so, i really intended to post before this, but i was waiting on some news, and that news got delayed. and then we thought we weren't going to have any news. today i was told we have news and that it was okay to spread the news around a bit more than we have been.
we've found a house. better yet, the bank is actually starting to work with us to go through the process so we can buy said house. there are still some things that have to be worked out, some hurdles to get over, but the realtor thinks we can get it all done. there's still a chance of it all falling apart—there's the fha inspection, some terms in the bank's addendum to the contract that have the realtor a little nervous (she's going to get with the lender on that), a judgment that needs to be cleared by closing, and the possibility of some smaller monetary things we're going to have to find a way to cover. and there's always a chance the whole thing will not only not work out but also kill any further chances because if the timing doesn't work out right, we could lose our earnest money. $500 is a lot for us to come up with. no way we can do it twice.
but, basically, right now we're on a countdown to getting the house, and the realtor and lender seem to be doing everything they can to get us in. in the meantime, we need to get to a counseling session for first time buyers and start getting the paperwork together. lender has the loan app in process, i just need to send her proof of stuff. like i said, it could all still fall apart, but we're going to go forward with the attitude that it won't. the next major hurdle is the fha inspection.
in the spirit of "this will work out", here's some pictures of our 6 bedroom, 4 bath, beautiful house....
front view (that's a doorway into the finished basement under the stairs)
the living room (picture sucks, but it is beautiful and big and beautiful....)
the kitchen is HUGE & perfect for the husband, it has a pantry and lots of cupboard space plus a place for a second oven.
this is an enclosed patio off the kitchen. we're going to remove the carpeting and there's a spot where we'll grow herbs in pots
the dining room (the only room we felt was small, & we've got ideas for it); see the window seat?
the master bedroom that will either go to kitten or be set up as an "apartment" for taz
the master bathroom
one of the bedrooms (might even be the "in law suite" saxy and i will be taking as ours)
this room is be the exercise/ferret/laundry room & saxy's access to the BBQ on one of the decks
the basement has two rooms: this one will be the room for saxy's "bar"
basement bedroom
the basement bathroom
the back with the enclosed porch and the double deck
the upper deck with the BBQ
yes, the back yard needs to be cleared a little.
told you it was gorgeous. it does need some repairs and fixing up (the roof needs to be reshingled, the carpet needs to go, and a few other things), but we think we can manage repairs/fixing over time.
there is an interesting story about this house. apparently the house was under contract a week or so before we saw it, but the guy buying it died. they had a couple of other offers, but they were low, and it was open to be seen, but almost impossible to get inside because the code was misprinted on the page and the key jammed into the lock box so it was near impossible to get it out. if our realtor hadn't gotten a hold of the person representing the house, we'd never have gotten in to see it.
another tidbit: now that we might have a house with space, jewel wants to move in as well. good thing we can put one of the older girls upstairs and the other in the basement bedroom. keeping those two separate is the best choice, and having them both help with the mortgage helps us. it also brings their housing costs down (jewel was saying what we were talking about charging her would be about half what she's paying now...plus she'll actually be able to eat).
so, yea, we're really hoping this will work out. it's the perfect house for the whole family's needs. but this is so huge, i'm having almost panic attacks about it. i just keep telling myself to breathe...and breathe a little more...just breathe.
(btw, these are not photos we took, but they were better than anything we did manage when we walked through. lol)
