Guys! I’m so excited the time is finally here! We just closed on our house and it has been a whirlwind. During the past couple months we have been so consumed with crazy paperwork, working overtime, packing boxes, and all of the things to make this happen. I’m currently writing this in my new dining room but let me tell you, it was not a walk in the park. Now that it is all over with, it honestly feels like a dream. We’ve been in our new house for two weeks and we’re pretty close to being settled in. Boxes are unpacked and recycled, utilities are set up, change of address is done, and tv is set up the way we like it. Each room is slowly getting order from chaos as I start decorating to make this place feel like ours.
I bet you’re sitting in your seat thinking “but you just moved back to Minnesota and into an apartment. Now you bought a house?” Yes! Let me back up. When we first moved into our apartment, we intended to stay for a year and focus on getting out of debt. After moving out of state twice in one year, (2 other times besides that) it really exhausted us. We agreed that when we found a house, that would be IT, no more moving. We weren’t even thinking about looking for a house yet and were solely focused on working our way out of debt, but, opportunity presented itself.
About a year ago, we had asked a lady in our church if she was going to sell her house and whenever she decided to do so, that we would be interested. Fast forward to a couple months ago and she remembered us and asked if we were still interested. We were elated and immediately said yes. I won’t go into detail as this is ultimately not our home but it is what got us started in looking for a house. After we realized that it wasn’t going to work out, we decided to casually look at other houses. We would ONLY view a house if we were curious enough. We ran into a few duds and got to a point that we have to really, really be super interested in order to look at it. We found one that we liked and the price had recently dropped. On our way to view it, we told each other that if it didn’t work out, this was the last house were going to see for a long time.
Well, wouldn’t ya know, it ended up being our house. This house was on the market for about 40 days and it had no offers. We walked around and couldn’t see a darn thing wrong with it. Our realtor had seen it with some other buyers and her opinion was that at the time it was cluttered, messy, and the water heater needed to be replaced. By the time we viewed it, it was practically empty, water heater had been replaced, with evidence of it being cleaned. I loved the size of the kitchen and the countertops. Lots of closet space, plenty of room in the living room with a bay window (!!!). The house has 4 bedrooms, two bathrooms, central air, tiled basement flooring, two car garage, a great deck, and a nice yard. And guess what! All appliances are brand new and the roof is only 2 years old!
Have you ever found a really great deal or something amazing just crosses your path and it’s almost like the opportunity was waiting for you? That’s what it felt like! It’s like this house was just waiting for us at the perfect moment. Things fell into place perfectly. We provided the necessary paperwork for the bank and we experienced no hiccups. Our agreed closing date was June 6th but since things were moving so smoothly and all we were waiting on at that point was the bank, we inquired if an early closing date would be possible. Things were up in the air at that point and unfortunately couldn’t get a definite closing date from the bank. But we were patient.
Finally we heard back confirming that we will indeed be able to close on May 24th, two weeks sooner than planned. Everyone was on board. We were literally just days away from closing. Practically everything was packed, our Uhaul truck was reserved, I got the day off (not that easy for me once a new schedule is posted), utilities set up, and help was arranged. The plan was in motion to sign the paperwork on Friday, since I had the day off I would pack whatever I could into the truck. I had to work the next day and Sam got done at 5 and that’s when he would unload the truck. I would spend Sunday cleaning our apartment and getting our new house unpacked and organized and Memorial Day we would enjoy the day and relax. It was working smoothly.
Then we got a text from our realtor two days before closing “Something came up. We need to talk.” Our closing date was cancelled because of a family crisis from the sellers and they had to quickly leave town. We literally just needed a few signatures from them and maybe 5 minutes of their time. We were left frustrated, angry, and bitter but also still trying to be understanding and sympathetic. We were so close and everything was going so smoothly and everything ended at a crashing halt. We tried any possible way to get some sort of movement going. Radio silence. The longer time went, the more frustrated we became. Finally we heard back on Thursday night and they said we were welcome to move our stuff into the garage and they are willing to back date to the following Tuesday. I don’t always get time off easily and someone just happened to offer to take my whole shift that day and it also happened to be Sam’s day off.
Everything worked out in the end. Plans didn’t go the way we hoped but it all worked out. The sellers actually allowed us to move our stuff into the house on Memorial Day. We just weren’t allowed to sleep in the house until after everything is signed. Things were done a little backwards but it worked out better this way. Since we moved on a Monday instead of a weekend, our uhaul was cheaper, and we also found help. It went very smooth and we are so happy we are finally settled in our new house.
More posts to come about our new house adventure! You never know what we’ll be up to next!
Love,
The Leal’s
Living with the Leals 