We didn't have to wait long. The next morning the agent called us and explained that the renters chose to rent the house to the other people who applied. Drat. Well, there goes that idea.
We kept looking. We got word on the rental on Thursday, and that night Jon found another house that was about 30 minutes away from work. So, we emailed our realtor and asked her to show us that house on Saturday morning. Meanwhile, we continued to look at houses ... hoping for the straight sale that could close quickly, hoping probably in vain.
On Saturday we piled the children in the van and headed to Cave Creek, Arizona to look at a house for rent. The length of time we would rent the house would be for a year. Something our realtor wasn't too thrilled about because, well, she's been helping us find a house for almost three months and she wouldn't be getting paid for it. Anyway, we walked through the house and it looked nice and like something we could totally live in. While there, a little boy next door came out side and was saying hi to us; I could tell he just wanted to come over and play.
Our realtor said she'd get the lease agreement from the renters and then send it over to us via email. We waited all day for the lease agreement to show up in our inboxes. I checked my email periodically, and by 7 o'clock that night I still didn't have the agreement. I mentioned something to Jon about it, and he told me that he received the agreement in his inbox around five. I wondered slightly why he hadn't said anything about it, but we were still a little undecided about renting for a year. We were secretly hoping the renters would accept a six month lease instead of a twelve month lease.
At this time we were trying to figure out what we were trying to accomplish by renting. In the back of our minds was the 'Roy Rogers' house and we knew it was kind of a "fall-back." But, we also knew that we weren't completely sure on the exact amount we could afford for a mortgage. Jon's job has a lower base salary (even though the commission is higher) than his old job, but it is a sales position, so he could make more than his old job, but we just didn't know how much he'd make at all. Jon was fully prepared to rent for a year to see how well he would do at his job instead of getting into a house that we can barely afford, then lose it because he wouldn't be compensated as much as he thought.
Anyway, for some reason we decided not to email the lease agreement back to our realtor that night. And, honestly, I don't remember why we didn't, nor do I remember why we were so totally complacent about the rental house. Sunday rolled around and we weren't sure where to attend church. We knew that we could go to the congregation our current apartment is assigned to, but for some reason we didn't want to do that knowing we would only be attending it for a couple more Sundays. We didn't want to attend the congregation assigned to the 'Roy Rogers' house either because we weren't even sure we were going to get the house. So, we attended church with my mom. It was nice to just "visit" and not worry about really getting to know anyone in the hopes we'd be attending that church for good.
We got home from church and I made dinner (Mom was coming over). Later that night, after my mom went home, I looked again for homes on the internet. I don't know why, all I know is that it has almost been a habit to check the website every night for new listings. While looking I came across a house I hadn't seen before. It wasn't listed as a new listing, so I was curious why I hadn't seen it before. I flipped through the pictures, saw how huge the lot was (compared to the other lots that are right atop each other), how much grass there was for the children to run, how large the kitchen was (especially compared to the 'Roy Rogers' house), and I also saw that it was a straight sale. Immediately I showed the house to Jon and mentioned that I wanted to see that house.
We talked about it for a while, ultimately deciding that I would have to go see the house alone because Jon would be in Chicago the following week. I emailed our realtor and almost pleaded with her to show me the house the next morning. In the past we'd emailed her listings that we wanted to see, but we wouldn't try to see them until a week later and by that time those houses were already under contract. My fear was that the same thing would happen again. She replied that she could show me the house on Monday after ten. Jon told me to request she bring the contract ... he was ready to make an offer if I liked the house. She also said that she'd checked with the agent and there wasn't really any interest in the house yet.
That night we went to sleep and I just had a great feeling about this house. I couldn't wait to see it. The next morning we got up, did our morning chores and started school. About an hour later we got in the van and met our realtor at the house. We walked in the house and I was in awe. It was beautiful, and it was clean, and move-in ready. The children immediately ran out the back door into the grass-covered backyard (everything else we'd liked had rocks, which are pretty practical here) and started running around. It was extremely surreal.
We walked through the house, my realtor and I, exclaiming at the workmanship and how much nicer the house was compared to the 'Roy Rogers' house. At one point, my realtor said, "Oh, yeah, you'll have to get window treatments. I didn't notice that at first because I was in awe of everything else." At any rate, we went back to Jon's office and signed the offer. Our realtor heard back from the sellers that evening with a counter offer (of only $2000 more than our offer, and that we use their title company), and we totally accepted that.
Our realtor also had more information about the house. Apparently, the house had been in escrow and fell through last week because the buyer lost his job. I feel awful that we are benefiting from such a terrible situation for someone else, but I'm so glad we got the house. It really is something we can live in, and I like it much better than the other house. So, because it had already gone to escrow, the title work is all completed and all they have to do is insert our names. Which means .... we can close much sooner than we thought! We were thinking we'd have to wait another two or three months ... and it looks like we'll get in the house before our 11-year anniversary! What a great anniversary present!
Anyway, the pictures on here are of the house that I lifted off the internet (which is why they are so small). I think it's super-fantastic, and can't wait to make it our home.
