For Sale (Part 5)

 

We had our Christmas card photoshoot scheduled for the Tuesday that the offers would be evaluated. When the photographer asked where we wanted to take pictures, I told her I wanted to head towards the house we had offered on, and Lord willing, take some pictures of our family in front of the house once we found out our offer was accepted.

Our whole week was like that. Psalm 81:10 says, "I am the LORD thy God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt; Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it." So, we actively took steps in faith that our offer would be accepted. We painted through every room of our house, cleaning, decluttering, and packing up boxes in our current home to get ready to put it on the market. We didn't look through the real estate apps to see if anything else interesting was up for sale. We sold the Camaro for extra cash towards the down payment. Matt tore up and replaced the deck (with help!) to get our backyard market ready.

Our mouths were open, ready for God to fill them. When my phone rang on Tuesday, I can honestly say there wasn't a piece of me that doubted. God was going to prove Himself bigger than cash offers and a bidding war. He was going to show Himself mighty to our family, our children, our realtor, friends, and the strangers who were invested in our journey online.

Our realtor summarized, "The cash offer sent in a month-old screenshot to prove funds. The sellers aren't comfortable with their offer...

I need to get you guys to pray for all of my houses! You've got it!"

God gave it to us: The direction to save for a down payment starting way back at the beginning of the year, the opportunity to offer on a home that was out of reach, and the winning bid when everyone was saying, "We don't have a shot."

It starts back before March, really. If God hadn't led us to pay off our first mortgage, and then worked out the timing in a way that only He could so we'd buy a cheap foreclosure January 2020 but then changed the market/scarcity/bidding wars so we'd get the maximum amount when we sold in summer 2020, and now our home is on the market for way more than we imagined we'd get a year and nine months later, we may have been able to take some credit; but, no, it was Him every step.

1st House: Bought for $109k . Sold for $179k.

2nd House: Bought for $191k. Selling for $300k.

Do you see how in 8 years, God took $109k and turned it into $300k, all while we got to live in and love on these houses?

So that $300k, plus the down payment God led us to save, will go towards the new house, and we will take on one last mortgage. Another part of the journey. A beautiful home to make ours and grow our babies in and host missionaries in and invite people into... Our forever home.

We have one full-price offer in, and rumor has it we're getting in a second offer today.

Someone on Instagram messaged me and said, "I'm not religious, but I told my husband, 'If this lady on Instagram gets this house, I'm gonna start praying!'"

Praise God for our mustard seed of faith and the mountains He moved to show Himself mighty!

Photography by Hannah Grace

For Sale (Part 4)

 

The other realtor had made a mistake. He had mixed up the houses he had on the market. There were two offers in on this home, but the home was not under contract. It never had been. The inspection scheduled for Friday was a different house. They were accepting offers. God had answered our prayers, and we had the chance to offer.

That day, we were out of state picking up materials for a building project our church is involved in. Matt had taken the day off, so we could drive as a family, load up this wood, and bring it back to the church. We were actively choosing to seek first God's kingdom, when he added this answer to prayer.

Here's a story I shared on Instagram when we found out:

Big faith. That's what God was giving us. That's the gift He was giving our girls. We believed, and He was helping our unbelief. We wrote up a full-price offer and asked for closing costs. We were on Cloud Nine.

They responded with, "Now that we have three offers, we're calling for Highest and Best. One of the offers is cash, and they're willing to come up to asking price. We'll give them til Tuesday to prove their funds (it was Friday)."

Our realtor explained the odds. To beat a cash offer, at this price point, we'd have to raise our offer by $75,000. I did the quick math. If we bought another house (that wasn't our forever home), and then moved again in 5-10 years, we'd be spending as much or more money total long term, so even though I could justify it logically, it was too much.

Matt was unmoved, "God has gotten us this far. We hold." We told them we'd cover closing costs, our realtor (and friend) gave up some of his commission to make our offer stronger, and we prayed until Tuesday.

During the waiting, God gave me the verses in Exodus 14:13-14: "And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will shew to you to day:... The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace."

While I was brushing Charlotte's hair that week, soft, blonde waves falling around her shoulders, she said to me, "Aren't you excited about the house, mom!? The kitchen is so big, we could feed a lot of people, and there's a lot of room for paper dolls, and I love the attic...!" I smiled at her and responded, "Yes! I love that house, Charlotte! But we aren't the only people who want it. Other people want to give them money for the house also." 

Charlotte thought for a moment, "Oh..."

And then with all the faith of a child she said, "But.. are they praying?"

