Went for a Walk

This summer ended up a total whirlwind!  My brother and his family made the big move to Idaho from Chicago.  Hooray!!!  And finding them a home (right by us!) was TOP priority.  Natalie and I went to work...talking everyday about various homes on the market.  It was fun.  I always love to look at homes for sale, but this was WAY better.  It was real, after all.  We had areas in the valley narrowed down and looked daily for new listings.  One of the stipulations we had was that their home needed to be in a different ward.  But of course...that didn't stop me from looking! 

One weekend, Lindsay and her family were in town visiting.  Shane and Wynn took a scenic drive home from church and went down a street very near to ours and one we've always loved.  BAM!  New listing!  Good eye Wynn.  They stopped and grabbed a flyer and headed home.  When we got to looking at the details, we quickly realized that the home was priced under market value.  Significantly.  It was almost do-able...for US!  We bought our home at the peak before the market crashed in 2007.  Getting out from underneath it...ever...seemed impossible.  We always play the "what if" game and we had talked endlessly about what it would take to make it work somehow and when the timing would be ideal.  The plan always included a whole lot of unknown "if's!"  So naturally I thought...what if we could pull this off?!  If only we could sell our home.  Our previous appraisal was still under market value.  Dang! 

The next day I took Lindsay and the kids for a walk.  I wanted to show her which street the home was on.  So off we went.  When we got there, the owner was outside.  We stood outside his home and talked quietly to ourselves until I looked at him and jokingly said, "So I wanna buy your house!"  He offered to walk us through the inside.  So we bribed the little boys and took him up on the offer.  The home had potential.  It needed some facelifts, mostly paint which was do-able.  It was nice.  Double the size of our 1100 sq. ft. home.  After walking through it, I explained to him that we just lived a few streets over and that we would need to first sell our home (which wasn't for sale).  He explained that he was going through a nasty divorce, needed to get out of his home quick (which was why it was priced so low) but also needed to down size in the process.  He then asked how big my home was, which street we were on, and a ball-park asking price.  I looked at Lindsay like...do I really tell him all this???  I gave him the info and threw out a number.  He said, "Well that sounds good to me, maybe I'll just buy your house!"  And then we all had an uncomfortable laugh.  As we were walking out he said that he felt there was a special family meant for his home and that I should go talk to my husband and bring him back to take a look.  Right.  Sure thing dude!     

So I did!!  Shane pretty much laughed in my face.  It was awesome.  Lindsay and I went crazy with the "what if's".  What if he really would buy our house??  What then???  It was priced right for us.  On a street we've always loved.  On a great lot.  Same ward.  Same school.  Interest rates low.  Size right.  So what if?

His realtor called us the next day and said the seller was serious and wanted to know if he could come look at our home.  What?!  So we played along.  Shane and I went to look at his home again and he went to look at ours.  And the following day he made an offer on our home...contingent on us buying his home.  His offer was priced right.  Just what we needed to get out.  On top of that, his realtor offered to help us through the rest of the process but wouldn't charge us a dime.  Is was nuts.  This was all in a matter of THREE DAYS people!!!  And in the end, we couldn't walk away from it.  It was just too good to turn down.  We had to do it.  So we did!  We moved forward with inspections, appraisals, financing, etc.  At every step of the way we kept thinking..."okay, here's where it will all fall through."  And it just never did.  At our closing, our signing officer said it was the smoothest trade she'd ever experienced.  We hadn't planned on moving.  But we did the last week of July.  And let me tell you.  I NEVER want to move again!  It's just awful!  We hadn't moved in 9 years, so we were out of practice.  Awful!  Worth it?  Absolutely.  It put a kink in our summer just a bit.  But 100% worth it.  I still can't believe it happened.  Such a blessing.  And the great thing is, the man we worked with felt the same way.  He was great to work with and has told us since what a blessing it was for him.  Unbelievable.  It is evident that the Lord's hand is in our lives.  No such thing as coincidences.  The time since the move has been spent on getting settled and house projects.  And we are just about done. .......Phew!.....maybe some pictures of our new home will come later....maybe... 

Man...someone needs to make a movie out of this story!