Friday, June 26, 2009

Things are happening quickly

Last Friday we had our house inspection and appraisal. Both seemed to go well. Our inspection paperwork has already been emailed to us and all is well with the house. The biggest concerns were the two broken windows which we already knew about and which the seller will need to have repaired. Everything else mentioned is fairly cosmetic and easily or inexpensively repaired like leaky faucets, tiny rips in the kitchen linoleum, tree debris on the roof to be cleared, etc. All the appliances work, including the a/c, which I was concerned about as it isn't necessary by FHA rules that it be functioning - only that the heat works. :) There aren't any plumbing or electrical problems which is also an answer to prayer.

On Wednesday, we met with our realtor to give him a cashier's check for the the deposit. Right before we arrived, he received a bunch of information regarding our house - disclosures, escrow instructions, etc. This was the next step we were waiting for in the process. He needed some time to read and reveiw everything and we will meet with him either this afternoon or tomorrow to discuss it all and sign all the paperwork ready now. Things seem to be moving along pretty quickly which is exciting and also a bit nerve-racking as it means we are this much closer to being responsible homeowners. :)

I've included a few new pictures of the house - mostly of the upstairs since I didn't have any to post last time. There is also some updates to prayers, and some continued prayer requests. Thanks for supporting us with your love, prayers and encouragement...we appreciate it. *hugs*



Looking into the master bedroom, just beyond the door is the closet on the left side, and to the right is the master bathroom. The windows look out into the back yard.






Another view of the master bedroom.











Looking from the master bedroom toward the extra bedroom to the right and the office to the left. Stairway looks down into the entryway.







Looking into the guest bedroom - it is quite small, but has a large walk-in closet to the right behind the door. Cute windows overlook the front of the house and along the front walkway.





Looking into the office (middle doorway) which is larger than the guest bedroom; and the bathroom to the left.







A better picture of part of the kitchen. To the right is the door to the garage and walkway to guest bathroom and front door. To the left is the sink and counter. Behind is space for the refrigerator and a walk-in pantry, and opening to the dining room/family room.



Prayer Updates:
  1. House inspection is finished and requires few repairs. Cost was much lower than we expected as well.
  2. Paperwork is coming in quickly and seems to have few problems if any.

Prayer Requests:

  1. That all repairs would happen quickly, inexpensively, and easily.
  2. That any and all paperwork involved be handled with no complications or problems.
  3. That cleaning and preparing to move into our new home go smoothly.
  4. That the move process from our apartment to house go smoothly with little or nothing broken.
  5. That we get most, if not all, of our deposit back from our apartment complex.
  6. That there be no financial, spiritual, emotional, or physical setbacks or problems in the next few months as we prepare for this big change.
  7. That God will bless our realtor for all his help in this process, and also that he bless his wife and their new baby girl.
  8. For anything else that I can't think of or just don't know about yet.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

House update

Last weekend we were able to visit the house to remind ourselves exactly what it looked like inside...to take pictures...to measure all the room dimensions...and to enjoy that it looks pretty much like it's going to be our house. Josh's parents came along to see it, and Kelly & David and the kids stopped by too. Katelyn & Jonathan loved the stairs most of all and went up and down them at least 20 times in between hiding in the closets, running around in the empty bedrooms and laughing a lot! :)

We signed some additional papers yesterday (not sure exactly what they were, but basically they started the 10 days countdown of time to have a house inspection done). Tomorrow is the house inspection and we meet & pay the inspector at 3:30pm. Hopefully all will go well and once this is completed the seller will fix the two broken windows (in formal dining room and kitchen), and we move on to the next step of the process. Our realtor expects that escrow should close by the end of July and we should get the keys by early August hopefully. If this happens, we hope to have a big moving weekend on August 7-9 and we'd love any help we can get. We also plan to have a housewarming/Keri's 30th birthday party on August 29 at our new house. Invitations will be on the way next month, but please put it on your calendar as everyone is invited! :)

Here's some more pictures of the house, followed by some updates to the prayer requests.






Front door - needs to be sanded and we plan to repaint it a lovely dark blue color. Roses need to be pruned, but they smell divine and I love the pink, red and purple colors!





In the kitchen looking toward the back door, through what we will use as our dining room. To the left is where the fridge will go, next to a great walk-in pantry.







Front door is to the right with the half bathroom (open doorway) across from the stairs to the left...then leading into the kitchen with garage access.







