House hunting while fun and exciting is also exhausting and frustrating. As you know Matt and I put an offer on a home just a few days ago. In the last 1 1/2 days we've countered 3 times with the sellers of the house. I expected we would be involved in tug of war but man it seems to be never ending!
We officially signed off on our acceptance of the final counter at 9:41pm last night. Wendy, our dear realtor, was at Chili's with her hubby waiting for the other realtor to bring the acceptance papers for us to sign. Wendy had requested the papers be signed by 8pm but the other realtor found more important things to do like grocery shop, shower and grab a bite to eat. OK, I really don't know the other realtor at all, but really... why all the dawdling?
I'll tell you why. Because last night we learned that the other realtor is not only selling the house we want BUT she's also selling the "contingent" house from the original couple that put the first offer on the table!! So needless to say she has quite the commission on the line here. If we get the house her bank account won't be quite as enlarged. But alas, realtors are salesman and if I know anything about sales it's do whatever it takes to get the sale. I can't totally blame the other realtor for trying so hard to secure two home sales in one foul swoop... that's a very pretty penny!
Alright, so at least now we know why it's been such a struggle to negotiate with the sellers of the house we want. The good news is, it's finally out of ours hands. God knows who He wants the house to go to and we'll just patiently wait until April Fool's day at 9:41pm to find out whether or not the other buyers have removed their contingency. Ha, funny that it's April Fool's... even if we get the house I'll still wonder if it's real!
In the meantime, we're using our 48 hrs to make sure we're not missing out on THE perfect house for us. Wendy is continuing to search her database for new homes on the market or ones we may have missed. If she finds anything, we'll jet out to see it and if we find a house that suites our fancy more than the one we have an offer on we'll pull our offer- with the ok of the broker of course.
So there you have it... the search continues.
On another note... I have an interview today! It's with a staffing service who has openings in administrative positions. After I eat lunch I'll drive the 4 minutes to their office and spend an hour testing my computer skills. I even cut my nails this morning so I can make sure to wow them with my 90wpm. I am praying I find a M-F 9-5 position. The plan after that is to work part-time at one of the restaurants in town. It might be Granite City, it might not.
Thanks again for everyone who has been praying for the housing and the job situations. We truly appreciate it. Loves!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
One house... two offers!
So as you may have guessed from the title, Matt and I put our first offer on a house in Sioux Falls!!! After 2 1/2 days of some serious house hunting our realtor called me yesterday morning with a last minute addition. A beautiful house in a beautiful location! Matt and I met Wendy at the house. Her first comment to me was, "it's going to need some painting". haha... like I haven't painted a house before! :)
As we walked through the house we got more and more excited. There were a few things here and there that needed to be done but overall the house was a perfect fit. Built in 1999 the home had only seen one owner, always a nice perk. I won't go into too much detail about the house, although I'm sure you are all dying to know! :) I just don't want to get too ahead of ourselves.
Wendy talked to us about the location, which was ideal in her book. She owned a home just around the corner at one time! The school district is great, there are walking paths and parks near by, she even knows the next door neighbors! :) Wendy asked us what we thought and we both finally agreed on a house! Wendy teased Matt and me because up to this point one of us would always try to talk the other one out of the house... why? who knows! But this time we finally agreed this would make a great house for us... and our future babies, ha :)
Off to Wendy's office we went. She's been putting long hours in because of us! But we are very thankful to have found her. She's thorough, honest and extremely hard working. She helped us write up the offer and after about an hour we signed on the dotted line and that was that! :)
We are praying if this is the right house for us that the details would work out smoothly...
But there is a catch with this seemingly ideal situation. There is one house and TWO offers! Another couple has an offer but it's a contingent offer, meaning they need to sell their current home before they could actually purchase the house. Since we put in an offer, the other couple has 2 days to either retract the contingency or withdraw their offer.
It's all in the Lord's hands now!! We pray God's will be done. We would love to have this home but are fully trusting God to work out the details if it's meant to be! :) Ah, so exciting though!
We will keep you posted!!
As we walked through the house we got more and more excited. There were a few things here and there that needed to be done but overall the house was a perfect fit. Built in 1999 the home had only seen one owner, always a nice perk. I won't go into too much detail about the house, although I'm sure you are all dying to know! :) I just don't want to get too ahead of ourselves.
