Home Sweet Home

Sing it with me! We got a house Yea! We got a house Yea! Things didn't go exactly like we hoped, but I trust that it is all in the plan somehow, and that this is the way it was all supposed to work out.

Like I wrote before we offered on a house- a short sale (like a foreclosure). It was great because we could have got it for 40K under the normal price and we really liked the house, floor plan, neighborhood, and location. Then-devastation! Our realtor called and told us that the bank had accepted an offer LOWER than ours. Maybe I have it wrong but I thought banks were in the business of making money. No one could make it out. Not our agent, the selling agent, no one. I guess it wasn't meant to be, but our hearts were set on it and I was really upset.

Next we offered on our second favorite house. Also a great choice with certain perks of its own. Devastation number two! The sellers laughed in our faces and RAISED the price 20K dollars just to show us who was boss. Weird. I dont know why they priced it low in the first place if they weren't willing to accept the lower price. By now I was really upset.

We decided to offer on a house in Springville. We had decided that we wanted to live in Provo-west provo to be exact-in order to be close to the hospital. We aren't very familiar with Springville, and though it is not far, it is about 10 minutes farther than west Provo. But we didnt have much of a choice. We were running out of options.

So we offered and got the house! It is actually the same floor plan as the first house we wanted, but has a much bigger back yard. As mentioned, it is in Springville. Three bedrooms two bath. It does have nice advantages like it includes a fridge, has a front porch, and has real wood floors. It is an awesome and beautiful house, just not in the location we originally wanted. I guess we were meant to live in Springville.

All in all we are SO GRATEFUL that we got a fabulous house that I think we will love. We will move in at the end of May and Sean will start residency mid-June. Yipee for our new house!

There Were Ten in the Bed and the Little One Said...

Roll Over! Congratulations to Kemp who mastered rolling over today! Not just once, but FIVE times. What a way to celebrate his four month birthday.

How to Create Stress in Your Life

Buy a House.

When we found out we were moving to Provo, we started to house hunt right away. I spent HOURS online searching through homes. We picked a realtor and looked at MORE homes. Our realtor was great at keeping in touch and helping us understand the process. I spent even MORE hours calling banks and mortgage companies asking about rates and hounding them to send me information about closing costs. We stayed up after midnight every night for two weeks ruling out houses and talking about different options. I worried and worried if we were setting our spending limit too high, choosing the right lending company, or going up to Utah too soon or too late.

Finally we were ready (more or less) to head up to Provo. Somehow Sean convinced me to drive for over 16 hours (including stops) through wind-90 miles an hour in northern Arizona- miles of snow in Utah, multiple road closures (adding even more hours to the drive), and construction with two children under three years old. Our trip was really awful but I really shouldn't complain because Kemp and Gracie did well. I couldn't have asked more from them.

In Utah we spent EVEN MORE HOURS driving around looking at houses by ourselves and then later with our realtor. The good news is that we found one we like and will probably get for 40 thousand dollars lower than it was originally priced-its a short sale. The bad news is they havent approved our offer yet and we are getting really nervous. We did find a really good 2nd choice but I hope we get this first house. I wont post a picture yet in case we dont get it. That will be so sad.

Now we are finally back home. Our trip lasted about a week. We were really blessed that our kids did so great and we found a few houses we like. There is still a lot to be done after one of our offers is accepted but at least the big trip is over.