For Sale (Part 3)

When I was 9 years old I had a shirt that said, "I can't be high maintenance, there's nothing to fix." Whether it's admirable or not, my personality has always leaned towards fancy things and strong opinions. It's something I have to keep prioritized, as I bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. It's not ungodly to have nice things (Job, Daniel, Joseph, Esther, the Proverbs 31 woman etc.), but the moment you make those things more important than faith in your God/obedience to His commands, you miss the mark.

When I lived in England for the semester, I had a fireplace in my bedroom. It gave off Pride and Prejudice or Downton Abbey vibes, both of which are ideal. This picture is a shot of the master bedroom in the house we toured that Monday. You can't see the two full baths, the walk-in closet, or the laundry room. It's the kind of room (on the first floor) that makes me stop and daydream about the life we could have lived here.

We walked from room to room that way, dropping the "love" word at every turn. The house was already under contract, but the walk-through confirmed for both Matt and I that it checked every box we'd ever had for our family. IN THIS POST  I wrote over eight years ago, I talked about how brick was ideal. How white houses with black shutters were ideal.

On one hand, the home wasn't updated recently, but on the other hand, it's the kind of home we wouldn't be able to afford if it were updated. Besides, if they had made updates (to the kitchen/bathrooms/flooring etc.), chances are I wouldn't love every decision, and I'd want to redo bits of it anyway to better match my taste. Our realtor also said that if you moved the house a quarter mile away to the next city, it would double the cost of house. The goodness of God piling up around us, putting the impossible within reach. But, still, under contract.

We began praying as a family that the house would fall out of contract, and we'd get the chance to offer on it. No ill will towards whoever had it under contract. Maybe they'd decide they didn't want to have to renovate a kitchen from the 80s, or they wanted to live on the water or something. As a couple, as a family, as individuals, out loud, and to ourselves, we prayed for the chance to offer on this home. From Monday to Friday, we prayed.

Our girls listened and watched and prayed along side us... I spoke about it publicly on Instagram. I wanted everyone to know that when we got the chance to offer on this house it wasn't just "we like it, and we can afford it" situation. God had to do it.

Matt was praying through the miracles in the Bible. Nothing is too hard for God. This was a small thing. Impossible for us to accomplish, but easy for God.

The home inspection on the house was scheduled for Friday. On Friday our realtor called us and said, "I'm about to blow your minds, guys. You're not going to believe this..." but the thing is, we did believe it. It was exactly what we'd been praying for.

For Sale (Part 2)

I drooled through the pictures when this house hit the market, and the next Family Night we had at my parents', we drove a little out of the way to drive through the neighborhood and pass it.

Matt said kind words with zero interest attached, and I didn't push it. It was a big jump from our current home and plan.

Six days later, I mentioned the house to my sister-in-law after church nursery, flipping through the listing photos.

We "oohed" and "ahhed" over the high ceilings and the fireplaces and that rounded staircase... It was all just for fun in my mind. How would I decorate each space? Where would I hang my favorite art pieces? 

At home, in bed, that Sunday night, Matthew turned to me and said, "Give me a tour of that house you were looking at." We looked at it together. An acre of land, a three car garage, the last move we'd ever want to make, and the opportunity to house hack (more to come on that)... Matt was dreaming with me, and actually considering this home!

Originally, when we were buying Mr. Coke's house, we planned to keep our current home to rent it out. This would put us at a mortgage around $300k. When I said to Matt, "If we sell our current home, we'd be in a similar financial situation, and we'd be in our forever home." Matt says that comparison was what helped him to see it as a viable option that made long-term financial sense.

It was Sunday night, and Matt said, "Let's go see it tomorrow!" I talked to our realtor, and he said it was still available. Monday morning we made sure we were prequalified, with the new house in mind, and told our realtor to set up the showing. He called in the afternoon to say, "Unfortunately, they accepted an offer this morning, but they said we can still walk through if we want..."

For Sale (Part 1)

I logged on to tell you about the wild path that God has led us on this year and how it has grown our faith.

Early this year, we began plans to build an addition on to our current home. We were going to add on to the master bedroom and also add a school room, specifically for homeschooling. It would be like a typical "second living room/den" but designed to hold bookshelves and house a couch and table for homeschooling. The master bedroom addition included several upgrades: a full bath (we didn't have an on-suite at our first apartment or house, and at our current house we have a half bath), a nursery attached (you may have noticed we tend to have a new baby every couple of years, and kids stay in cribs about that long), a walk-in closet, and a fireplace. God has given us the gift of babies and put the desire to homeschool our children in both of our hearts since childhood.