Wendy talked to us about the location, which was ideal in her book. She owned a home just around the corner at one time! The school district is great, there are walking paths and parks near by, she even knows the next door neighbors! :) Wendy asked us what we thought and we both finally agreed on a house! Wendy teased Matt and me because up to this point one of us would always try to talk the other one out of the house... why? who knows! But this time we finally agreed this would make a great house for us... and our future babies, ha :)
Off to Wendy's office we went. She's been putting long hours in because of us! But we are very thankful to have found her. She's thorough, honest and extremely hard working. She helped us write up the offer and after about an hour we signed on the dotted line and that was that! :)
We are praying if this is the right house for us that the details would work out smoothly...
But there is a catch with this seemingly ideal situation. There is one house and TWO offers! Another couple has an offer but it's a contingent offer, meaning they need to sell their current home before they could actually purchase the house. Since we put in an offer, the other couple has 2 days to either retract the contingency or withdraw their offer.
It's all in the Lord's hands now!! We pray God's will be done. We would love to have this home but are fully trusting God to work out the details if it's meant to be! :) Ah, so exciting though!
We will keep you posted!!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
A house hunting we shall go
So many details, so little time! House buying has proven to be a much more enjoyable experience the second time around.
Why you ask? Because we have what I would call "the perfect realtor"aka Wendy. She's fun and outgoing and very knowledgable and has owned "way too many houses in Sioux Falls".
I met Wendy at her office and since we've been talking almost daily since we found out about the move, it felt more like a reunion then a first time meeting. As we departed the office she offered me a down coat! It was chilly yesterday and she was concerned coming from TX I wouldn't be fully prepared. How thoughtful!
We toured Sioux Falls, the outskirts and the city of Brandon yesterday. We saw little houses, big houses, nice houses, not so nice houses but after 8 hours of house hunting we still did not find our house.
Matt and I are about to head out again today in hopes of finding "the perfect house"! We have agreed to take Wendy to Happy Hour today at 3pm if we can find a house before then! Ha. It was Matt's idea... surprise, surprise :)
We ask for prayers that we find a home. OK really, it doesn't need to be the perfect home, but a nice one in our price range would be wonderful!!! :)
It's hard to believe we're in Sioux Falls already. Oh how time flies.
I am also continuing my job search... wish me luck! Love and miss.
Why you ask? Because we have what I would call "the perfect realtor"aka Wendy. She's fun and outgoing and very knowledgable and has owned "way too many houses in Sioux Falls".
I met Wendy at her office and since we've been talking almost daily since we found out about the move, it felt more like a reunion then a first time meeting. As we departed the office she offered me a down coat! It was chilly yesterday and she was concerned coming from TX I wouldn't be fully prepared. How thoughtful!
We toured Sioux Falls, the outskirts and the city of Brandon yesterday. We saw little houses, big houses, nice houses, not so nice houses but after 8 hours of house hunting we still did not find our house.
Matt and I are about to head out again today in hopes of finding "the perfect house"! We have agreed to take Wendy to Happy Hour today at 3pm if we can find a house before then! Ha. It was Matt's idea... surprise, surprise :)
We ask for prayers that we find a home. OK really, it doesn't need to be the perfect home, but a nice one in our price range would be wonderful!!! :)
It's hard to believe we're in Sioux Falls already. Oh how time flies.
I am also continuing my job search... wish me luck! Love and miss.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Final Farwells... 3.20.09
I'm keeping this one short and sweet. Here are a few pictures for ya'll to enjoy of our final moments in San Antonio! We made some wonderful friends!!! We will miss you San Antone!!!
Saying goodbye to our San Antonio home!
Two of my favorite girls, Michelle and Tricia!
The gang!!! Shane, Amanda and baby Sallee!
Brady and Beth! Too bad I met Beth weeks before the move!
Norma, our amazing breeder and owner of our babies' mama!
Saying goodbye to our San Antonio home!
Two of my favorite girls, Michelle and Tricia!
The gang!!! Shane, Amanda and baby Sallee!