Looking up the stairs to the two bedrooms and bathroom to the far right. The room with the large window will be the office, and next to it will be our guest bedroom (Winnie the Pooh themed). Master bedroom is behind and to the right and has a nice sized master bathroom (no pictures of it for now).


From the stairs looking down into the living room - our realtor Robert May in the picture.








Looking down into the formal dining room, but we will use it as an additional part of the living room making it kind of L-shaped.







Lovely staircase...can't you just imagine it wrapped in Christmas lights and greenery? :)








Some of the beautiful and delicious smelling roses along the front walkway.








Looking into the backyard at the giant shady pepper tree. There is a also a peach tree just out of the picture to the left full of ripening peaches. :)










Our soon-to-be house...isn't it lovely?









Prayer Updates:
  1. Immediate financial costs (deposit, house inspection, closing costs, etc) have been generously loaned to us by Kelly & David and Uncle David & Aunt Rasa. We are so grateful for their help. Thank you!
  2. We've spoken to one of the manager's of our apartment complex and discovered that we can give our 30 day notice at the beginning of July and still have a week or more past the 30 days in the apartment if necessary and only be charged a partial amount. This will help since we need to "live" in both places for at least a week or more to give time for cleaning and moving.
  3. The process has moved along fairly quickly so far and we are currently busy collecting financial documents that our mortgage guy Bryan needs, and as mentioned will take care of the house inspection tomorrow afternoon.

Continued prayer requests:

  1. That all inspections, repairs, etc would happen quickly, inexpensively, and easily.
  2. That any and all paperwork involved be handled with no complications or problems.
  3. That cleaning and preparing to move into our new home go smoothly.
  4. That the move process from our apartment to house go smoothly with little or nothing broken.
  5. That we get most, if not all, of our deposit back from our apartment complex.
  6. That there be no financial, spiritual, emotional, or physical setbacks or problems in the next few months as we prepare for this big change.
  7. That God will bless our realtor for all his help in this process, and also that he bless his wife and their new baby girl as they adjust to being a family.
  8. For anything else that I can't think of or just don't know about yet.

Thank you for all your love and support and prayers. We love you! *hugs*

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Offer accepted!

We got some great news today from our realtor - one of our offers on a house was accepted! We are cautiously optimistic that this may be the house God has for us. They also accepted our original offer of $171,500 instead of our more recent highest and best offer of $175,000...this is an answer to prayer as we weren't sure if the higher offer was truly something we could afford.





The house is in Moreno Valley - 10173 Via Apolina and here is a picture.



It is 1,600 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2 & 1/2 bathrooms, fireplace in the living room, on a just under 5,000 square foot lot in a very nice neighborhood called Sunnymead Ranch.



We received the acceptance of our offer this morning and will be visiting our realtor tonight to sign the offer and see what needs to be done next. A house inspection will need to occur and two windows need to be replaced (most likely by the seller), but provided all goes well and there are no complications they want escrow to close by August 14. This answers a particular prayer of mine that we be in a house before my 30th birthday on August 28.

We would deeply appreciate your prayers about the following things:
  1. That this is the house that God has for us and if it is not, then prayer that we continue to have faith that it is out there and not be too disappointed.
  2. That all inspections, repairs, etc would happen quickly, inexpensively, and easily.
  3. That any and all paperwork involved be handled with no complications or problems.
  4. That the immediate financial costs (down payment, closing costs and home inspection) be provided.
  5. That cleaning and preparing to move into our new home go smoothly.
  6. That the move process from our apartment to house go smoothly with little or nothing broken.
  7. That we have no problems giving 30 day notice and that we get most, if not all, of our deposit back from our apartment complex.
  8. That there be no financial, spiritual, emotional, or physical setbacks or problems in the next few months as we prepare for this big change.
  9. That God will bless our realtor for all his help in this process, and also that he bless his wife and their new baby girl as they adjust to being a family.
  10. For anything else that I can't think of or just don't know about yet.

I know things can change and this isn't set in stone yet...but I want to thank God and share this wonderful news with all of you. God does answer our prayers and He does it just in His time. Even if this doesn't work out, I will still believe that it true. Thank you for your prayers up til now, and those that you continue to pray. I'm so blessed to be surrounded by such a warm, loving and caring crowd of family and friends and that is all due to the many blessings of God in my life.