Let's Try This Again -- HOUSE!!!

Many of you may have seen my Facebook status that we had an urgent prayer request a few weeks ago on a Tuesday night about the [first] house we had an offer on in San Antonio.  What happened?  Well, as my realtor called at 6pm to confirm that the appraisal was being ordered, he asked me, "You do know that this home is in a flood plain, don't you?"

Um, no. 

The disclosure filed by the seller did not state that it was in a flood plain and the realtor didn't tell us that it was, even when we asked about it repeatedly since the home backs to a greenbelt and has a rain culvert right next-door.  I wish it didn't get 2 weeks into the buying process to figure this out.  I'll also say that the selling agent lived right next door to the property and she didn't even disclose the flood plain on her listing.  Hmmmm.

After living in Nebraska and witnessing the Nebraska/Iowa flood of 2011 and then watching my family in Minnesota experience "total losses" this year with the catastrophic Duluth flooding, I just couldn't go forward with a home in a flood plain.  I couldn't.

NE/IA flooding 2011

NE/IA flooding 2011

Duluth, MN flooding 2012 - this is Jay Cooke State Park close to where my grandparent's home was.

Duluth, MN flooding 2012

The very next day, I looked at 80 more houses online as we put the purchase of "Flood Plain House" on hold.  Jay drove by a few of the homes I liked online while he was in San Antonio for work.  He called later and told me to go ahead and schedule appointments because he found the neighborhoods desirable, and on Thursday I packed up the kids and we drove down to look at almost 8 or 9 more houses while Jay worked.

I don't recommend looking at houses with 3 children and no husband.  At one point, all 3 children were in tears at the same time.  Oh, please.

We now have officially let go of "Flood Plain House," have received our earnest money back (thanks for praying for that, those of you who knew) and have put an offer on another home.  Since our bank already has all of our paperwork on file, we should still be able to get in before October is up.  It will be the first week of November at the latest.

The home is in a great neighborhood with a much nicer feel to it than the first home.  It's actually a little bit hilly, which I love!  Any rain water will run right past us and keep going down!  Hard to believe this house was actually a bit cheaper than "flood plain house."  This house offers 5 bedroom too!  On the main level of the house is a HUGE master bedroom with a private master bath and huge walk-in closet.  This will actually be our guest room and great for Jay's dad when he visits due to his declining health.  The eat-in kitchen is a bit smaller than I'd like and it doesn't have the walk-in pantry that I loved in the previous house.  But I'll make due and I'll figure out where to store all my appliances.  There is one main living/dining room on the main level and a half bath too.

Upstairs has 4 bedrooms.  The upstairs master is smaller than the main floor master, but not by much and it's just fine for us.  I like being close to my kids in the middle of the night when they are young.  We may eventually want the space of the downstairs master when the kids are older.  We'll see.  The upstairs master bath is a touch smaller than the lower master bath, but not by much either.  They both have double sinks and tub/shower and toilet and huge walk-in closets.  The kids rooms are very large!  The boys will have plenty of room for their bunk beds and dressers and toys [the ones too small for Lauren] to boot.  Jay will take the smallest upstairs bedroom as his office since he'll be doing quite a bit of work from home.  All that rooms needs is a ceiling fan (all the other rooms have one).  Hopefully we can score a nice desk and file cabinets on Craig's List or garage sales.  The laundry room is also upstairs like the first house.  Still not sure I'll like it because it means kenneling the dogs in the kitchen downstairs instead of in a mudroom which I prefer, but I'll get used to it.  The upstairs also has a loft which will be big enough for our sectional, the kids toys and a home school area.  The carpets are all pristine, walls a nice beige that will never have to be painted (and I don't intend to, much to the surprise of my friends who know how much I LOVE color).  The fixtures are all nicely updated with no older brass finishes.  Nothing in this house needs to be done.  Maybe, just maybe in the future we could rip out carpet and put in hardwood, but not for quite a few years, and only for resale.  The backyard could use a shed for tools since the garage is only a 2-car, but we can do that later.  Landscaping is great!  It's just move in and be home.  HOME!!!!  We didn't have that with the "flood plain house" (required paint and a lot of work in the bare backyard).

And the best part?  The backyard has a pool!  Our realtor thinks the pool was a negative feature for the home because it was on the market for 97 days.  For us, with our kids in the hot Texas climate, the pool was a perk!  The boys are so excited.  This momma-fish is quite excited too.  Now to learn how to care for it myself so I don't have to call a professional.  How can we home school in the pool?  I'll find a way!

Lest you think we are going crazy with a 5 bedroom home with a pool after losing 2 jobs and completing an international adoption, remember that this is Texas, folks.  This house is in the "starter home" price range.  Insane, right?  It is tens of thousands cheaper than our first home in Chicago that we bought as newlyweds 11 years ago, working in ministry and it's also cheaper than our second home in Nebraska.  Housing is just so insanely cheap down here and that's why Jay wanted to try living here until we have our feet underneath ourselves again as he builds a business.  Once his business becomes successful, we'll have more options to move elsewhere if we desire to be closer to family again.  For now, we kind of wanted to start all over, be conservative and have the smallest mortgage possible.  We've never been over our heads with our mortgages in the past, but after everything we've been through and how all of you have helped us adopt and then bring home our daughter while unemployed, we vow to pay it forward and give generously when we are able.  To whom much is given, much is required.  We know that full well and we want our lives to reflect that.  That means a "starter home" is the best place for us for now.

While house hunting this time, I didn't take my camera with me because it was a last-minute, unexpected trip early in the morning with 3 kids with massive bed-head.  For now, enjoy a few outside shots from the listing.  The original interior pictures showed the home lived in (it's now vacant) and I don't want to post pictures of someone else's furniture, so hopefully these will do for now.  If I have to run back to San Antonio for any reason between now and closing, I'll see if I can get in to take more pictures of it vacant.

Prayers appreciated that we don't lose this one and that we can move in before Halloween!

In comparison to "Flood Plain House," this one has a much nicer, more elegant feel to both home and neighborhood.

"Can we have a pool, dad?  Can we have a pool, dad?  Can we have a pool, dad?"

The pool was a selling feature for us here in the hot Texas climate.  And with it being so nicely done with a beautiful deck and nice landscaping, we love it for our fish kids!