I'm not having fun anymore....

I don't even know where to begin....
I really hate complaining... especially in public form.. it's not my style... but seriously... Since the second week in February, we have been looking daily at houses.  I look online, we look in person.  We drive by houses to see if the area is decent...  we look more online... our realtor looks and drives by and we all go look.
I stated in the last post about all the houses we've seen.
Well, since then here is the update...
Since the last post, when we went to all of the open houses, we put an offer in on one in Attleboro.  They did not like our offer and countered, but we couldn't meet their counter.

Then we went out the next weekend with our realtor and saw six houses.  One was in East Bridgewater - that was very small and the woman must have smoked her whole life in that house.  Smoke is a total deal breaker for us.  Then we went to Easton and that house was basically an apartment.
After that, we were off to Bridgewater and that house needed a TON of work and was again, a smoker's house.
From there, we traveled to Taunton.  The first in Taunton was a split level which was nice, but there was NO room for a table in the kitchen and no dining room.  It too seemed like an apartment.
The next was a condo that was gorgeous inside - but not for a family.  It was on the taunton river, but set in someone else's backyard... the set up was so frustrating - you couldn't have people over or take your kids outside at all.
Then we went to one house that we fell in love with.  We weren't expecting it at all, in fact, we don't even know how it got on our list to see... because it was well over 30k what we wanted to spend... but we loved it!!
The woman living there is selling because her job is relocating her to Guam.  That's right.. Guam.  She needed to leave in the next two weeks.  This is good, the house was on the market for 2 months and she needs immediacy - we could knock 30k off!!  Or... not.

We offered that day.  We offered the 30K less and they didn't even counter - they just said, "we can't work with this number."  So after some lengthy number crunching and conversations with our mortgage broker, we upped our offer by 20K... that's right we loved this house enough to eat mac-n-cheese for a few months...

So all day yesterday we were on pins and needles having just offered and praying she accepted.

I finally heard from our realtor around 4pm saying that the woman changed her mind, isn't moving to Guam and wont sell for less than the asking price.

Talk about a punch in the stomach...

And to make matters worse, my boss came in today and reminded me that they have posted my job - so I'll need to be out by May.

Awesome...

Our agent is awesome, in fact, she didn't let us sulk last night.  Instead, she had us go to two houses.  Neither one was good at all, but at least we were back out looking. 

I also remembered that about a month ago, I went with our agent (without Ryan) to see a house in Weymouth that I hadn't listed in the previous post.  There had to have been seventeen cats in that house!! And it was TINY!!!
the floors were slanted.  And there was no backyard - that too is a deal breaker.

So if you're counting that's 44 houses that we've physically been in, three offers, and NO P&S's signed... and two very frustrated future home buyers.

Thank you for the prayers and support... Please keep praying... we need to rely on God for this and trust that he has a plan for us... it's so much easier said than done!

Another one bites the dust...

And just like that...  the house is not ours...

Its ok.  There will be a house that is ours.

We know this.

It's just hard to swallow when we thought this house was perfect!

I said that one day I would blog about all the houses we've seen... I'll try to do that.  My house hunting notes are not infront of me but I'm pretty sure I can recall most if not all of them.

Our first day physically looking at houses, we packed up in the car and headed to two open houses we could find (online) in Brockton.  Not where we wanted to live but we were keeping an open mind.  So, we drove up and found that no one was at either house - so I called the listing agent (who happened to be the same person) and she stated "oh, no those open houses were canceled, I don't know why they were still listed online.  Sorry"...

Lovely.

So, we just literally started driving around looking for balloons and an open house.
Low and behold, we found a little gated community that was having open houses on two of their brand new units.  They were about 65k more than we can afford, but they were cute modular homes.  We walked around, spoke to the listing agent, he put us on an MLS server where we're emailed updates daily and we left.

We continued driving around and found one more.  This was was only 130k more than we could afford and was the ugliest house I've seen in a long time!!  There was actually a wall that opened up to the basement, you literally had to pull the wall forward and then there was a secret crawl space into the basement.  No thank you!!!

After those three houses, I started just looking at MLS and emailing the listing agents for houses that were in our range and that had 3 bedrooms.  That was pretty much our only criteria.

Then we went to see two of them (one in Bridgewater and one in East Bridgewater).  The first was a house from 1710 (ok, I wasn't paying attention to age at all until after this point!) and had been trashed after the bank repossessed it from the owners.  We barely made it around that house without running out screaming.

The second was another house that was foreclosed upon.  There was a leaky picture window and the rooms were tiny. 

