The house

Ok, so obviously I haven't blogged in a while. I have been very busy. My office computer is totally jacked up and it won't let me read the blogs I follow and I haven't had internet for a week at home which now I do so I can get back to my blogging. Anyways we are in the new house :) Sort of. We are living in the basement for now. SOMEONE got the bright idea that scraping popcorn ceilings off would be no big deal. Cough Cough. Obviously the person in question has never done it before and now she is living in a basement instead of the house she just bought. We finally finished the ceilings at around 1am on sunday. It took us a whole week. Yesterday was mostly clean up but we still have a lot of cleaning to do. I finally got the kitchen cleaned up and found a pan and a spatula in the boxes we are living out of and made a Bertolli pasta meal for dinner last night. Our first sort of cooked meal in the house. Since we are staying in the basement we havent turned the heat on yet. We are just using the gas heater downstairs. It was hilarious carrying the huge TV up the stairs and hooking it up in the living room floor and sitting in game day chairs with huge sweatshirts on to watch Dexter last night. We couldn't miss our show even if we did have to freeze our booties off to watch it.
Maynard is too smart for his own good. If he decides he doesn't want to be in the fenced in back yard he just gets out. We aren't sure how he is managing it but he stays at home. We will walk by the door and see him on the porch, or pull up in the driveway and he will greet us at the car. Trouble. Ellie is a ra-tard and is having trouble with the stairs. She has also disregarded her puppy pad so I guess we are starting all over with the house training. Ugh.
Now after we get everything clean we have to paint. THEN we can move in for real :) I am SO happy right now. It has been a lot of work but it is so great to finally have a house.
Oh BTW I realized this weekend that my basement is not underground. BAHAHAHA Oh the irony. That's right people. You may wonder how I missed that before and all I can say is I'm not sure. When you look at the house from straight on you can't see the basement so that wall I guess is technically underground, but the other 3 walls are not. Alot of flippin good that is gonna do me. I actually think it's funny. The girl who is terrified of storms and HAD to buy a house with a basement bought one that isn't even underground. I still feel safe in my basement and I'm sure I will be better off there than in a trailer or a house that doesn't have one at all. I know this blog is jumping around a lot so thanks for staying with me if you've made it this far. I just had to catch up on everything. I have a TON of catching up on my blog reading to do. I don't know why this computer will let me sign in to mine but not view anyone elses. Stupid. Well I can't wait to post more pics. I will do before and afters. I guess that is all for now :)

It's official!! (almost)

So yesterday we found out that our appra isal was good and then it went back to underwriting for an appraisal review. Usually that takes about 3-4 days but we were blessed and ours came back the same day!!! Yay everything is approved and we are ready to close. We were supposed to close at the first of November because we wanted to make sure we were ready financially and because the owners were having to find somewhere to go. At first they were having a hard time because they are renting and they have pets inside. They called us Tuesday and said they have found a place and are ready to close! They said they can probably be out by the 15th! As for the financial situation God has totally provided for us and we are ahead of schedule! I got extra money at work from my unused personal days and Josh sold his 4-wheeler. We have also found someone to buy our trailer and so we don't have to worry about that payment anymore!! It's like the pieces all just came together. I know God had his hand in it. I am SO excited. I have wanted a house for soooo long and it just doesn't seem real. I couldn't be happier!!I guess I could post a pic now that I know it's going to be mine. So here is a sneak peak!

I know the bushes could use some trimming! LOL There is a fenced in back yard behind the poolhouse for Maynard too! I will post more pics later. I will do before and afters as I fix up each room!! I feel so blessed and so happy! It's like all of my dreams have come true! It may sound cheesy but I wanted this sooo bad!

