Yes, I know this blog should really just be about cute kids...but DANG guys, those cute kids were muuuuurder yesterday. They were NOT cute. They did nothing picture-worthy. They danced all over Mommy's nerves in an amazing way. So today the blog gets to be about Mama and her inch-from-the-edge-of-the-cliff mentality.
In case you have been living under a rock lately, I'll let you know that we are currently house hunting. It started out very innocently, with me getting the ball rolling on our mortgage approval process. I logically thought that "IF" we somehow found the perfect house for us, I didn't want us to lose it because I hadn't been on top of my game and gotten the gobs and gobs of money paperwork taken care of. Also, I wanted to get the mortgage stuff done to get a very realistic picture of what kind of a house we could actually afford.
Turns out, not a ton of house. :) Which is okay, right? Yes. Yes, it's okay. We don't "need" a mansion on Summit...but we wouldn't "mind" a mansion on Summit either. ;)
...
Turns out, this is a very tricky process when it's someone like me and someone like Jonas buying a house together, too. :) There are some thing I just will not budge on, and same goes for him. We've agreed to not try to "convince" the other person to buy a house they dislike/doesn't fit their criteria. Soooooo...we've looked at a lot of houses, and we're going to look at many more, I think.
My requirements:
1. Has at least 4 bedrooms.
2. 3 of the bedrooms have to be on the same level. That level has to be the main floor or the top floor...not in the basement.
3. The kitchen and bathrooms have to be in "working" condition. Not pretty, necessarily, but not needing lots of work and replacements.
4. It MUST have a good backyard, preferably fenced in...and a private security fence is a cherry on top...but the existence of the good backyard is the key point here. We can fence it in ourselves later on.
5. It has to be in a relatively "safe" area.
A note about safety. I use the word "safe"...well...relatively. :) I know that crime is anywhere. I'm okay with crime like theft and robbery in an area...because I feel like that's going to be just about anywhere, to a small extent. I am NOT okay with shootings, drug deals, assaults, etc. in an area. So, that's a little limiting for us. I know the St. Paul areas well, and there are so many great "pockets" surrounded by crappy areas. I don't want to feel like I have to stay in my house because I'm afraid to be outside, or my kids can't play in our backyard without constant supervision...but I THEN think about the fact that we live in MN, and let's face it, 90% of my life will be spent IN this house, not outside of it. :) So, I try to balance this all in my mind.
Jonas' requirements*:
1. The house has to have a "view."
2. The house must "speak" to him.
3. The house must be unique, distinct, and cool in some ways.
4. The house has to leave room for improvement, or for him to put finishing touches on it.
5. A good backyard.
6. The space feels big and open.
7. No busy roads anywhere nearby.
* As told to me, and from my experience house-hunting with him. If he were writing this, maybe it might sound a little different. But not much. ;)
The only thing we really agree on? A backyard. I mean, don't get me wrong. I would loooooove a house with a view, that's cool and distinct, etc. I also know that those "intangibles" add a cool $50,000 each...and usually come with much less square footage too. :/ Hence, our search goes on...and on. :)
Then we found this house.
We both LIKED this house. We gave the owners exactly what they asked for in the house, in ever way. They rejected our offer (THEIR offer!) because they don't have somewhere to move to. IDIOTS. Do you want to move or NOT???? Sheesh. I can't stand the owners of this house right now...Jonas has a lot more grace for them, but he also wants to go back to them and offer them $10,000 more just to get OUT of the house and make up their minds to move and be done with it already. We'll see if we get to that point of desperation. :)
Why are we at all desperate? Good questions. Originally, we were just gonna take our time. No rush. Perfect!
THEN two weeks ago we qualified for $15,000 of down-payment assistance...IF we could close on a house 60 days from our qualifying date. Sooooooooooooooooo. Yeah. I'm not sure what you know about house hunting / house buying, but closing in 60 days is a normal time when you already have a house you want, and a signed purchase agreement! We have neither! So, now there is pressure. Pressure to find a house quick or LOSE $15,000. Jonas doesn't care as much about the money...he wants to find a house like the one above, that is perfect for us. I also would love a house that is perfect for us, but I care a bit more about that money! It was a huge answer to prayer, since we have very little saved (long story...unemployment...2 kids...life, etc.) and really only enough for 3.5% down on any house with a FHA loan. The $15,000 would allow us to put a lot more down, get a conventional loan, AND pay off the mortgage insurance up front...so allowing us to pay LIKE we had put 20% down without actually putting 20% down. Amazing, right? Yes. Amazing. And...the clock is ticking!!! Aaaaaaaaaah!
We have looked at 15 houses so far, and we're going to look at 3 more tonight. One thing we're finding that is especially tricky is the size of the house / square feet of living space. We loved the house picture above for many reasons, one of them being that it had over 2,500 square feet of living space just on the main floor and second story. This means that the basement and attic were unfinished...and I'm realizing how rare that was. So many houses seem like they have a lot of living space, but when you go look at them the living space is actually crappy dungeons in the basement. Houses are just so SMALL, and if they are not small, they are expensive. Shoot. :( It's just hard when we walk into a space and already feel cramped...with only 2 kids! We want to have more kids, AND be able to have people over/entertain without it feeling like a major chore.
So, yeah. There it is. Please pray for us. Last night was NOT a good night of house hunting. All 4 houses were crappy. Tonight we need it to be a good night...to at least give us a little bit of hope that there is something out there for us. We're actually totally fine not buying for another year, but it would be a hard pill to swallow...to lose a $15,000 gift. We'll see, right?
In all of this, yes...let me just state that I DO know that God is still God, that I know He loves me, and that I do trust him.
but...can I just say... :)
I know a LOT of people who love God, who God loves right back, and who are living in not-so-amazing living situations. Loving God and trusting God doesn't mean that he gives you everything you want. His ways our not our ways, and sometimes He has people who love Him, honor him, and trust him (and give Him a LOT of their money too!!!) live in very hard situations for a long time...or forever. With no explanation. If that happens to us, I will be content in God's plan for us and I will NOT blog about how unhappy I am. :) I'm just having a little bit of a hard time with the people who say "Oh, God has an amazing house planned for you!" Really? God is saving an amazing house for me? Maybe. But maybe not too. God is way more concerned about my heart that my house. And I'm just trying to keep my heart open to...smaller things. :)
Peace out, folks! I'll update about our looking tonight in the comments...if anyone reads this without cute kid pictures. ;)
Updates:
Here are the three homes we looked at tonight:
1. This home is 2,000 square feet and is $200,000 with 4 bedrooms. It's in West St. Paul and the living space is spread out over 3 floors. We could never pay that for the house, so they would have to come down in price, which is kind of unlikely. It has a lot of stuff that is great about it, but the neighborhood is not really hot, and how the space would work for a young family is not as great either. It'd be a great 2nd home, maybe. ;)
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2. This house is 1,600+ square feet, 5 bedrooms, and $179,900. That's more in our price range, even if we had to pay asking price. It's 2 blocks from Lake Phalen, and the neighborhood is really nice. The space inside is used well, and it works well for our family in this stage of life. The outside is nothing to look at, but the inside works well for us. We might put in an offer on this one. It has the most going for it, at this point in time. Awesome kitchen. ;)
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