We drew out plans and called builders/contractors. They told us to start by getting our land surveyed, which we did. Next, to maximize the area where we were going to put the addition (and enjoy our yard more), we paid to have fourteen pine trees taken out. Later, our neighbors told us that was an answer to the prayer they had prayed when our house went up for sale in 2019. We planned to finish the addition (which Matt would largely do himself once we got past the foundation/frame) by September, to start the school year strong and be ready when the next baby came.

On a walk with a mama friend at the beginning of March, she mentioned a house in the neighborhood that was going up for sale later in the year. She was disappointed she couldn't wait that long to move, and I understood her interest! I'd always liked the exterior of that house. They do their landscaping well, and it has a set of dormers on the front (something I've always been attracted to). It's on the same block as my in-laws, and in our current neighborhood.

When I reached out to the owner, he confirmed. Yes, they were retiring this summer and moving out of state. Yes, they'd give us first dibs on the house. Yes, it had an extra living area downstairs (school room), a first floor master bath (no on-suite, but still it would nice to be separate from the kids), and an extra bedroom.

Our plans for the addition halted, and we began to save up money for a hefty down payment. We hadn't seen the inside or talked price, but we could prepare in that way while we waited!

Summer ended, and fall arrived. We found out we were expecting (a 4th girl!). The house on my in-law's street (let's call him Mr. Coke) got in touch. They were under contract for a house in Tennessee and things were moving forward. Still, not ready for us to tour or to offer us a price, but he wanted to keep us up to date. We started looking at loans, pre-qualifying and such. 

Then, Mr. Coke messaged once more to say his wife was having heart issues. The doctor said she shouldn't leave the area or have any stress in her life for the next six months. Understandably, now they weren't sure what their future held, which also affected our plans. With a baby due in February, we wondered about the plans God had set in motion. We had a down payment saved and the pre-qualification. 

Maybe God had another house for us?

We love the area we live in. We're less than ten minutes from both of our parents, we live central to the interstates in our area (Matt works all over Hampton Roads washing windows, so he heads all sorts of directions every day), we're closer to church than our last home was, and the city we live in has lower cost of housing than the neighboring city (which we live less than seven minutes from, and safety/crime is comparable). We had no interest/need to leave the area.

Then a house went up for sale within a half mile of our home...

A Final House Tour: 3921 Krick St.

Gah. Seven years of home.

When we first moved in, every single wall was brown paneling, and the downstairs was covered in carpet. There was a wall dividing the living room and kitchen, and a drop ceiling in the kitchen.

I've loved the character that came built into this first house mixed with the beauty of the exterior: white siding with black shutters.

The yard has an unexplained fertility. Everything we planted, with no experience to guide us, exploded: watermelons, tomatoes, broccoli, cucumbers, and fruit trees. On and on the list goes.

This home enjoyed quite the style evolution. I started with neon rugs and yellow couches (here's an around the house blog post from six years ago). Bringing home everything that felt "playful." I think in many ways it was my way of bringing childish things into our home when my heart was yearning for babies, but childless.

I carried Christian, Charlotte, Portia, and the first months of Felicity in this home, growing God given gifts.

We hosted Matthew's backyard birthday soup and fire pit parties year after year and welcomed friends and family for all sorts of events from Sunday lunches to bookclub.

This house has heard us cry and laugh, seen us at our unhealthiest and best, and then endured the months as we passionately pursued debt payoff to own it, free and clear.

Last week, covered in prayer, we put this home on the market and accepted a full-price offer on it. I'm ready. Ready to close this chapter and move (with our furniture) into our new home.

If you follow us on Instagram or my Facebook page stories you've seen that we're sanding the floors at our new house this week, and almost finished with that! At some point next week, we should be finished staining the floors and sealing them, and ready to begin the move from the camper to the house!!!

Four weeks from today, Miss Felicity is due to join us!

Portia's Nursery

Sheepskin Rug * Baby Carrier * Baby Quilt

Rocking Chair * Cotton Rope Baskets  * Baby Bouncer Seat

Diaper Pail * Wet Bag * Bamboo Diaper Inserts

Diaper Changing Table Topper * Brass Wall Sconce 

These last five weeks, we've slid into our new rhythm as a family. If there's one thing Portia does better than Charlotte did, it's sleep. God knew what this mama's body needed, and Portia consistently gives us six hours straight. Today she had a checkup, and her percentages pin her as tall and skinny! Chances are slim that that'll stick (she's not getting it from me, that's for sure), but may the odds be ever in your favor, babe!