This was the first time I realized that banks can winterize a house... that is interesting to me.  Its also interesting that people leave behind family pictures and personal items when they move out.  It really bothered me to see kids toys in the bedrooms...

The next week, we met another agent and went to Attleboro (where Ryan and I both grew up).  We saw one really old house that was in arms reach other two on either side and had NO backyard.  This was also a foreclosure but was in better shape than the others.  The second house was short sale and looked just like a friend's house.  It was ok, but very small.  We then drove up to a third house in Attleboro, but even the outside was so gross, we didn't want to go inside.  So we ended our Attleboro escapades there.


The following weekend we met our current agent, Lizanne whom we love!!  She took us to houses all over the place.  The first was in Middleboro and it was a foreclosure that was, again, left with personal items and trash inside.  Disgusting!!!
The second house that we were supposed to see - we couldn't because one of the children inside had the flu.  So we headed to Plymouth.  We went to our first of two plymouth houses.  The first was a blue cape style house and when we went in, we actually really liked it!! The bedrooms were nice and big and the basement would make a great playroom and man-town for Ryan.  However, there were two big things that we couldn't settle on.  There was NO backyard.  I mean, a wall up against the back of the house - no backyard at all.  Then, the road getting to the house was a steep... steeeeeeeeeeep dirt road.  There was some ice on the ground and we almost got stuck.  I know if we were in my car we wouldn't have gotten back up that road. 
So, off to the next house....
This house was one we were really excited about.. it was cute on the outside and the pictures online described it like this, "sip your coffee on the gorgeous farmers porch or enjoy cookouts on the deck overlooking your large private backyard"... ahhh... just what we love... until we got inside.  There was actually dog feces all over the inside of this house.  The stove had been smashed in, the walls were stained - someone had clearly broken into this house!!  NASTY and such a let down because we had high hopes for this one!! 
From Plymouth we headed to Pembroke and saw a house that was near the water.  Seemed much like a cottage and we didn't love it.  Actually, it didn't have a livingroom, it was really weird, so we said no to that one. 

On the way out of the last nasty one in Plymouth, we drove by one that seemed cute on the outside so when I got home, I looked it up.  It was 25K above our range (of course) but we asked Lizanne if she'd take us back there to see it.  Next weekend, we'd go back to Plymouth.


But, we both had the next few days off due to Ryan's Feb. break and a few snow days I had banked.  So we called around to local houses and went to see some in Taunton.  One was a split level that we thought was nice but certainly not big enough.  There wasn't anywhere for a kitchen table and there was very little living space.  The next was a big raised ranch however, there was mold all over the bottom.  We saw a colonial in Taunton and decided that colonials were not for us.  Just didn't like the feel of them.  We also saw a foreclosure that day that was disgusting as well!!



Since we were heading back to Plymouth, we looked at a few more in the Plymouth/Wareham area online to try to see.  There were three.  Two in Wareham and the one in Plymouth.  The two in Wareham were right next door to each other and were decent, but not us.  The third, the one we found while driving by was GREAT!!
We really liked it.  It had an above ground pool which we weren't crazy about but everything else on this house was what we wanted...
Then we found out it was a short sale...
If you don't know much about a short sale, just know the name is a misnomer!! The bank and the owner have to agree on selling and on the price and that can take up to 4 months or longer.  We only have until May... so that is out!! UGHHHH!!!


We weren't giving up though...


We then found four more houses to view the next weekend, all in Plymouth.  One was a very funky house that seemed like it could topple over at any minute.  Then two of them were on Hedges Pond Road.  The camp that Ryan and I grew up at and fell in love at is on Hedges Pond Road and these two houses basically face the entrance of what was that camp... Very odd!! One was a very large but very old house - plus the lady smoked and it was nasty inside.  The other was a "potential" but it seemed so cottage-like that we just couldn't see it as our home.

The fourth that day was a really nice house, but the neighborhood was odd.  So was the livingroom.  Our couch wouldn't fit in there at all.  Plus there was a dehumidifier pumping water out like a river in the basement... Seemed like too much for us to handle.


Somewhere in there we saw three houses in Carver, MA.  One was so great... until we went looking for the stairs to the basement... there were none.  But where was the laundry hook-up?  We went out back to the nice backyard and saw the bulkhead.  No... that couldn't be the only way to the basement... Down we went... This basement was less than 6 ft. high because Ryan could barely stand up down there, and sure enough, the laundry hook up was down there!!
SERIOUSLY?!?! Who wants to bring their laundry outside and down the bulkhead to do it?!?! Not me....
The next two in Carver were wicked heavy smokers and so dark and dingy inside.  No thank you.



