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Today I just wanted to share for a moment about a journey we have begun recently- The search for our “forever” home. My husband and I have moved much over the past several years for a variety of reasons. Some of those moves were positive experiences. Others, not so much. But through all of the ups and downs, we have tried to make “home” where ever we land. This coming year, we are taking a step and beginning the search for what is (hopefully) going to be our next stop… a more permanent home.
Where we are at
Right now, we are in a great situation! We are renting from some amazing people. We are safe, warm, and dry. While the home is a bit smaller than ideal, it is much bigger than what we started out in. There is no rush to move on as there has been in the past. That is why we feel ready to pursue the future, rather than feeling constantly pursued ourselves.
The first step
So the very first step, before we even started looking at options, was to count the cost. Where are we at financially, what would work in our budget, and what could we afford. We appreciate wisdom from Dave Ramsey. We have lived debt free our entire married lives and want to continue with making wise financial decisions. Having done that, we now have a base line and know what we are looking for.
What came next?
The obvious question is “what comes next”… and that would be two things. One is pursuing if a mortgage will work for our family (as we don’t have the cash to purchase a home outright) and the other is to look into owner financed homes that are available.
So we did…
We have been working on those two steps for a few weeks now. We found that because of our lack of a credit history, we basically are too high risk to qualify for any loans… and the last loan advisor we spoke to hasn’t responded for the past two weeks… I am thinking a mortgage at this time is out of the question.
Now, the second part of that is looking into owner financed properties. With this, we found one close by that we LOVE and it fits perfectly into our budget. It is an old farmhouse that needs LOTS of renovation. There is foundation work, and the entire home is gutted. The beauty of it though is that we are in the perfect situation, no rush to move, close by- it could be perfect…
So what is the next step?
After looking at the property twice, doing a detailed title check, and discussing the financing terms, we are continuing to seriously pray about this property. While we love the property, we are not completely comfortable with the wording in some documents that the owner is wanting us to sign… and that is where we are currently stalled. We are trying to be cautious and not allow ourselves to be screwed over again… while the owner is most likely just trying to make a quick sale and get this “risky” property off his hands.
We are going to continue to wait and pray. While this one fits in our budget, is close to family, and has AMAZING potential, we don’t want to rush into it unnecessarily. We are hoping and praying that the owner will be gracious with us and willing to work with our requests in order to make both parties comfortable and happy with the arrangement… and if any of you have $120,000 you want to give to a great cause, that is the projected cost for both purchasing the property and completing the renovations! We don’t have that kind of cash upfront, so we are working on saving and waiting to see if the owner financing aspect works out for us.
In Closing
In all reality, we are excited to see where this journey takes us. If it is this old fixer-upper, GREAT! If it is another place, WONDERFUL! Really we just want to take our time and find what we would enjoy fixing and making ours together as a family. In the mean time, we wait, we pray, and we continue to save up as we can little by little.
Building dreams takes time. We dream of someday owning our own homestead rather than continually renting from or working for others. I have faith that someday our homestead will become a reality… if the Father chooses to provide the funds miraculously, I wouldn’t put it past him… but until then, we will keep working on our end to pursue the dream he has given. Someday, our dream of a homestead will become a reality! But the only way to get there is one step at a time!