I love a good peek into someone's life, so I thought I'd give you guys a quick tour of Portia's room. The wooden furniture is the same as it was for Charlotte (built by my Great-Grandfather, that crib has housed three generations on my side of the family). We got the rug second-hand (and gave it a good cleaning) and almost everything else is linked below a picture. We registered on Amazon and our friends and family gave Portia all the love! That wall sconce is on a dimmer, which is so nice for middle of the night changing and feeding when you need a little light, but don't want to be blinded. What's something you've loved for your babes? I want to hear your must-haves!

updated house tour: apartment eight

Here's an updated house tour. Our home as of January 28th. The latest house tour will always be available through the "house tour" tab on the top of the blog, but I'm also making it a post so that when we update the tour we don't lose the pictures forever, but instead can find them in the archives. Happy looking!

Welcome to our apartment! Last time I showed you around, this was the view from the front door.

It has since changed to this.

You still have a straight shot to everything. The doorway and the sliver of a "window" on the left lead to our kitchen, and there's a dining room where you can see the side profile of the chair against the far door. That door leads to our bedroom. That's the chair I reupholstered covered by a legit sheepskin rug I picked up in Scotland. The cork board I made is above the chair {it should be dropped a little now to center on that window}.

Last house tour was in December, so the right side of our living room had a Christmas tree taking up most of it, so this side of the room looks different... and a little empty {but reads way roomy in real life which is important when you're working with 500 square feet}.

Now that side looks like this.

The little basket by the door catches the mail and library books/movies that need returning. Other than that, the only difference now is the bookshelf {topped with our mice} that we moved over there {to get the chairs closer to the couch for less awkward seating}.

The left side has also changed quite a bit. Here it is a month ago.

And here it is today.

We've added the open shelving in the "window", the diy heart art, and the diy side table. I haven't made those throw pillows yet, but it's still in the plan. 

To finish off the living room, here are some details...

{No, updates for the kitchen yet, so I'm leaving the pictures} 

We don't have stainless steel appliances or granite countertops, but I love our kitchen. We probably won't change much about this side of the room, unless we get a new mirror. Oh, and that utensil holder in the corner is cracked... so we'll change that in the future.

I added this long shelf in the kitchen so that all the stuff it's holding wouldn't crowd up the counters. We keep our bills in that wooden tray so we remember to pay them. As a side note, we have cooked and eaten the pumpkins {they've been awesome for our cranberry pumpkin bread}

We scored those three mushroom cookie jars at a flea market for $8 total. That bookshelf next to the red cart is made from the drawers of Mrs. Nowak's childhood desk stacked on top of each other.

On to the dining room. The changes in here are pretty subtle, but I love this room more and more all the time. Here it is in December.

Here's the updated picture.

We've lost some of the clutter, which definitely helps. That's the desk I redid there in the back, but it's sporting our new office chair {not gonna lie. probably my favorite purchase}. Next to the desk is the giganormous mirror we added the frame to. In the reflection of the mirror, you can see our small "hallway" between the dining room and the bathroom {which hasn't changed}.

That's the pallet shelf we made. We keep the typewriter there for our guests to sign, and I love reading their notes. There's our owl umbrella holder {named Miss Elle}, but as you can see, she's missing her umbrella.

On to the bedroom! The only thing we've change in here is the chair in the corner, so those are the only pictures I updated. 

You walk in to the side of my dresser {and a rolled up rug that used to be in our Dining Room but would not lay flat without a non-slip-pad}. We have two large {unframed} mirrors on the wall with the window {free off craigslist} in need of some frames, a cedar hope chest{free} that desperately needs to be refinished, and a framed picture of the cavalier hotel {our second honeymoon spot} taken in the 1930s.

There's our full sized bed {we'd rather be snuggly then 5 feet apart} with our duvet cover. We keep an extra blanket on there when it's freezing cold outside. We added that window unit to keep us cool in the summer.

We wanted to add a reading/ sitting area, but I picked the wrong chair. Here's the before.

And here's the after.

I think it's a huge improvement. 

That is Matt's gooseswanduck Percy. Someday I hope he gets to live in a more prominent room of our house {like an entry way, to welcome guests} but for now, he keeps us company. I love having a full length mirror {like my Grammie used to have} and I hope that someday my children will pretend they can step through it into another world, just like I used to. My late great- grandfather made that side table {and we received it as a wedding gift}.

One last {updated} panoramic shot to finish the whole thing off. 

Well, now you've seen it. We'll continue to tweak it as we go, and I hope you keep up. :)