Friday, October 11, 2013

House Hunting and Buying 101

    Last June, Jeannine and I started a journey that would be a very first for us:  the journey of finding our first house.  Yes, you read that right; our very first home.  We had thought that we would never be able to have our home.  Being in the ministry and especially being in a faith based ministry (I will explain faith based ministry in a future blog post),  we had pretty much concluded that we would never have our home.  Plus we didn't have the down payment.  However, our plans and thoughts were definitely not the plans of God and yesterday we signed the paperwork and on Monday we will get the keys for our first home. 
   Here is the story of how God got us where we are today.  In January, when Jeannine's Mother went home to Heaven, she gave us a gift that would change our lives; the 20% we would need to begin our journey of our own home.  Before we started, Jeannine and I prayed Philippians 4:6:  "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."
    After praying this we met with a fantastic Godly woman, Sherry, our realtor.  She informed us what we needed to do.  She connected us with another Godly woman, Maureen;  whose company would become our mortgage company.  Maureen informed us what we needed to do and this amazing journey started.  For the next two months (June and July), we did exactly what we were told to and mid-August we met with Maureen again and this rapid process started for us.  She processed all of our paperwork (and for you that have homes already know that there is a whole lot of paperwork and time).  Within a week, everything was done and the search would begin with Sherry. 
    Jeannine and I sat down and made a list of what our "ideal" home would be.  We then prayed Philippians 4:6 again and this time said God;  "God, we know you control everything and everything is in your hands, we are thankful for what you have done for us and we are totally okay if you shut the door on this." 
    We had heard horror stories of friends looking for homes.  They had looked at 50 or more homes.  People were telling us that they were making offers on multiple home.  The news was informing us that the market in California was improving and home prices were increasing 10 to 20 percent and that people in order to be competitive were offering multiple thousands more than the asking price.  All of this news just made this journey scarier for us and more apprehensive. 
    The end of August we looked at our first potential home.   The week of September 10th, we looked at a house near where we live now and it was close to what we were looking for, still I had this not so good feeling about it.   During this week there was also a house that came on the market that, from pictures was pretty close to what we were looking for; but yet the time that it was open to view we were not available due to ministry opportunities, so we just crossed it off of our list as gone.  During my quiet time on Sunday the 15th of September I just felt compelled to ask Jeannine if she would contact Sherry and see if there was a possibility that we could see that house.  Jeannine contacted Sherry, Sherry called us on Monday morning and said we could see it at 5:45 that evening. 
    We walked into the house and immediately I knew it was the one.  As we were leaving, we were told that all offers were being presented the next morning to the sellers and if we wanted it, we would have to make the decision now.  We went home, we prayed (just saying God show us your direction and give us peace about it) and after praying Jeannine looked at me and said let's do it.  This would be our first legitimate offer on a house. 
     The offer was made at approximately 8 pm on the 16th and now the waiting begun.  The next day came and as Jeannine and I were wrapping up the next day (10pm), still no news.  We were wondering and the discussion turned to hopefully they (the sellers) were praying over the offers and that we just had to trust.  Although we were anxious to hear, we still had this incredible peace about the whole situation.  Jeannine and I had our prayer time and for us the day was over when our phones started buzzing,  it was Sherry.  The sellers had accepted our offer.  Praise the Lord!!!  Then soon after that call, Maureen texted us and said congratulations.  These two special and Godly Women were truly walking this road with us. 
     The next day (very unheard of) at 8:00 am we went into our 30 day escrow.  With everything done, now it was just getting all of the paperwork in order, which we were told would take the full 30 days.  On September 25th all of the paperwork done, faster than the inspections could be done.  September 27th, everything was done and all that was needed is our signatures to send everything to the title company.  10 days in escrow and we are done...we are Praising God all the way.  WAIT, where am I....in Oman.  So everything has to wait until I arrive home on the 4th.  We sign the papers, basically on Monday October 7th, and yesterday we signed all of our papers and Monday we get our keys. 
     
Here are the God things that He has done immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine:
          
1.   Basically 20 days or less of escrow.
          
2.   Our ideal house desires and how God supplied them: 
             a.  Older home with character...house is built in the 50's and has amazing character
             b.  On a quarter of an acre.....house is on a third of an acre with lots of yard
             c.  A place for me to have a ministry office...It has outbuildings that are perfect for my office
             d.  We wanted to stay in the same area....we are moving only 8 miles away
             e.  One story home....it is a ranch styled home layout
             f.  A family home...it is perfect for us now and in the future for family and friends
          
3.   It must stay within our budget.....our mortgage payment including taxes and insurance is 
                 exactly the same as our rent is now.       

    These are just a few of the things that God did for us through this process.  It has been an amazing journey and we can never tell you how much God has done for us through this. 
    Jeannine and I just celebrated our 29th anniversary and we have been following the Lord in His Call for almost 13 years now.  It has been a FANTASTIC journey and a journey we would not trade for anything.  This adventure  of house hunting and buying is one that we never thought that we would be able to do and as I said above we were okay with because we were following the Lord.  Here we are today, very soon to get keys to our own home.  A home that we consider a GIGANTIC gift from God. 
    Jeannine and I would like to say THANK YOU to each of you for praying for us without knowing much about this adventure.  Your faithful prayers, on our behalf; have given us extra peace and even more blessings.  We have heard from a lot of you saying you are praying and this has lifted our hearts and spirits so much.  Thank you very much.

1 comment:

  1. I loved reading this again. It just makes me feel so happy for you and your sweet bride. God is so good! I am so happy for and your precious wife! I can feel your joy and excitement. God opened all the doors and by faith you walked thru them! Much love and hugs to you and your precious family! Your sister in Christ, Stacie Rogers Reid

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