Let the Packing Begin!

We just had our inspection and signed the purchase agreement for the house!!! I'm so excited! A part of me won't completely believe it until I have the keys in my hand, but I think it's all going to work out. The inspector identified a few things that need to be fixed, but nothing major.

Now the real work begins. Sorting, packing, sorting, and more packing! I'm looking forward to it, though. I know that I/we have too much "stuff," and I can't wait to go through everything and purge. I've already started a moving/packing to do list, and I think we'll get started on it tonight!

Thank you, Lord, for giving us patience and for helping us through this process! Amen!

We Got It!

Pending inspection, of course. The clause in the letter from the bank is that we buy the house "as is," but it sounds like (I haven't ready the letter myself, yet) we can have an inspection and make a decision from there. If the inspector identifies anything major, we can still reject the house. Yea! I'm so excited! Now we have to schedule the inspection and keep praying. The other condition from the bank is that we close by March 24. That's later than the date in our original contract--March 13--but still less than 30 days. It looks like we may have a few BUSY weeks ahead! This is such an exciting time! And we do have a back-up plan, so to speak: five more houses on our "to see" list in case this one still falls through.

Waiting a Little Longer

So we're still waiting for news on the house. On Monday, we learned that we had verbal approval from the bank doing the foreclosure, and we were told that we would receive a letter on Tuesday. It's Wednesday now, and we haven't received a letter. Our realtor said that the seller's agent wasn't able to get ahold of the bank yesterday, so we're still waiting. We're anxious to see what this letter says because we're wondering if we'll be allowed to have an inspection. If not, then we'll drop this house and move on. We're not going to buy a house "as is." While this house looks like it is in good condition, you never know what's on the inside: mold, termite damage, etc. We're still holding out hope, but our patience is wearing thin. Lord, please help us to be patient and to know your will.

Still Waiting

We're still waiting for news on the house. The deadline that we gave the seller/bank is tomorrow at 1:00 p.m., but today our realtor called and said that she doesn't expect to hear anything for a week or a week and a half. I guess that the paperwork at the bank has to go through three departments, so that's why it takes so long. It's so frustrating! Our realtor said that people who can wait for the bank's decision generally get the house, but the longer we wait, the longer the house stays on the market for someone else to make an offer on it, too. We plan to leave our offer on the table, but we're also going to resume looking. We really want that house, but we don't want to sit around doing nothing in case our offer isn't accepted. Please have your perfect will, Lord!

Another House Update

Well, here's the latest in the continuing saga.... Yesterday, our realtor was finally able to contact the seller's agent, who had finally met with the owner of the house. They had a "small counter" to our offer. Apparently, this is a standard for a house in foreclosure, but the counter was that the house would remain on the market and the seller could accept any other offers until we are approved by the bank. Our initial reaction was anger. If they want a better offer, then they should reject our offer and raise the asking price! But as we talked about it, this is the condition we've been operating under already. We put it our offer almost two weeks ago, and the house has remained on the market but no other offers have come in (as far as we know, anyway). Our realtor said that he's seen the bank take anywhere from three days to three weeks to approve a buyer. While we're okay with the house remaining on the market (as I said, that's the way things are now), we want a deadline. We can't wait indefinitely for the bank to make a decision. We need to start packing, to give our "landlords" (my parents-in-law) notice that we're moving, etc. We went to see the house again last night and agreed that we are still very interested in it. So we signed the counter but put an exiparation date on our offer of Wednesday, February 18 at 1:00 p.m. We'll continue waiting and see what happens! We figure that if the bank still hasn't approved us by next Wednesday, we'll leave our offer on the table but will resume looking at houses to see if we can find something else that we like. Maybe we'll be approved before we find something else. Or maybe we'll find another house and will withdraw our offer on this house. So, to make a long story short (too late!), the waiting continues....

Waiting, food journal, and other miscellaneous thoughts

We're still waiting to hear about the house. The owner was supposed to be back in the country on Sunday, but as of yesterday at noon, the seller's agent hadn't been able to get ahold of her. She went ahead and sent our information (and the information of the other bidder?) to the bank holding the mortgage to get approval prior to the seller selecting an offer to accept, but I don't know when we'll know anything. I hope it's not too much longer! Thank you, Jesus, for giving me patience. It looks like I'm going to need a little more....

Yesterday, I started a food journal. I joined SparkPeople, a free website that offers information about nutrition, exercise, and healthy living as well as support from other members through blog posts and emails, a few months ago, but I hadn't really done anything with the tools on the website yet. Yesterday, I read an article from SparkPeople that said that the key to successful weight loss is keeping a journal of everything you eat each day. The idea is that you become aware of what and how much you are eating as well as when and why you may be eating. SparkPeople has a nutrition tracker, so I tried it out yesterday. I must admit that it worked! I knew how many calories I had eaten so far and what my goal was for the day, so when I had the munchies last night, I knew that I had only about 100 calories left, and I didn't eat anything! Whoever said that knowledge is power was right! I'm going to try to stick with this and see what happens. I think it may just be what I need to kick my butt in gear and start living a healthier life!

I'm also working on developing a schedule for each day, planning in time for running errands, cooking supper, reading, scrapbooking, etc. I've been looking at my newest scrapbooking magazine for the last two days, and I really want to get back into making layouts! I can't wait to be able to sit down and scrapbook in the evenings after Nathaniel is in bed!

So that's what's been going on in my life over the last few days. I hope to be back soon with news about the house!

House Update

Though I have been trying not to worry about whether we'll get this house, I haven't been doing a very good job. I know that it's in God's hands, but I hadn't given it completely to Him yet. However, yesterday morning, God asked me if I trust Him. My answer was yes. And then I instantly relaxed. While I still feel a few nervous jitters, I do trust God and know that He has our best interests at heart.

When I got home from work yesterday, there was a message from our realtor on our answering machine. She said that the bank needs to see our last two pay stubs, so we got that to her to send to the bank today. She also told us that ours is the better offer right now! I pray that it stays that way! The owner of the house will be back in the country (I don't know where she's been) on Sunday, and the agent is hoping that she'll make a decision on Sunday or Monday. Then the bank has to approve it as well. I'm hoping that we'll know something early next week!