The rest...

So, I left you all with the tale of the selling of our first home, our starter home, if you will. Now if you'll just give me a few minutes of your time, I'll regale you with the story of how we came too acquire our new home as well!

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So, it all started back in March when a friend of mine (who will one day be the guest of honor at our house warming) called me and asked me if Mikey and I were still looking for a house in the Bagley area. I told her we weren't really actively looking because we hadn't actually even put our house up for sale yet. She told me that she knew of a house that was about to be put up on the market that would be available for short sale(which is when a buyer offers less than the original owner owes, and the bank has to agree to take a loss to prevent the house from going into foreclosure). I knew which house she was talking about, and I loved that house! So, I sprung into action! I called my old pal Susie from my days at the bank because I knew she would know how I could get in touch with the girl who owned it.

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In a brazen move that paid off tremendously, I called her up. I told her that she didn't know me, but that I heard that she was trying to sell her house, and that Mikey and I would love to come look at it. She obliged and we met her that afternoon and looked around! When she was showing us around one thing led to another and I asked her about how much she was going to be asking for the house. She told me she just wanted enough to pay it off, and she told me the approximate amount, and I, of course, made a mental note of it. Well, then her realtor showed up, and told me they were listing it for sixty thousand more than the owner had told me she wanted, and I knew that was out of our price range, so we left, and that was that...or so I thought.

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The next day, my brother called (he's my real estate agent) and I told him about the night before, with a loaded sigh, basically telling him to forget about it. I told him about the conversations we'd had with the owner, and the agent and he said, "Well, let's just make them an offer, and if nothing happens, then oh well." So, we did. A month or so passed with no news. I was persistent, and at my urging, so was Chad. He called every few weeks just to ask the status of the sell, and time after time we were told that our offer still stood.

April, May, and June came and went with not much news. honestly, by this time, I was over it, and had pretty much given up. It was also in this month that we found out that we had basically sold our house right out from under ourselves, so...that was a little unnerving.

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Well, early in July, the realtor told us that the bank had accepted our offer, but that we were waiting on the PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) company to accept it, but that she felt certain they would!! Yay Us!! That's what we'd been waiting for four months to hear.

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Shortly thereafter, she told Chad to proceed with the appraisal for our loan, and off we went!

We closed on the house we'd been fighting five months to get just six days after we sold our house! Talk about perfect timing!

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So, here we are, owners of a new home, one I never truly thought we'd get, and I could NOT be more excited about it. This house is perfect for us! And I'll tell you why:

It has plenty of parking and driveway for our friends and family, it has a big yard, but not too big for Mikey(and eventually the boys) to cut and weed eat in a few hours.

All four of the bedrooms are upstairs, which is ideal for us now because the boys would be afraid to have us all the way downstairs at bedtime, and perfect in the future, so that we can keep a closer eye on them and ensure that they aren't trying to sneak out. Who am I kidding? They are perfect angels and would never even think of doing something like that.

It has two different dens which is handy when the boys want to watch cartoons and we don't. It is on the end of a cul de sac so the boys can ride their bikes in the street (while I watch them from the porch, of course). It has a full basement so Mikey can finally orchestrate his (small) tool collection just like he likes it. It also has a "Man Cave" that can be finished in the future, and for which Mikey has big plans.

It also has a fenced in backyard, so if and when we decide to get a dog, we have a backyard ready and waiting!

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When we were looking at the house, we were always rushed through, and there were lots of cool details that I never noticed. It has crown molding in almost every room, it has a water filtration system that has a specific spout on the sink (too cool!), it has a central vacuum system (for those of you who don't know, that's where you have an outlet where you just plug the hose into the wall, and the dirt, etc., actually goes to a canister in the basement). We had one of those at the house I grew up in and it was pretty cool. And my favorite feature of all, on the staircase, there are actual vent lights along the walls to light up the stairwell. Fancy Pants, no?!? There are outlets and cable hook-ups everywhere (six different cable hookups in the one den, which is ultra-convenient and will allow for multiple different furniture arrangements, which were severely limited in our old house.

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So, we had the carpet shampooed Monday, and the painters (who are painting every single room, and touching up all the trim) started today. They are, no doubt, the most vital part of restoring this house to it's previous condition, as it SEVERELY needs to be painted. Anyway, we should be moved in towards the end of this month, and that is right on schedule!

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I will be taking before and after pictures because the transformation will be magical, well to me atleast. Mikey and I were physically sore from working so hard this weekend: me cleaning, him doing yardwork.

Busy month for busy parents with busy jobs. But fun stuff!!

More house postings to come!