Friday, January 9, 2009

New Twist

We are now in the "paperwork" process of selling our house, so more waiting time. We had a full-price offer within a few days of listing on craigslist, so that was exciting! We had picked out the house with a barn that we really liked, and after looking at other houses to make comparisons and be sure it was the right one.... we changed our minds a bit. None of the other houses compared at all, but after considering all sides for a while we decided even though this is a great house in a great area with a great price; we would be strapped to the payments for the next 30 years, and that doesn't sound fun! It's no wonder our country is in the real estate trouble it is, the bank gladly approved us for the house even though it would have been very tough to make ends meet after paying for property taxes and insurance on top of payments every month! So while that house had everything we thought we wanted, we've decided that we can wait a few years to be in the "never moving again" mode. =) It is very important to all of us that I stay home with the kids instead of going to work, so this is worth it.

We actually made an offer today on a house that has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, a large living/dining room area, and also a large family room. It's a split-level and very well laid out. You come in on the main floor (living room/dining/kitchen) and then go down a few steps to the family room and bedroom and bath; or up a few stairs to the other bedrooms and bath. We actually had a house very similar in Aloha while I was growing up, and Dad & Mom said it worked well. I didn't like the idea of a split-level where you go up stairs to get into the house, then come in on a landing, but this layout seems quite nice. It's an incredible deal simply because as we call it, it's a "smoke house". =) For quite a few years it has been smoked in, and also has the original 25-year old avocado green carpet, etc. Since the layout is so nice and it is so reasonable, we talked to our friend Zane who works for a home-restoration company about what it would take to make it nice. Sounds like it would require scrubbing down EVERYTHING with a strong citrus cleaner, painting walls/ceiling/floor with Kilz paint, replacing all outlets/fixtures/switches, and of course ripping out & replacing the flooring. If they accept our offer and all goes well, we should be able to move in with a "brand-new inside" in less than a months time!

The only down-side to this house that we couldn't move right into, is that we'll have to move twice. Tyler's sister, Clover, is going to come help me pack and move everything around closing time, so that will be greatly appreciated! In the end we'll have the same payments we have now, but with a very nice place that's more useful and bigger! Tyler hopes to add on a garage and possibly another bedroom in the next couple of years, but in the meantime we can just relax and enjoy our family..... and actually have some money to take trips to visit family and such! I'm am so much more comfortable with this situation, and we may just decide this is the place that will work for us too, at a much lower price! And if we decide to move again, we should have a tremendous amount of equity. Their asking price is $70,000 less than the other house!

Levi has taken to singing now, and it leaves us all in stitches! He often says "tell me tory..... Jesus" over and over, and he can almost sing the whole alphabet. It's hilarious to listen to him practicing while he's playing with blocks or cars, he's very serious about the whole thing. Once he gets to "W" he often repeats it over and over "dub-you" and can't remember what's next, so just keeps repeating W. Breanna can sing the old-testament books of the bible, and it's quite fun to watch her sing them on the phone to Grandma Maryn as she taps her toes to the rhythm. Such fun little bugs, I can't imagine not spending this time with them growing up! Clover had a hilarious blog posting recently, as to how her mornings go and why she doesn't go to work. I laughed the whole time while reading it, even though I only have 2 so far- it was all so familiar!! Check it out at: http://www.evanandclover.blogspot.com/ A couple of days ago when I was trying to get all the paperwork copied and scanned and emailed and figured out, Levi was climbing all over everything (and pulling things down), and suddenly the computer shut off because Breanna had crawled under the table and bumped the surge-protector. I just about exploded, and then thought "what was I thinking, and what am I going to do with another one?!?!?!?!"

This will be all for now, the kids are being way too quiet so I must go and inspect.... that is a dangerous sound! =)

1 comment:

J K L M N O P said...

Congratulations! Exciting! Know it is a hard time to move - but it will also be worth it in the end!