We're Homeless!

Just kidding.  But as of yesterday we don't have a home LOAN.  And we no longer have a "house."  Here's why...

A year and a half ago wildfires ripped through my parents neighborhood and left a lot vacant.  My parents love to buy land...and I do mean LOVE.  I would almost call it a "hobby" on my mom's side of the family.  So, when the opportunity came for them to buy the above-mentioned lot they jumped on it. For a while they couldn't decide if they would build on it or not.  Finally, they decided that they would rather "will" the property to us.  My parents are incredibly giving.  It is one of the things I love about them and pray that I have learned from them.  They basically told us, "you can have the lot now and enjoy it, or wait until we die and then you will get it then." HA!  I love them.  However, Phil had just started a new job and the timing just wasn't right to build.  So we waited.

Then about 4 months ago, due to the great real estate market and low interest rates we decided to explore whether or not we could afford to build "the house of our dreams."  In order to do that we made a short list for ourselves:  look into financing and basic planning, sell our house, design the new house, close on our house, and move.  Things moved at lightning speed from there.

We found out that yes, we COULD afford the house we want.  Check.  Then we decided to get ready to list the house.  Less than two weeks later, before we had even listed our house we got an amazing (as-is) offer...which we of course ACCEPTED.  Check.  We finalized our house plans (post to come later). Check.  At this point we started to feel a little overwhelmed.  All of this had happened in a matter of weeks.  God decided to send us a reprieve, in the form of a bank.  The buyer's bank required additional paperwork, setting closing back 2 weeks.  At the time I was frustrated, but looking back I see that the extra time was a huge blessing.  It gave us more time for our move (more about where we are living later) and more time to make decisions on the new house.  Wednesday night, Phil and I finished cleaning out the house.  Check.  Yesterday, we officially closed.  House sold.  Check.

So now the real adventure begins.  We close on our construction loan on Monday.  We hope to be in the new place by Christmas.  Stay tuned for our successes, failures, joys and frustrations.  I make no promises on how often I will post.  I want this to be a memoir for our family, something to look back at in 20 years and remember the craziness.

Tara