The One

This market has been taxing to deal with emotionally and I'm happy to report that we got a house and don't have to cope with the insanity any longer. We found "the one" even though it took us a few tries.

Since selling our house, we have offered on 4 places. (3 houses and 1 piece of land.) We actually offered on the first 2 houses the same weekend and unexpectedly got both houses. We never thought that would happen in this market. Then, we had to choose which house we wanted which was challenging. 

We ended up picking an Ivory home in Riverton instead of a rambler in South Jordan. I never imagined we would get a home that nice. From the moment we accepted the offer, I felt sick with worry. We were set to close the following week and our earnest money was due that day. After the inspection we learned that the deck needed to be replaced immediately (among other things), and we decided to walk away since the sellers weren't willing to work with us or lower the price at all. After having a bidding war, we were already $55k over the list price and money would have been tight. Andrew felt very confident that we would find something better. I was sad to walk away and may have shed a few tears, but I knew it was the right thing to do. (Side-note: I recently saw that this house was back on the market. Clearly, we dodged a bullet with the Ivory home. Looks like the other buyers backed out too.)

IVORY HOME

By this point, the other rambler we had offered on in South Jordan was already under contract. Coincidentally, those buyers fell through and we had another chance to offer on the rambler. It seemed meant to be! I had even played the owner of this house in ping-pong. I told him if I beat him, he had to give us the house. Well, I destroyed him. He even had his wife start recording us playing. He wanted us to pay $75k over his asking price which we were originally going to do. After our traumatizing experience with the Ivory Home in Riverton, we decided we wouldn't pay that much and gave a lower offer the second time around. The owner wouldn't consider it. Too bad because the ping-pong win getting me the house would have made a terrific story.

SOUTH JORDAN RAMBLER

After all of this, I was discouraged. We have to be out of our house by August 7 and there isn't much for sale that I like. I even started to wonder if moving was actually the right thing for us to do. It's a little late for that given the fact that we've already sold our house and are currently "renters."

A few weeks ago, a house was listed in South Jordan. I liked it, but the price was steep which is why I decided not to pursue it. Well, I've been watching houses like crazy and I kept noticing that the said house was still listed which is bizarre given the competition right now. Finally, the price was reduced. Even at that point, I was hesitant to see it. I didn't want to get in over our heads. I almost cancelled the showing multiple times. I didn't bother having Andrew come look at the house with me. I mean, how many times can he take work off to look at a house? My mom joined me to survey the house. The whole ride over, I was skeptical and said things like, "this is probably a waste of time." In my defense, the pictures posted online do not do the house justice. It was love at first sight.

"THE ONE"

I continuously said, "Oh no! Why did I come?" and "Dang, I really like this" while walking through. I was scared to deal with another hard experience only to walk away from the house. I definitely had some PTSD and trauma to work through. I had to think things through before diving back into the market. I told Andrew I wanted to buy the house and he was shocked. He came after work to walk through it with me. The realtor said she's never seen Andrew so excited before. That says a lot since we've been looking at houses with her for 2 years (not kidding). Andrew was giddy and I couldn't keep up with him as he toured the house. About 5 minutes after we got there, he was playing with the intercom system. I was slightly irritated and finally said something like, "Well, do you even like the house? You're playing with the intercom system." He gave an absolute YES which kind of surprised me.

We didn't offer full price on this one and we got it! What a night and day different experience from the last couple of homes. "The one" did have other bids and the realtor could have asked them to go higher, but he didn't. I think Heavenly Father intervened and pulled some strings for us. I'm so thankful that the house was overpriced at first, so that it wasn't snatched up by someone else. 

After seeing "the one" together, Andrew and I got in the car and Andrew suddenly became serious. He stammered a little and said, "Jenna, there's something I have to tell you..." Full disclosure here, his tone made me nervous and I started jumping to the worst possible conclusions in my head... Did Andrew get in a  car accident? Get a ticket? Lose his job? Thank heavens, no. Andrew had a neat spiritual experience relating to the house.

Andrew said that when he was praying and thinking about whether or not we should back out of the Ivory  home, he felt very strongly that we should. I remember his confidence and I was shocked that Andrew felt so sure we'd find something better. Andrew proceeded to tell me that while he was praying about what to do, he saw an image in his mind of our future house. Apparently, as soon as he walked into "the one," it was the picture he'd seen while praying. The instant he saw the arches in the entryway, he knew it was the "better house" that we'd been praying for. It matched. No wonder he'd been so giddy during the home tour. This powerful experience gave me the chills and has helped me trust that this is the right place for us.

Things we LOVE:

• It's a RAMBLER. A dream come true for me.
• The floorplan. Wow! It's ideal. There's a Jack and Jill bathroom between the 2 kid bedrooms, there's a piano room, AND a den, as well as a formal dining room. 
• There is room to grow. The basement is unfinished, but has the potential to be amazing someday. Andrew and Chris were busy scheming the new movie theater room setup.
• It has a 3 car garage! We have so many kid bikes/strollers/outside toys. I can't wait to have more space for those and to stop scratching my car every time we get something out.
• The location! "The one" is in South Jordan. I can walk to my grandparent's house. It's a 3 minute drive from Jess and Chris' house and 8 minutes from my parents. 
• The address. I mean it has a pretty cute street name. I'm thrilled it's not a boring address with numbers only.
• The neighborhood is beautiful! We actually offered on a house 2 doors down from this one about a year ago. Clearly, we're supposed to be in this area.

This house is going to need some work, but it has good bones. During the inspection, it was discovered that water was leaking in the basement. Some broken sprinklers were fixed and additionally, someone will be working on fixing some foundation issues in the basement. There is a MASSIVE water feature in the backyard. We're having that removed stat. The water feature screams safety hazard for young kids and it is gross. The landscaping needs to be cleaned up. We are getting some new flooring too. I'm not a fan of the tile, but the worst part is the fact that some of the family room carpet backs up to the island in the kitchen which is a big no no. This weekend, we'll be painting the kitchen cupboards. It's so exciting and I can't wait to see it all come together.

With this home, things seem to just be falling into place. One example is that I was able to get James the last spot in the preschool nearby. What a relief! We close on the house tomorrow! We were able to offer a 9 day close. Even then, we're able to close a day early. Yippee! I'm eager to move in starting this weekend and am looking forward to scoping out the ward. Oh how quickly things have changed. We have a house and it's a good one!