I found one! I found one!

House hunting.

We've spent the past several months looking for a few good houses. And then, for the last month we've been looking for a good house. Just one. We didn't need a whole set of good houses. Just one good house. Well, we thought we had found one. We wrote up a contract, and due to some underhanded stuff on the part of the sellers agent, our offer wasn't even considered. We had prayed that God would let us know if that wasn't what he wanted for us. He didn't delay in stopping that house! Before we even got home from the real estate office we learned what had happened. To be honest, I wasn't that disappointed. I don't know why. I just wasn't.

Then, the next day, or maybe two days later...not sure exactly - Drew and I, separately, happened to locate the same house listed on the internet. I didn't mention it to him because it was a bit out of our price range. Later in the day, while on the phone, Drew told me that he had driven by a house on Karen - the same house that I had been looking at on the net. We decided to ask our agent to check in to how long it had been on the market and to get us an appointment to see it just in case we could possibly underbid. Drew called and left her a message. He had to leave a message because she was on the phone that very moment speaking with the agent selling the house on Karen, learning that the price was being dropped $20,000 but that they would take even $10,000 under the new lowered listing price. So we went to see the house that day...along with a MILLION other people. (I might be overestimating a bit.) We decided that we wanted that house (although I couldn't remember much about it 5 minutes after I left because I felt so rushed to make a decision due to the nature of real estate and the numerous other people who had learned about the price drop!). So we went to the back to the office to write up a contract - very quickly. We included a letter letting them know a little about ourselves and why we had moved to Lafayette and that we had 2 kids under the age of 2 and that we were looking to buy our first house and wanted to use it for ministry. At least three other offers had been sent to the seller, but we learned while we were at Bible study that night that our offer had been accepted and that our letter even made the seller cry! The house is 2113 sq. feet and has 4 bedrooms and 3 baths and 2 living areas. One bath, bed & living area were part of an addition to the original house. The original part of the house has wood floors thru out all bedrooms and living area. Then the living area in the addition has very cool terracotta tile floors & one wall of really nice built in bookshelves. This house has incredible potential to be fixed up and really sold for so much more. I just learned today that the average selling price for homes sold in the subdivision in the last 6 months is $80,000 more than what we offered on the house! And we haven't even made it to negotiations yet...

Great neighborhood, great schools, right in the heart of Lafayette. Lots of space...room for more kids...and/or guests...wood floors...big back yard. It really seems like exactly what we want! It needs a good bit of work - flat roof on the addition has not held up well at all and needs to be fixed, harvest gold kitchen countertops, dated bathrooms, addition needs siding...probably numerous other things that we will learn of from inspections. Tomorrow we find out for sure whether there's deadly mold growing in the messed up roof - and hopefully there's not - then we can move forward with everything else and close on Aug. 31st! We really are very excited! The more I think about it, the more excited I get. I drive out of my way to pass by it and peek inside the windows. Don't worry, it's vacant. Please pray with us that everything goes smoothly...and that this house really can be a tool for our ministry! It seems like God is really putting all of this together for us and providing in a way that exceeded our expectations!