Brady and Beth! Too bad I met Beth weeks before the move!
Norma, our amazing breeder and owner of our babies' mama!
Road trips are so much fun...
if you have more than an inch of free space for your legs, can eat something other than fast food and can sleep without one or both feet falling asleep. Argh. But it's the hotel bed instead of the backseat and snuggling with puppies that make the trip tolerable.
(sorry this post is dated! I'm trying to play catch up!)
We had high hopes of getting on the road by late afternoon yesterday. But after many goodbyes at the house and a few along our way out of town, late afternoon turned into 8pm. We had hotel reservations at the pet friendly Sheraton-Arlington hotel and arrived around 1:30am. I was more than ready to crash... the boys, however, were ready to hot tub! Crazy boys.
The babies slept through the night, yay! This morning I took the girls on a walk while the boys hit up the gym! Post walk I gave the babies a bath in the hotel tub... one I didn't have to scrub!
It's now 6:10pm and we're in Kansas! My favorite part of the trip so far... Sasha the yorkipoo. Look at the picture below- can you tell which one isn't ours? We hardly could!
(sorry this post is dated! I'm trying to play catch up!)
Saturday, March 14, 2009
ready... set... move!
Is it that time already?! Goodness how time flies. I can't procrastinate any longer. Today I will deep wash the bathrooms, scrub the floors and get all of our things in order for our three day road trip to MN en route to Sioux Falls, SD!
Matt told me this morning the movers will be here in between 9am-10am tomorrow. They'll pack up our first home into a gazillion boxes and we'll be left with a big empty house... how strange. But before we know it we'll be house shopping with Wendy, our wonderful Sioux Falls realtor, for a new home!
Good news! We are happy to report we have finally found a place to stay in Sioux Falls! Matt's friend Annie has been a huge help. Her parent's house will be our temporary home while we look for our new house! We are hoping it will only take us a few days! Can you tell we like to do things FAST?
It's out of necessity, not choice because Matt starts work next week! He'll meet a new team of employees and start revamping the store! I recently applied for a position with Sanford Health Children's Hospital. Although I have a job secured with Granite City- the hospital job would be a much better fit. Please pray I hear back and get an opportunity to interview!!!
The plan for now is to leave San Antonio as soon as we finish cleaning on Friday. We'll drive 5 1/2 hours to Dallas and stay overnight. We'll hit the road again on Saturday and stay overnight in Kansas City. We expect to arrive in MN sometime late Sunday night. If you are around and can meet up with us on Monday- let us know! We'd love to see friends and family while we are in town even if it's only for a day! :)
We ask for prayers for safe travel, an easy move and a smooth transition! Goodbye San Antone, hello Sioux Falls!
Matt told me this morning the movers will be here in between 9am-10am tomorrow. They'll pack up our first home into a gazillion boxes and we'll be left with a big empty house... how strange. But before we know it we'll be house shopping with Wendy, our wonderful Sioux Falls realtor, for a new home!
Good news! We are happy to report we have finally found a place to stay in Sioux Falls! Matt's friend Annie has been a huge help. Her parent's house will be our temporary home while we look for our new house! We are hoping it will only take us a few days! Can you tell we like to do things FAST?
It's out of necessity, not choice because Matt starts work next week! He'll meet a new team of employees and start revamping the store! I recently applied for a position with Sanford Health Children's Hospital. Although I have a job secured with Granite City- the hospital job would be a much better fit. Please pray I hear back and get an opportunity to interview!!!
The plan for now is to leave San Antonio as soon as we finish cleaning on Friday. We'll drive 5 1/2 hours to Dallas and stay overnight. We'll hit the road again on Saturday and stay overnight in Kansas City. We expect to arrive in MN sometime late Sunday night. If you are around and can meet up with us on Monday- let us know! We'd love to see friends and family while we are in town even if it's only for a day! :)
We ask for prayers for safe travel, an easy move and a smooth transition! Goodbye San Antone, hello Sioux Falls!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Better late than never
For the first year we lived in our house I wasn't in love. We had two days to find our new home when we first moved to San Antonio. Don't get me wrong, we have a great house. It's big, new, freshly painted and in a very quiet part of town. But for so long it just didn't feel like home... until a few months ago when I thought, after all the work we've put into the house I am really starting to love it!