That day was a bust too!


If you're counting, that's 27 houses (and I think I forgot a few)...


This past week, we met our agent on Tuesday night and saw two houses in Bridgewater.  One house had so much mold in the basement the stairs to the bulkhead had rotted off.  No thanks.
The second was really pretty inside but the living space was tiny and there was water in the basement.


We met her again on Saturday and saw two houses in Attleboro (neither was great at all), and four in Taunton.  The third one in Taunton was "the house" that we put the offer on.  Man was that a great house....



Thursday we're going to see at least 4 more houses in Taunton and Attleboro and then this weekend we have six open houses lined up to see.


Oy vey!!  That's 35 houses we've physically seen and still going.  I can't even tell you how many I've seen online.


People send us some that they want us to look at which I really appreciate... however, most of them, if not all of them, are ones that I'm aware of.  I literally spend every free moment on MLS and homes.com and trulia.com and ziprealty.com and massrealty.com looking for new listings....

If you told me an address, I'd be able to tell you the characteristics of the house, the price (if its in our range) and any pertinent information about it (short sale, title v failed, no backyard, foreclosure, etc)...
I never thought this would be as tough as it is and that I would be dreaming about houses like I am... literally... I close my eyes and I see houses... I know I sound crazy, but it is true!!


So that is our house hunting saga... I'm sure I've missed a few houses, but these are the most memorable ones! 


I'll keep you posted.


God is taking us on quite a journey, and I'm trying to see his lesson in all of this!!

In His Hands....

That saying is so much easier to say than to actually believe, accept and allow yourself to own.

After searching (technically since January 25th when we faced the possibility that I'd be getting this job) for houses... five weeks later... upteen hundred online views of houses in our price range, and 39 physical views of houses in our range... we finally found one that we both love...

I post this with such trepidation... We really do love this house and are so nervous that our offer will not be accepted and that we'll be back at square one...

But, it is all in the Lord's hands.  He has a plan for us, this I do know.  I believe it.  I always have.  I told Ryan that I really felt that I would get this job when I was applying for it because "things work out for us" because we put our trust in Him and allow Him to guide us where He wants us...

I believe that He will do that with our house hunt as well.

It's just really hard to not worry about things or think constantly about the "what-if's" even when you know they're in God's hands and beyond your control...

We have been telling people about this house... more because we feel that the more we get people praying that they accept our offer (even though it is much less than they're asking for it) the better!!

So, if you have a moment, and yes, I do feel guilty for asking for these prayers while so many prayers should be going to Japan and those affected there, but if you have a moment, if you could say a little prayer that God guide us through this process and that our offer be accepted so that we can have a smooth transition moving...

The stress and pressure is on.  We have exactly 60 days to move out of this apartment!!!  60 days... WOW!!!

We really should start packing!!! Its hard to pack when you have no idea where you'll be living!!

(p.s. at some point, I really need to journal about all of the different places we've seen... foreclosures are not for the faint of heart or for those with weak stomachs... that's all I'll tell you!!)

breathe...

I feel like this is the first moment that I've had to actually breathe. 

I started my new job on Monday and literally have been booked in meetings from 9am-5pm non-stop since.
But I made it!!  I love it so far.  I have a lot to learn and a lot to do and a ton of work to catch up on... but I love it.

The only negative thing I can say about it is that I miss my lunch bunch.  I guess I didn't realize how much I enjoyed my time with them each day.  The lunch bunch I'm referring to consists of a few of my co-workers (fellow RDs) that eat lunch each day together in one of the cafe's on campus.  We vent to each other, support each other, bounce ideas off of each other but more importantly it's our daily check-in with each other.
And now that I do not have a meal plan anymore, I miss that a lot. 

I miss the check-in.  I miss someone asking me each day, "how's it going" or telling stories of Maddie during the day...

And I will have that time, just this week was insanely busy... so I didn't have that time.
I'm not complaining - I loved being busy and I love the work that I'm responsible for and I'm nervous and excited all in the same breath...

On another note, we're still looking for a house... and it's a grueling task.  I thought it would be much more exciting than it is... but being limited on time and very limited on a budget has made it much less exciting than HGTV lets you believe!

Tomorrow we're seeing 4 houses and I have a good feeling about it.... that good feeling might be me looking forward to the full body massage that Ryan got me for my birthday - I'm having that before we look at houses!!

Either way, tomorrow will be a great day!!