We kept looking. We got word on the rental on Thursday, and that night Jon found another house that was about 30 minutes away from work. So, we emailed our realtor and asked her to show us that house on Saturday morning. Meanwhile, we continued to look at houses ... hoping for the straight sale that could close quickly, hoping probably in vain.
On Saturday we piled the children in the van and headed to Cave Creek, Arizona to look at a house for rent. The length of time we would rent the house would be for a year. Something our realtor wasn't too thrilled about because, well, she's been helping us find a house for almost three months and she wouldn't be getting paid for it. Anyway, we walked through the house and it looked nice and like something we could totally live in. While there, a little boy next door came out side and was saying hi to us; I could tell he just wanted to come over and play.
Our realtor said she'd get the lease agreement from the renters and then send it over to us via email. We waited all day for the lease agreement to show up in our inboxes. I checked my email periodically, and by 7 o'clock that night I still didn't have the agreement. I mentioned something to Jon about it, and he told me that he received the agreement in his inbox around five. I wondered slightly why he hadn't said anything about it, but we were still a little undecided about renting for a year. We were secretly hoping the renters would accept a six month lease instead of a twelve month lease.
At this time we were trying to figure out what we were trying to accomplish by renting. In the back of our minds was the 'Roy Rogers' house and we knew it was kind of a "fall-back." But, we also knew that we weren't completely sure on the exact amount we could afford for a mortgage. Jon's job has a lower base salary (even though the commission is higher) than his old job, but it is a sales position, so he could make more than his old job, but we just didn't know how much he'd make at all. Jon was fully prepared to rent for a year to see how well he would do at his job instead of getting into a house that we can barely afford, then lose it because he wouldn't be compensated as much as he thought.
Anyway, for some reason we decided not to email the lease agreement back to our realtor that night. And, honestly, I don't remember why we didn't, nor do I remember why we were so totally complacent about the rental house. Sunday rolled around and we weren't sure where to attend church. We knew that we could go to the congregation our current apartment is assigned to, but for some reason we didn't want to do that knowing we would only be attending it for a couple more Sundays. We didn't want to attend the congregation assigned to the 'Roy Rogers' house either because we weren't even sure we were going to get the house. So, we attended church with my mom. It was nice to just "visit" and not worry about really getting to know anyone in the hopes we'd be attending that church for good.
We got home from church and I made dinner (Mom was coming over). Later that night, after my mom went home, I looked again for homes on the internet. I don't know why, all I know is that it has almost been a habit to check the website every night for new listings. While looking I came across a house I hadn't seen before. It wasn't listed as a new listing, so I was curious why I hadn't seen it before. I flipped through the pictures, saw how huge the lot was (compared to the other lots that are right atop each other), how much grass there was for the children to run, how large the kitchen was (especially compared to the 'Roy Rogers' house), and I also saw that it was a straight sale. Immediately I showed the house to Jon and mentioned that I wanted to see that house.
We talked about it for a while, ultimately deciding that I would have to go see the house alone because Jon would be in Chicago the following week. I emailed our realtor and almost pleaded with her to show me the house the next morning. In the past we'd emailed her listings that we wanted to see, but we wouldn't try to see them until a week later and by that time those houses were already under contract. My fear was that the same thing would happen again. She replied that she could show me the house on Monday after ten. Jon told me to request she bring the contract ... he was ready to make an offer if I liked the house. She also said that she'd checked with the agent and there wasn't really any interest in the house yet.
That night we went to sleep and I just had a great feeling about this house. I couldn't wait to see it. The next morning we got up, did our morning chores and started school. About an hour later we got in the van and met our realtor at the house. We walked in the house and I was in awe. It was beautiful, and it was clean, and move-in ready. The children immediately ran out the back door into the grass-covered backyard (everything else we'd liked had rocks, which are pretty practical here) and started running around. It was extremely surreal.
We walked through the house, my realtor and I, exclaiming at the workmanship and how much nicer the house was compared to the 'Roy Rogers' house. At one point, my realtor said, "Oh, yeah, you'll have to get window treatments. I didn't notice that at first because I was in awe of everything else." At any rate, we went back to Jon's office and signed the offer. Our realtor heard back from the sellers that evening with a counter offer (of only $2000 more than our offer, and that we use their title company), and we totally accepted that.
Our realtor also had more information about the house. Apparently, the house had been in escrow and fell through last week because the buyer lost his job. I feel awful that we are benefiting from such a terrible situation for someone else, but I'm so glad we got the house. It really is something we can live in, and I like it much better than the other house. So, because it had already gone to escrow, the title work is all completed and all they have to do is insert our names. Which means .... we can close much sooner than we thought! We were thinking we'd have to wait another two or three months ... and it looks like we'll get in the house before our 11-year anniversary! What a great anniversary present!
Anyway, the pictures on here are of the house that I lifted off the internet (which is why they are so small). I think it's super-fantastic, and can't wait to make it our home.
Comments
I am so happy you guys finally found something!
CONGRATS!!!