House Hunters Diary- Day 76

Dear Future House, We have had quite a journey over the past few weeks. Not only did I get a new job as a high-school teacher, but we have been celebrating birthdays this month, too! With so many events going on, we still have been in pursuit of finding you. In late August, we put an offer on a house that was on a half-acre property. We loved the view and the space of the backyard. We also loved that the bedrooms were so big. Some of the things that worried us were that there was no place for a dining room table (which we know we would use a lot) and the garage was not attached to the house. It was also on a street that was not lit well at night, which presented me with a slight fear of being there by myself if Chris were to be gone in the middle of the night to help a family. Even with our concerns, we went as far as having an inspection on the house. I am so glad that inspections are required, as we found out how much extra work needed to be done with that house. We aren't scared of doing projects, but that house was more of a money pit than we thought it would be. So, we moved on and continued our search. The next house that we put an offer on was a cute older home built in the 1940s. It was redone and had new appliances in the kitchen. It was a charming, unique house with a beautiful backyard. It was also close to Chris' work! Chris loved it, but I couldn't wrap my head around how small the bedrooms were. I know that sounds materialistic, but it was just too difficult to picture sleeping in a tiny cramped room. There was not a lot of space to grow, unless we wanted to spend money on an addition. The garage was nice, but, like the previous house, it was separated from the house. We put in an offer (which was at the top of our budget), and the seller came back with a counter offer that was 14,000 more than our already very generous offer. We decided that it wasn't worth the price they were asking and moved on to the next house. After the older, overpriced house, we found a house that was gutted at redone. Everything was brand new! The rooms were a good size, the master bathroom was amazing, and the kitchen was charming! There was so much room in the backyard, that we could have a garden, a pool, and a large lawn that would provide our future puppy with a place to poop. We got an accepted offer on the house! In the meantime, I was waking up at night thinking of what we would need to compromise in order to live in that house. The guest rooms were in the front of the house, so if we had foster children, they would be more vulnerable in their rooms. I was also having trouble figuring out where to put the dining room table. Again, knowing that we would use it often, I knew that was something that would be difficult to compromise. I also did some crime mapping on the area and found out that it wasn't as safe as we thought it might be. So, something posessed me to get on Zillow and look in places that were out of the confines of zip codes that our agent applied to our search. I looked in Bonita, Chula Vista, and Lemon Grove. There was a place in Lemon Grove that caught my eye, and I asked our agent to go see it that same day that I found it on Zillow. He met me at the house that morning, and I couldn't believe how blessed I was to have found the home. It was everything I wanted in a home. I called Chris to tell him that he needed to see it. After going back later that afternoon, we decided to put an offer on the house. It was $17,000 less than the newer house in the scary neighborhood! We had to decide whether it was worth letting go of the potential of continuing the home-buying process with the new home or not, since, we couldn't be considered for an offer on the Lemon Grove house if we were in escrow with the newer house in the scary neighborhood. We put our faith in the Lemon Grove house and let go of the other. We became very nervous after we didn't hear from the sellers for over two days. We had to let go and trust that if it was meant to be, it would be. After church on Sabbath, we got an e-mail that our offer was accepted. We are currently in escrow with, what I hope is you, Future House. Yesterday, we had an inspection. I haven't seen the report yet, but I hope that there aren't any major things wrong that we can't handle. We are prepared to fix your bathrooms and make them our own. I am looking fowrad to planting new and beautiful plants in your front and back. I will need some advice on what plants will be nice around a backyard with a pool. With all the excitement that has been going on while we try to find you (and I hope we already have), I have felt so blessed to know that, wherever we end up living, we will be able to extend what we have to our friends and family. Our future house will be a place to make memories with each other and with those we love. That is what I am looking forward to more than anything else. With hope that we have finally found you, Hopeful House Hunter