is in the exact price range we need (and an awesome interest rate) with the needed space for our family to grow how we want it to. It is a comfort that we will fit in this house for several years to come. It is almost like there is a huge neon arrow sign from Heavenly Father pointing at it saying, “THIS IS THE ONE FOR YOU!” In fact, last Sunday I overheard someone in the bathroom at church mention that they were going to put their house on the market this week. As we were driving home, Jason randomly said, “Hey, I think that is where this family lived.” I told him that they were going to put it on the market and maybe we should find out how big and how much (since I would love to stay in the ward). Well, I tried to call them, but there was no answer and no answering machine. I think it was a sign that we had found the right house and that was the end of it!

We had the house inspected this week and since it is older, I was half expecting him to tell us that it was going to fall apart soon. But he said it had been very well taken care of and only had a few minor things that needed fixing. One more major thing is the roof needs repaired in the next couple years but we had already talked about putting a metal roof on it instead of shingles. There is a small termite problem on one wall but that is being taken care of as we speak. The outside windows need sealed and painted when the weather gets warmer but we’d already talked about that too because Jason doesn’t care for the green trim (it is a white house). So that is a project to help keep him busy this summer! =)

As each day passes, I get more excited about the whole thing because it feels right. We feel like this is where we should be and the Lord is taking care of us. Sorry this is so long, but now you know the details! Wish us luck with the rest of this adventure!
PS We should close the end of this month (March 31, 2009)! Hopefully, I will be able to post some pictures in the near future so you all can see!