Originally, the house listed for sale in the new development was one that was not even built. It was just a piece of land where a house would be by August. Therefore, when we went to check out the house, our landlord's mom (who works with her) took us through a house with a similar layout that was still under construction. Yesterday, though, my realtor called and said that the original house (the one yet to be built) had been sold, but there was another one that became available just then when the buyers fell through with buying it. This new house would be finished in May and wasn't even listed online yet. It was 100 sq ft. bigger than the previous house for only $2,000 more, still well within our price range. In addition, because there is so much competition for these houses, the previous house is going to go up $2000 to the price of the new house, while the new house is also going up $2000 higher. However, because we are getting to view this house as soon as it is available and before the price rises, we can get it for the cheaper price, essentially the same price that someone else will buy for the house that's 100 sq ft smaller. Ironically, when we went to check out the actual house we would be buying, it ended up being the same house that we previously toured that was under construction! This time, however, it was clear that we'd be moving into this particular house and not one that was similar to it.While we were there, we began to ask our realtor some questions about paying for closing costs and other fees. We were afraid that if we had to close the deal on this house by May, while still paying for rent and putting every penny we had on a down-payment, we'd end up not having the money for the final fees and costs which could add up to $2000-5000! We told our realtor that while we love this house, we wanted to make sure that we were making a wise decision and not getting into something we couldn't afford. To this, our realtor replied, "Well, why don't we pray about it?" I was thrilled with that suggestion and we gathered around, held hands, and prayed that God would give us direction and guide our steps. I was so overwhelmed with gratitude and peace that it brought tears to my eyes.So, following our prayer, we agreed to meet back up after I got off work in order to jump on this deal and write up an offer on the house. We agreed to pay the full asking price since these homes are in such high demand. We feared that anything lower would only get us denied and allow someone else to step in and get it first. Furthermore, we found out that all of our closing costs and fees will come out of the $20,000 down payment that we are putting on the house. There will be NOTHING out of pocket. In addition, because the lender that we met with connected with us at our first meeting, he said that he wanted to help us out because he liked us. So, there's a chance that our full costs would total just above $20,000 maybe equaling $20,250-$20,300. However, if this is the case, our lender has agreed to pay the extra money, the $250-$300 out of his own pocket!!! He is also ensuring that we will not pay more than $1000 a month for our total mortgage payments, including our property taxes, mortgage insurance, etc. There is no way, basically, that he will allow us to spend a penny more than what our budget allows, which is a huge blessing for us.So, tonight we meet with our lender and he will explain everything that we need to know about our loans and payments. We hope to hear a reply on our offer by Friday and will pay our Earnest Money, a type of deposit, on Monday, and if the building and paper-signing goes according to schedule, we should have the keys to our new house by May 19th at 5:00pm.
This is the neighborhood that is completely finished right next door to our block:
This is our neighborhood, the houses that have construction completed:
This is our house, still under construction:
This is the view from the front of our house:
And this is the playground really close to the house:
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