Wanna come along?

We're on a real estate roller coaster and I thought it would be good to have company as we go along for the next few weeks.

We've found a foreclosed home that is in marvelous condition and is very big (3200 SF, 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms). It is only three years old. Apparently, someone had an interest only, or balloon payment loans and lost the house. It is an absolute steal because when we moved here, it was more than twice the current (very reasonable) price. We can't even get a 2 bedroom condo in our town for the same price! Here are some pictures:

As you come in the front door, onto the Travertine ceramic tile entry, there is the staircase to the right and the den directly in front of you. To the left of the entry is a living room with fireplace and about 15 feet ceiling. To the left of the den is a full bathroom and guestroom. The kitchen is to the right of the den. Unfortunately, the previous owner had no color sense. The walls are chartreuse, even though they look a bit more tame than that in this picture. Absolutely shocking. "Bilious," as my father would say.

Here is part of the kitchen. There are Travertine ceramic tiles on the floor and granite countertops. There are also enough cupboards here to make me weep with joy! The door to the pantry is standing ajar, which means there is space for all my china, all my catering dishes, Mother's dishes, and all my appliances (unlike our current rental, which requires me to almost stand on my head to get my Tupperware out of the back of a teeney little cupboard). There is a breakfast nook in front of the windows and also a full, formal dining room back around the corner. Incidentally, there are very odd filmy curtains hanging over the windows that don't have wooden blinds over them. It will all have to go.

Here is the backyard. I would be happy to have something bigger, but we can't have everything we wish for. If you click on this picture and look at the larger version of it, you can see some of the mountains a bit better. You can see Mt. San Bernardino (very pointy and tall) from the upstairs master bedroom window (which is hidden behind the neighbor's house).

We did a home visit marathon on Friday--9 properties-- (and a marathon the week before that), and ended up with two houses we really liked. One had an outdoor entrance to an office type of space. I thought it would be perfect for a home office. And the view from the upstairs bathroom and bedroom was gorgeous--the mountains full on. I was ready to write a check out for earnest money right away but we came home to sleep on it. I hardly slept, actually. We prayed and prayed, and Sam went off to sleep within 15 seconds of saying goodnight. I kept thinking that I just didn't like the kitchen (of the house with the view) because it had kind of odd black granite tiles in the kitchen, and that front office space bothered me. You can only enter it from outside or through the garage. Sam really didn't like it because something seems unsafe about it. Someone could either accost me in there and he wouldn't be able to hear me, or else someone could break into the house through it, go into the garage and come into the house. He has a point. And the office is really wasted space.

The more I tossed and turned, the more I kept thinking about all the prayers I've offered up in which I've asked for a large home to have students over once a month for soup, sandwiches, and fellowship. Sam and I can hardly fit into our current house, so a large house has been prayed for repeatedly.

I realized, in the wee hours, that when I looked in this house, I never really looked. I was jarred by the items the former owner had left behind (typical of foreclosed homes), and pleased that the house was in such excellent condition: clean carpet, clean kitchen; clean stove, dishwasher, and microwave all present and matching. It seemed dark inside and the color scheme made me ill. The master bedroom is painted a pale blue that looks like a surgical suite. There is a black and dark brown marble tiled bathroom floor, which is shocking against the blue walls. Then there are these heavy wooden blinds against the chartreuse walls and oddball items left all over.

It will need a good carpet cleaning, all new blinds, paint, and some minor landscaping cleanup.

We heard a sermon this morning about how we cannot serve God and money, or possessions. The key word, the pastor emphasized, is serve. We own things in order to serve. We save money to enable us to serve. There is nothing wrong with having things--as we keep in view our mission on earth: to serve. I kept thinking how I've prayed to have a place to bring students, a comfortable home for the girls, space for Mother if she should want to spend some time with us, room for a grand piano if I am ever fortunate to own one, and a spare room or two for cancer patients who come out here for our specialized treatment regimen. That would be wonderful to be able to share such a home in this way.

Tomorrow morning we are going to go over first thing, throw open all the blinds and windows so we can see it by daylight. If we like it, we will put a bid on it probably on Tuesday.

I don't know what will happen but I'll keep you posted.

YIPEEEEE!!!