On a totally un-house related note I have been working on my relationship with God. I have been a slacker for quite a while now. I have been praying for the desire to be closer to him because for a while it wasn't on my list of priorities. I am just being honest. I am also trying to take a little time each night to read the bible. I have never read the whole thing before and I think it would do me some good to get some of my facts straight. It is amazing the things that God has put in my path and opened my eyes to. Even the smallest things increase my desire everyday to be closer to him. Jenny if you read this your bible studies and your videos on your blog are wonderful! Sometimes you just don't know what might really touch someone else! So anyways I would just like to ask everyone to say a little prayer for me. I am trying but I know I will have days when I struggle. Everyone does. I want to be a better example for my friends and my husband.

Not in a great mood.

Today I am starting the day off on the wrong foot. I went to bed ill and I woke up that way. MEN!! Ugh! That is all I will say about that.....maybe. Anyways, this whole house thing has my face looking like I just hit puberty! Oh my gosh! Everything is going ok so far, but we still haven't gotten the appraisal. Inspection was fine. They agreed to fix the few little things that we asked them to. Yesterday our file came back from underwriting and it was approved so we are good on the financial end. Now all we need is the stinkin appraisal and I am NOT a patient person. It really has me stressed. I just want to get it over with. I hate not knowing if we are gonna get it. I think once I know we are it won't be so hard to wait for the closing date. We've had 2 people look at our trailer so far and we haven't even advertised it's for sale. They were just friends of friends. Hopefully we won't have too hard of a time getting rid of it. Anyways I am pretty much writing out of boredom. Its gonna be a slow day at work today. Yuck. I'm kinda glad but kinda not. I wish I could sleep. I'm exhausted.
This thursday I'm going to stay with my buddy Cass and I get to spend time with her and her baby Jackson! I haven't seen him since the hospital and he is getting soooo big. I am excited about seeing them both. It will be nice to get away from home and get my mind off of things too. (if that's possible)
Next week is my birthday!!! I am such a kid when it comes to my birthday usually. I get super excited, but this time I'm gonna be 26. Which is closer to 30 than it is to 20. That upsets me. I just want to have my birthday but not get any older. The other day I bought a bottle of wine at Walmart and the lady asked me how old I was and I said "24" before I even thought about it. What the heck was that? Word vomit? I mean I haven't been 24 for almost 2 years now. It's like I'm stuck on that number! Ugh. My birthday is gonna stink too because I don't get a present. Maybe we will find out we are getting the house that day! That would be great! Otherwise we can't spend money on birthdays if we are buying a house next month! Josh didn't get a present for his last month either for the same reason, but I did throw him a party which was fun. Well, now that I'm tired, ill, stressed, and depressed I think I will get off of here. LOL It's better to quit while you're ahead.

Inspection went pretty good. There are two things we are gonna ask them to fix. 1. Weak steps and loose hand rails on the deck and 2. some vent or something in the attic that came unattached. Surely they will fix those? We will see. We are gonna ask them today. Anyways so far so good. Appraisal will be ordered this week so maybe by next week we will know when they are gonna do it. I tried really hard not to get too excited and attached to this house, but the truth is I already am. I will admit that I have already picked out paint colors. Ugh. I hope everything works out. I am just trusting that however it works out, it is for the best!

stress

Today is inspection day! Actually the inspector should have been there for about an hour now. I am supposed to meet him in another hour and a half. Hopefully all is going well. I am surprisingly calm for the inspection. My concern is now focused on the appraisal. We got prequalified for an FHA loan and if the house doesn't appraise for at least the purchase amount the deal is off. I wasn't worried until Josh's aunt told us that sometimes a pool throws a wrench in the appraisal because if it is based off of comparables that have sold in the area that don't have a pool they won't add any value to the house for the pool. Does that make sense? I'm still a little confused by it. Anyways another reason I am concerned is that when the owners bought it 4 years ago it appraised for about 20,000 LESS!!!!! AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!! Normally a house will only gain equity but the market is so bad right now I am REALLY worried that it won't appraise for enough. The appraisal probably won't be for another 2 weeks. 2 Weeks of stress. We totally made a first timers mistake too! We had just enough for the down payment but we didn't really have closing costs so we gave a little more on the purchase price and got the sellers to pay closing. That was probably TMI for the point I'm about to make. Anyways, 2,000 dollars of our down payment was in a fire proof safe at home. The rest was in our savings account. So we didn't realize that the bank would question where we got the 2000 dollars cash and we went ahead and deposited it in the bank. Then we were told we should have waited and gotten a letter and a check from a family member saying that they "gifted" us the 2000 dollars. That way we don't have to explain how we saved it and why it wasn't in the bank???? Who knew? Josh's aunt says they frown upon "matress money." Hopefully that will be a hurdle that won't be too difficult to overcome but I'm worried that the bank is gonna look at our account and be like ummmm.......I don't think so. It's not like we have an abundance of money. Pretty much JUST enough to make the down payment. Ha ha. We will just have to wait and see. Maybe they won't laugh us out of the bank!

