The home saga continues...

Last night Becca and I drove around Grand Rapids again looking at home we found online that we liked, at least on paper. We came home a little discouraged because we really did not like any of them enough to walk through. We weren't sure what to do. I thought, well let's make an appointment at an apartment complex and move in that direction.

Well today at work Becca did more searching on the internet and we found 6 more homes to walk through. I am thankful because though there are advantages to being in an apartment, I think it's time for us to get a house. We'll see...

Here's a link to my #1 draft pick at this point.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone! I was at my in-laws today for lunch and I realised my family is in 3 states today. My mom is in Cleveland, Becca & I are here in Grand Rapids while my dad and sister are at my grandmother's in West Virginia. Yeah for free nights and weekends. I called my dad and sister earlier. I'll call mom later on when we are home.

I'm enjoying the opportunity to relax and enjoy Resurrection Sunday. We had an incredible service today at church. I am so excited to see the way the Lord brought the service together. I was concerned as I did not know what we were doing on Thursday but God brought things together.

I must include the picture below of my buddy Christopher. I took this picture when he was with me and his dad Jesse looking at a house.

Enjoy the rest of your Easter Sunday!

Good Friday

I was just reading Scott Pfitzinger's blog. Scott used to work at Cornerstone University where I went to university and worked for a period of time. Scott has since moved to Butler University in Indiana but has a very interesting blog.

Here is a link to his Good Friday entry. I agree with Scott's thoughts and I hope to remember more than just during Passion Week.

This is what Easter is all about

House update

DO INDEED BE A GOD!!!! Okay maybe that was a bit dramatic but I am super glad I can post from work again. For a while, the site where I go on Blogger was blocked. Can't imagine why :-D

Anything I need to give you all an update about the house. Thank you all for your many comments, prayers and support. After the inspection on Tuesday we did decide to remove our offer from the house (which actually just reminded me that I need to send the release of purchase agreement to my realtor...oh my what a morning it has been so far). At this point we are not sure if we want to rent for another year or keep looking. Either way we are taking the weekend off and will continue on Monday.

Thank you again for all your comments, prayers and encouragement. We appreciate it!

Pictures Of A Home...

I have finally posted pictures of a home we have been looking at. Inspections are happening today and we plan to close (baring delays) on April 15th. Check out the link to the right or click here. Please let us know what you think.

Homes

We looked at 5 homes today with our realtor. Actually, we only looked at 4 because we were not able to get into the home. I think the Lord shut the door to us on this home :)

I am learning that I need to have the mindset that we need to do somethings to the home we buy in order to get the price we need. This is difficult for me because I'd prefer to just move in, but I'm learning that us doing some improvements is not a bad thing. If a home needs some work, this gives us an opportunity to make it our own. The projects we would need to do are not that complicated. We are not talking about demolition and re-building from the studs. All of the walls would need to be painted. The hard wood floors need to be sanded and re-finished (the whole home is hard wood floors). The more I think about this home the more it is growing on me.

I would be curious to get your thoughts on projects like these.

Have a great weekend!

Mortgages

We had a very refreshing meeting today with a home mortgage broker. She is a co-worker of a friend of mine. Over the weekend I realized I wanted to try and find another mortgage broker. The broker we have been using is a good guy and knows mortgages, however I have become less and less comfortable with him. I think buying a home is a significant purchase and therefore the parties on your team need to be on your team and they need to be people you are comfortable working with. The lady we spoke with today immediately put us at ease and communicated (in a calm manner) that she really knew mortgages. She communicated complicated mortgage language in a manner that we understood and felt comfortable with. We will be meeting with another mortgage broker tomorrow after which I hope we will be able to choose a broker and get pre-approved.

I am looking to us buying a home and for the process of buying a home to be over.

House hunting

Wow! Two posts in one week. I am posting more efficiently for a change.

House hunting is draining, I don't care what anyone says. On Thursday we looked at 5 homes in Grand Rapids. We fell in love with one home and put an offer for it on Friday morning. A couple of hours later we withdrew this offer because we were not 100% comfortable with the home. There is an expression "God protects fools and Irishmen." I am not saying we are fools, but I am saying God was protecting us. We found out in the end the home was re-done by a non-profit organisation to be sold to low income families. We could not have purchased this home anyway.

So...last night we drove by 24 different homes in Grand Rapids. We narrowed down this list to 8 homes we want to see. My theory is, if we want to move into a home on 28 May when our current lease is up then we need to get going. Hopefully I will have some pictures to share with everyone next week when we have looked at these 8 homes. We'll see.

New book...finally

I finally finished Light Force by Brother Andrew. I started reading that book in October. I guess I am becoming a slow reader. Last night I started a book called His Needs, Her Needs. I think this is the kind of book all married people should read. It teaches you about the needs of your spouse which is something good for me to read, especially during the early days of married life.

Outside of reading material life is busy with Thailand trip preparations and looking for a house. We are looking at 5 houses tomorrow night with our realtor. I hope to post pictures so you all can give us your thoughts.

Have a good night!