I pictured someday turning one of the rooms into a baby room and another into an office and another into a movie room. I brainstormed ideas for the spring and how we would landscape our barren yard. I thought of paint colors for the upstairs and had big plans to decorate a room with my friend Ashley's photo (the beautiful photo that's displayed behind our blog title) as the starting point. But mostly I thanked God for giving us such a beautiful home. I finally let go of my idea that this wasn't my ideal home and fell in love!
Isn't it funny how things change? My new love of a home will no longer be ours. But it's ok!! In addition to learning to love what I have, I've learned that a house doesn't have to be my ideal home. It's the people and the memories that go with the house that I care about!
As we prepare to leave our first home, we are content knowing it will be in good hands. Matt posted our home on Craigs List and within four days we found our renters! Last night we had Maria and Adolfo over for dinner... Adolfo commented, "it's too bad we didn't meet you guys earlier! Can we pay you to stay?" Maria and Adolfo are wonderful. They are very down to earth and quite humorous as a couple. Together they have five children. The kids will be in the house every other Saturday so for the most part it will be the two of them in the house, just like us :)
So in conclusion to this post, I'd like to share some photos of our house with you. These are the most recent pictures and hopefully will give you an idea of the paint colors and decor in our San Antonio home!
I pictured someday turning one of the rooms into a baby room and another into an office and another into a movie room. I brainstormed ideas for the spring and how we would landscape our barren yard. I thought of paint colors for the upstairs and had big plans to decorate a room with my friend Ashley's photo (the beautiful photo that's displayed behind our blog title) as the starting point. But mostly I thanked God for giving us such a beautiful home. I finally let go of my idea that this wasn't my ideal home and fell in love!
Isn't it funny how things change? My new love of a home will no longer be ours. But it's ok!! In addition to learning to love what I have, I've learned that a house doesn't have to be my ideal home. It's the people and the memories that go with the house that I care about!
As we prepare to leave our first home, we are content knowing it will be in good hands. Matt posted our home on Craigs List and within four days we found our renters! Last night we had Maria and Adolfo over for dinner... Adolfo commented, "it's too bad we didn't meet you guys earlier! Can we pay you to stay?" Maria and Adolfo are wonderful. They are very down to earth and quite humorous as a couple. Together they have five children. The kids will be in the house every other Saturday so for the most part it will be the two of them in the house, just like us :)
So in conclusion to this post, I'd like to share some photos of our house with you. These are the most recent pictures and hopefully will give you an idea of the paint colors and decor in our San Antonio home!
Monday, March 9, 2009
welcome!
First, let me welcome you to our blog! We are about to embark on another chapter in our lives and figured now would be as good a time as any to start a blog.
Allow me to recap the last two and a half weeks. Matt received a phone call. Matt interviewed for a position. Matt got the position and wallah! We're moving!
In a very short two weeks we'll be residents of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We didn't have plans to move but after Matt was offered a Verizon Sales Manager position in Sioux Falls, we couldn't resist! We will be four hours from our family and friends, aka you! Our little 4 month old puppies, Lola and Stella, are very excited. We've talked to them about the move and they seem to be responding well.
Although we will miss our life in TX, mostly our friends, we are excited to see what is ahead for us! We are also looking forward to DRIVING home :)
We hope you will join us and support us through this adventure! We feel truly blessed to have been given this opportunity. Love from TX... soon to be SD.
Allow me to recap the last two and a half weeks. Matt received a phone call. Matt interviewed for a position. Matt got the position and wallah! We're moving!
In a very short two weeks we'll be residents of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We didn't have plans to move but after Matt was offered a Verizon Sales Manager position in Sioux Falls, we couldn't resist! We will be four hours from our family and friends, aka you! Our little 4 month old puppies, Lola and Stella, are very excited. We've talked to them about the move and they seem to be responding well.
Although we will miss our life in TX, mostly our friends, we are excited to see what is ahead for us! We are also looking forward to DRIVING home :)
We hope you will join us and support us through this adventure! We feel truly blessed to have been given this opportunity. Love from TX... soon to be SD.
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