SOLD

As of today, we are no longer homeowners.  For a few weeks.  But we are not homeless.  Its all happened very fast.  Its all very scary and very exciting.

So what happened?  In January I asked Chris, "Hey - do you want to go drive around a look at neighborhoods?"  We found one we like that weekend, and there happened to be a house on the market that we wanted to look at.  We took our realtor out that week to look.  We liked it enough to start talking about listing our house.

I was terrified of selling the house.  The staging, the packing, the showings, the "living like no one lives here" - in 1400 sq ft with two small children.  It gave me great anxiety.  So realtor suggested a pocket listing - he would bring people through before we went on the market, "test" the house a bit before we spent money fixing things up.  We could hold off on the staging for a bit.  Ok.

Realtor brought 1 buyer through.  We pushed the toys to the corners and wiped down the counters.  She loved it.  She made an offer, with the gentleman's understanding that it was "as is" unless something horrifying was found during inspection.  We accepted.

At that night, I sobbed.

It happened SO SO fast.  We had a contract before January ended.  I thought we'd be here another year.  At least until this summer.  I wasn't ready to go.  I am attached to this house.  Its where I came home to after my honeymoon, and the house I brought my babies home to.  We, quite literally, became a family in this home.  I love my neighborhood, Sam's preschool, the conveniences of city life, the list goes on.  I wasn't ready.

But the Lord was clearly telling us to go.  He made it so easy to sell it - he eliminated every fear I had about the selling process.  We didn't spend a dime to fix it up.  We didn't pack a thing away.  It was a gift.

And it was time.  We have beyond outgrown this place, and the suburbia is the right place for our family.  It is what I want for our family, long term.  I know this, but my heart wasn't ready.  And signing away a house that I love when I had nothing to look forward to was terrifying.

The hunt got serious.  We have looked at a TON of houses.  We narrowed our neighborhood selection to one very specific location.  The kids got the hang of house hunting.  Sam knows some real estate terms. 

We put an offer on a house that was fine, but got beat out.  Apparently our target neighborhood is a VERY competitive market.  We put an offer on a house on a lot we LOVED - the first house we looked at - at got it.  It was a fine house, but needed work.  We got bids, made plans, had inspections with LOTS of red lettering.

Meanwhile, I hadn't slept well in weeks.  I woke up several times a night with thoughts swirling, fearing we had made a terrible mistake.  I was not at ease.

And then we couldn't reach an agreement about what was to be done with the inspection items.  We felt like God was speaking to us, and we terminated the contract.

The very next day, around lunch time, a new house came on the market.  My mom, the kids and I viewed it at 3:45 that afternoon.  We were one of 5 showings that hour.  We made an offer that night.  We were told the next day that the owners would be accepting "best and final" offers by 6 pm that night.  We upped our offer.  The next morning we hadn't heard any thing, and that real estate website said "Option Pending."  My heart sank.  I was beyond bummed to have lost the house.  I was excited about that house!  I sent a quick email to the realtor to tell him I was bummed.  He emailed back,

"It says Option Pending because you're in contract.  They accepted your offer!"

Woohoo!  Since that day, Chris has gone to see it, we've had it inspected, and quickly reached an agreement with the owners about the inspection items.  We are out of option and scheduled to close mid-April.

And I am sleeping well.  I feel good about the new house - I am EXCITED about it.  I will be very sad to move, to leave this house (we are leasing back until late April), but now I am ready.