Rumblings of Activity

It may help to know that I have real estate searches on the internet. Every new listing that fits our criteria comes directly to my computer. So on Friday night, when I noticed a small property just north of downtown, I made a mental note to go and look on Saturday morning.

With me I had Evan, Aidan and Avery. Toby was out on a "date" with his mother, something of a shopping date, but they both enjoyed it. Arriving, we piled out of the van and trudged up the alley to the house. We were happy to discover that the 3-season porch was unlocked, so we were able to stand inside and look in through the windows easily. On the main level the house had a living room, an alcove, a central space that might have been called a dining room, but was really too small, a kitchen, a full bath, and one bedroom. In the ceiling of the bedroom was a hole that served as attic access.

Evan and Aidan peered into the windows and declared that it would be "OK". They looked the house over inside and out, and somehow I guess they were able to see it. Avery was rather non-commital, but not really negative, either. With an asking price of $24,900, I thought it might be worth showing my wife.

After lunch, I suggested to Tara that she come and look at the house with me. She was willing, so we left everyone home with Evan and went. Tara also thought the house might be all right after peering into several windows and looking at the floor plan. So we messaged a friend of ours who is in real estate and asked if she could get us in for a showing. Sunday afternoon worked for her, so we were back there by 2:30 today.

The interior was about as good as (or maybe even a little better than) we expected, and after looking it over thoroughly, we told Lisa to put in an offer for us. This was a little bit of a surprise to both of us because we really had planned to sell first and buy second, but at $20-25K, you just don't mess around. If you wait too long, the place will be gone!

So we went home on something like pins and needles, but Lisa called back a few hours later and said that for the first 15 days, they are only accepting owner-occupied offers, and if you're already paying taxes on another property, you can't count as owner-occupied. So we hit a wall on this one, but we are open to the Lord's leading. And 15 days really isn't all that long...