We just experienced the most whirlwind weekend of our lives. I have been feeling so overwhelmed and discouraged as we looked at housing in Colorado. I was sad when we lost the Thurgood house that I wanted to buy and nothing else came up comparable to it with the same cost. I was praying every night in my exhausted state that things could work out and we could know where to go. I have been praying for years that wherever we move will be the perfect move for our family and we will know where that move should be. But we still felt like we needed to exhaust the Colorado market first before moving on to somewhere else.
We looked at a house that was in the cheapest price range we have seen so far. But it wasn't the right space for our family. I left feeling like there was no way to find anything here. I just had the thought that we should go to Charlotte (Jeff and I had talked back and forth on whether or not we should go, but kind of put it out of our minds to just wait and go later), and as soon as I thought that I felt like this heavy burden was lifted from me. And I knew I needed to do what I could to see if this could happen.
I emailed Ja and Laura, they replied quickly that they were available, I asked for a realtor and they gave me info of someone in their ward and he called me right away. And we found tickets that were very reasonable for getting the only 2 days before. Barry, the realtor, had served a mission in Greeley, his sister lived in our stake in Virginia, he was born in Durham (which Durham/Raleigh was a place Jeff was also interested in), and had just gone to visit his daughter in San Antonio which is another place we had looked at. So there were all these connections and he just said over and over how much he loves Huntersville and how wherever he travels, he's always happy to come back home.
He sent us a long list of homes in our price range and we got to work creating a list of homes we wanted to see on Saturday. We had a NUCCA appointment early Friday morning, so we left our house with milk still in the bowls on the kitchen table. The kids were already staying at Mama Baer's because Sarah was in town, and there was no school Friday or Monday, so again, so many things worked out.
We got in late Friday night, took an uber to Ja and Laura's and slept as well as we could with Liam. We saw Ja and Laura for a bit the next morning before they headed to the temple, then we met Barry at 9. Barry was happy we contacted him this weekend because he had just gotten back from San Antonio. On our second house (which had the same layout as Ja and Laura's), Jeff finally felt excited about what we could get for our money. He was excited looking for homes instead of depressed. He kept asking Barry about other towns we had heard of and he told us, but after we kept seeing great homes, Jeff felt content to just look here. We had family, it is a nice area, so if there's no need to look elsewhere then we wouldn't. We had about 3 homes we wanted to look at again, and the fourth was one that was Jeff and my #1, but they cancelled on us that morning. We were very disappointed because we didn't think we could make a decision without seeing it. But after lunch, Barry tried again and they made it available. I didn't think the second run through of houses would be necessary, but once we looked again we knew very clearly which house we wanted. And the house that was our #1 wasn't even on our list anymore after we saw it. So we were VERY grateful that worked out or else we couldn't have made a decision until Monday.
We prayed that night about what to do. We felt momentum to keep moving forward and felt good about making an offer. Jeff did want to check house listings in Colorado one more time just to see what would be available in different price ranges. But as he kept looking, the better he felt about our plan. I started crying as I thought of leaving friends and of the kids leaving their friends. As much as I felt this was right and good, I couldn't help but be sad to say goodbye. And yet I'm grateful I even have good enough friends where I feel sorry in leaving them.
We made our offer and on Sunday they made a counter. We asked for $315,000, plus $4,000 in closing costs (it was listed at $329,000, but it did get reduced from $335,000 a few days earlier). They didn't want that, so we made another offer at $320,000 (no closing costs), and they accepted it. The other thing I forgot to note is that we were only looking at homes up to $330,000. This house, just a few days before, had been reduced in price to fit in that category. So even that was a nice little blessing.
They didn't sign right away and wanted us to have a letter of pre-approval so we were trying to get that quickly on Monday before Jeff left on his flight to Detroit. No lenders were calling back and we were getting nervous. But Barry did get a verbal and then an email confirmation that the sellers had signed the agreement, but wouldn't send it until they got the letter. And Barry said North Carolina law says that a verbal confirmation it has been signed is good enough, so we were fine. But it all worked out and now we are moving forward with a house!
This house is a dream to me. It is right across from the neighborhood pool and playground, has 4 bedrooms, a bonus room, a sitting room in the master where Jeff can have his office, a living room, dining room, study, eat in kitchen, beautiful kitchen counters and beautiful hardwood floors. I just feel so blessed and am overwhelmed with gratitude for how it all came together. In my dreams I also wanted some nice walking trails in the trees for taking the kids, and this has a nature reserve close by too, and the lake is also a few minutes away. It is six minutes from Ja and Laura, right by the preschool, 25 minutes from the airport and Charlotte, 16 minutes away from the closest NUCCA chiropractor, 24 minutes from Costco, and an hour 45 minutes from the temple. There are also mountains and beaches within 3-4 hours, and other family and friends within 4-5 hours. So there is a lot to offer and Jeff said he hasn't had second thoughts about it at all.
The other nice miracle is that Liam was perfect on the flight home. I was nervous flying by myself, but I put him in the Moby wrap and he slept through both flights, and just woke up to eat and get his diaper changed. I couldn't have asked for a better baby. I was able to get to my car pretty quickly and then made it home safely.
The kids were supposed to come home on Tuesday, but they wanted to stay an extra day so they came back Wednesday. I was so grateful to have an extra day to rest and get some things done. And the cleaners also came which was so nice because even though it made me clean up the house early Tuesday morning when I was tired, it did mean I was able to enjoy sitting in a nice house all day rather than postponing cleaning it.
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