house update

Ok so we put a verbal offer in on the house on Friday. They called us back with a counter on Sunday and said it was their bottom dollar. They weren't willing to budge much on their price. We countered their counter on Sunday night and said we would walk if they didn't take it (it was only 1000 less than their "bottom dollar" and now we have a verbal agreement on price. Josh is meeting my sister today to write up a contract!! I am terrified. This is such a huge commitment and we just keep asking ourselves if we can afford this house. We think we can but you know how life is. One curve ball could put us out of the game and that is SCARY!! I really am super excited though. I will keep you updated!

New House??? Yes Please!

For anyone who is thinking "Here we go again" just hold on a minute. Bear with me here. This is not just another rambling blog about how I want one. So the deal is that me and Josh have found a house that we both LOVE. Josh normally just goes along with me on my house hunting and viewing escapades because he probably just doesn't want to argue. He has not liked a single house we have looked at and we have seen quite a few. This house is for sale by owner and the couple who own it now are super nice. We went to see it for the first time on thursday evening. We both left grinning from ear to ear. We did not even make it to the car before Josh said 'I really like it.' When we sat down in the car he said 'When are we going to the bank?' EEEEEKKKK! Ok calm down Becca. Contain your excitement. The scary thing is that we really had not planned on buying a house. Of course the plan was to build one. About 3 months ago we removed several thousand dollars from our savings to pay off a few things which was definitely a good move, but it made our savings at this point pretty minimal. We weren't even sure we had enough for a down payment, much less closing costs and inspections and the first year's insurance. Then you also have the whole problem of figuring out if you can even afford the payment!! Ugh. So we felt pretty nervous when we went to the bank the next day to prequalify for a loan. We thought they might laugh at us when we told them how much money we had saved. Surprisingly things went really well for us. We had no problem prequalifying. Our estimated payment squeaked in within our comfort zone, and our mortgage guy told us how we could work out a way for the seller to pay closing! Slow this train down just a little bit!!! I can't describe the constant butterflies that have been in my stomach since Thursday!!! Next step.... BEFORE we put in an offer. We are going back on Monday or Tuesday with Josh's dad. I am WAY more nervous about this than ANYTHING! My reality check is going to come in a package I like to call Nicky Wayne Piper. He will without a doubt be as critical as possible. Not in a bad way. Just for our benefit. To make sure we know what we are getting into. I know I need to be as informed as possible, but what is that saying?............................Ignorance is BLISS! :) Ha Ha! Now to tell you a little about the house....It has a basement!! (of course) The basement is finished with a famiy room, bedroom, and bathroom with a huge walk in closet. It has a 1 car garage in the basement for my car and then a small stall that Josh could park his motorcycle and the lawn mower. There is a carport off the back where he can park his truck and then a seperate 2 car garage that he can have just for a shop!! This makes him happy which makes me very happy! The basement and shop were on our must list which is why it has been hard to find something we both like. Now for the kicker......It has an inground pool!!!!!! It also has a nice sized fenced in yard for Maynard! Sounds too good to be true huh? Yeah I know. Don't rain on my parade. LOL I will keep you updated. I almost didn't want to blog about this because I am afraid I will be disappointed, but blogging is to document my life as it happens so if I am disappointed you can all experience it with me!