FSBO

This one almost had us :) It's a for sale by owner (which was a little tricky since we have an agent), beautiful neighborhood with an police officer at the entrance to the development (which has its own name, so fancy!) The house is beautiful inside, the finished basement is just about perfect for school and guests! So much more space than we have now, plus a three-car garage. Very well maintained, the bedrooms were all gigantic, storage space everywhere, one of those grand prom-like staircases as you walk in the door, similar decorating style as me (so not a lot of paint color changes), a potential music room on the main level, seriously--so many great features! On the not as exciting side . . . it's the same age as our home, and the a/c is beginning to get picky. The kitchen needs a major update, including a gas line, because I'm not a fan of cooking on electric :) The master bath has the same tiny shower we currently have, needs a new toilet, needs new tile, could use a countertop update (but it did have two sinks!), and perhaps most importantly . . . the yard was really small with neighbors a fist bump through a window away in the back.

We made a verbal offer (kind of) over the phone, and discovered our offer plus no closing fees, plus no agent fees was already on the table--with the same contingency that their house had to sell before they could take ownership. So, then this crazy whirlwind of WE HAVE TO LIST NOW TO SELL BEFORE THEY DO!! went into effect, plus we'd have to raise our full-price offer another $5,000 to cover the things the other buyer said they'd allow for . . . and here's the kicker, the seller hadn't even had her open house yet. I have no doubt in my mind, that this house would be one we'd have to fight for financially, and though it was so close to perfect, it wasn't. It needed updating--pretty much in the same way our house needs updating (kitchen, bathrooms, possibly carpeting on the main level).

So, we stopped sleeping well. We were kind of frustrated with each other. Buck was doing all this banking stuff to get a lender, talking to several different companies, building information packets to send, trying to find time to shore up our deck; I'm thinking of packing the whole house, but first cleaning it enough for pictures, talking to neighbors about a for sale sign going in the yard, waiting for paperwork from our realtor, texting and calling the owner of the house we liked . . . just stressful and exhausting emotionally. So I asked some of my girls, spread out across the country, to pray for us.

Saturday morning, I was out walking in (careful) circles on our deck--okay, rectangles. I'm looking at the blue birds flying by, thinking about the deer we see on an almost daily basis, realizing that we own the bank of trees at the top of the second hill (where I still have never ventured) . . . and I thought . . . "We could buy a mobile home, double-wide and park it up on that hill." (This revelation made Buck laugh, when I told him later :) I kept pacing . . . I felt like God was saying, "Hey, you're smart. Get creative." Oooh, thanks for the compliment, God! Okay--we have all this space. We can't really add on, but . . . TINY HOUSE! We could build a tiny house in the backyard as a classroom, kid hang out space, and extra sleeping space for when guests come over! Well, tiny houses also come with sinks, refrigerators, bathrooms--stuff we don't need and, whoa baby, the price! So then I switched to--tricked out shed, concrete pad, dry wall, shingling, solar system--great projects for the kids to learn on! We could match it to the house, landscape around it, make a cute little path from the deck . . . Buck is not so sure this would add value. However, he's now excited about the idea of possibly adding a sunroom in place of our falling apart deck. This would be our classroom and add square footage to the house without ripping down walls and getting nutty.

So I feel like God gave us a chance to breath a minute and think through what we already have, what He's already given us. We could put a storage shed on the hill and put a garden in next to it . . . that opens up the current garage, and gives us a chance to be farmers. Buck says we could put a chicken coop on the back of the storage shed or we could get a hutch for bunnies. We're starting to see our "temporary" situation, as a place we can actually live for awhile. It's interesting how that works :) In fact, when I talked to our realtor about all this (she was in total agreement with the pace being too fast), I said, "It's kind of  your fault that I am reconsidering--you walked through our house going, 'Oh this is great! I forgot about that. You have this room down here?!' and it made me see our space differently."

So what's next? Hmm, not sure. I know we're not having showings tomorrow :) Buck sent a message to the lenders saying, "What if . . ." to try to get the scoop on a refi or a line of equity for carpets, countertops, a four-seasons room off the kitchen? He's not closed to the idea of selling though either, if something perfect pops up on the market. We just don't have to decide today (especially since it's a holiday and everything is closed anyway), and that makes me able to relax again. Still--we are up and move in a flash people, no waiting around when a decision is made, so hold on to your hats . . . who knows what's next!