Getting this house has been the biggest headache ever, but I'm certain that we are almost there and should have the keys in less than two weeks.
We started looking at houses 3 months ago, just before Penelope's second birthday. I think we looked at about 7 total. We were just about to make an offer on a finished house. It had 4 bedrooms, an office, 2 1/2 baths and a playroom. I was in love. The problem was, it was on a land lease, so we wouldn't own the property and had to ask permission to do certain things. It was also right off the highway. Looking back, I don't think we could really afford it.
My dad was driving down their street and saw a sign for an estate sale. He kept telling me we should see if the house was for sale. Since it was out in the country, we would probably like living there more. Our realtor knocked on their door and their door and the owners said we could come and look at it, but it needed a lot of work. We went though the house very quickly and I thought it was a waste of time. I already had my heart set on the other finished house and this one did need a lot of work and he was asking way too much for it. My dad still liked it and said if we got it for the right price, it would be worth it. I finally told him, "No, Dad. We are not getting that house." But the more we thought about it, the more I think we wouldn't be totally happy with the finished house because it was right off the highway and we didn't have much land. After Josh got out of the military, we said we wanted to get a house in the county and renovate it. And that's just what this house was. Right before Thanksgiving, we decided the max we wanted to pay for the house and made an offer of $28,000 below what he was asking. The seller came back with his bottom dollar, which was $4,000 more and we agreed. (After talking with the bank, it was only appraised for $1,000 more than the amount we agreed on, so not sure where he got his original number.)
We entered the home inspection phase and found a fair amount of issues, mostly with the septic. The pipes underground were busted and nothing was going to the septic. That was the first time I thought we might walk away from the house. That's a pretty expensive issue and that wasn't the only thing wrong with the house. But I kept hoping the seller would agree to fix it, because how can he expect anyone else to buy a house with that issue? He agreed to fix it, but basically said that was all he was going to do and he wouldn't fix anything else. (This house was his father's estate and he passed away, so we can understand why he didn't want to put a lot of work into it.)
Long story short, we had multiple issues with the bank and 3 holidays that set us back. One bank wanted us to fix the issues before giving us a loan. We still don't understand how that's possible. Fixing a house that we don't own? So we said forget you. Another bank asked us to get estimates from contractors on everything that needed fixed. At this time, the seller was getting annoyed that everything was taking so long (it had been a month) and basically stopped responding for two weeks. This is another time that I went back to Zillow to look for other houses because I didn't see us ever getting the house. Then finally we got some good news from the bank and the seller finally started communicating again and signed a contract extension. We should have the money from the bank a week from today and the seller will be back in the country from a business trip the following Monday.
So after going back and forth for two months, we are almost certainly finally getting this house and I can breathe a sign of relief. So I'm back to Pinterest for everything I want to do to the house.
This is going to be a total Do It Yourself project. My husband is going to do everything with help from our dads and a few other family members. We don't expect to move in for a few months still. Living with my parents (and sister half the time) in a three bedroom house, is getting cramped so I can't wait to finally have our own space, even if it is only a mile down the road from them. I am also so excited to have 2+ acres. I have been dying to have a chicken coop and fresh eggs for a while now.
When we still lived in Missouri, our house number was 1303 and we moved down the street to 1308. The house number for this house is 1313. To me, that is a sign that this is supposed to be our house. And it's a miracle that my dad drove past a sign that said "estate sale" and our realtor knocked on the door to see if they were going to sell it, and over 2 months later, it's essentially ours.
After all this, I'm sure I do not want to move again for quite a long time.
I hope this will be the most boring post on here. Everything else should involve the actual renovation and decorating!
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