SOLD!

June 2010

I failed to mention in my last post that we sold our home in Texas.  So now the news gets its own post! 

We purchased our cute home in June 2010, and loved it.  When we moved to Washington in March 2012, we tried to sell it for 6 months without success.  The market was bad, and there were a lot of comparable homes for sale in the area with a lot of cheaper foreclosures.  We were drained from paying double mortgage and WA rent, so we decided to get renters. We were so blessed to have a wonderful couple rent our home and take such meticulous care of it. They stayed for 2 years and were very clean and always paid on time.  We had a successful rental experience, and we know that isn't always the case.  

Their lease was up in August and after thorough review of the housing market, Jeff and I decided to go forward with selling it.  (ok, Jeff reviewed the market, and I gave my stamp of approval with whatever he decided.) We were nervous about it being on the market for a long time again, but the outlook seemed better this time around.  Our renters asked to stay one more month so they could find another place to move and we obliged.  Jeff did a ton of organizing and planning long distance with our property manager/Realtor. I give Jeff all the credit for getting the house sold! He did so much work and planning to get everything in place. We decided to replace the AC unit and we hired some friends in our old ward to do some minor touch-ups.  We were lucky that the house was left very clean and didn't need to be repainted or carpeted. Everything came together very quickly, and on September 11th, the house was on the market! We braced ourselves for what was to come...

And then, we got a phone call that afternoon.  We had 2 great offers that very same day! First day on the market! WOW! Because they knew they were competing with each other, they bid up over our asking price.  They were both great, but in consultation with our Realtor we were able to choose one and move forward.  We couldn't believe we were under contract same day! What a miracle! The market was ready for our home. :) 

Inspections happened, and everything went along smoothly.  We didn't have to do any additional things to the home, and the financing went through smooth.  A mobile notary came to our condo and we signed a huge stack of papers to be sent off...and that was that! On October 3rd, we were officially done with home ownership in Texas. It was kind of bittersweet as we finally closed that chapter of our lives and ties to that place we called home. But we are thrilled with how easy it went the 2nd time around and count our blessings whenever we think of it! 

When I told my friends that we sold our home, their immediate response was, "ok, now you are going to buy a home here, right?" Well, the answer to that is maybe. We live in a very pricey area near Seattle where Jeff works.  We continue to look almost weekly at homes for rent or to buy in the surrounding area in the hopes we can get a good deal like where we are living now.  We have extended our lease here 4-6 months so we can continue to save and be ready to jump when something works.  We love where we are living now, but just need a little more room for these rambunctious kiddos. 

We have always been blessed to find great places to live...even when it has been last minute, or the way hasn't been so smooth, it has worked out wonderfully in the end.  We found this cheap condo the day before we had to move out of our last apartment. It's always been a jump in the dark, but I can have faith that it will work out again for us in the coming months.