Finally!

So this picture has nothing to do about my post, but I figured the picture was so cute that I had to post it! Anyway...A lot has happened in regards to our house hunting in the past 4 1/2 months that we've been down here. I know that seems like a long time to be looking for a house, but we definately have our reasons. So this is what happened. We got here at the end of August and started to get our bearings of where things were things located, how far out did we want to live from work/family, what was the going price for a home, etc etc. So at first we started looking at new construction in an area that would be 25-30 minutes from work and about 15-20 minutes from family. Well, the particular neighborhood we wanted was closing out their first phase and the lots they had left over were terrible. They weren't going to open up the next phase until the end of September so we decided we would wait. So we were looking continuously at new construction in other areas, other builders, other neighborhoods. Every Saturday we would drag Ethan out and go through model home after model home getting the whole schepiel about what they had to offer. Anyway...the end of September came and the lots opened up and they ended up raising their prices way above our budget and we hated the customer service from their rep so we decided to walk. Later that week we were staying at Ry's parents house while they were out of town and I saw a billboard for a neighborhood up the road. So we took a look in the neighborhood and really liked it a lot. The new homes going up were way too expensive but the preowned homes were a little more in our price range. I went home later and took a look on the internet and found one that I really liked, we met our realtor up there and took a look. The home ended up being a preforeclosure. For those of you who don't know what that is, it basically means that the bank was about to take the house away from the owners and they were giving them a chance to sell it before it went into foreclosure and the bank took it away. The realtor ran some comps and we decided that we liked the house, it needed some work, but we were willing to put in some sweat equity. So we put in our offer and then just sat and waited. Mind you this is the 2nd week in October now. Our realtor put in calls to the bank periodically and finally they responded and said that they looked through the offer and everything looked great. Well, usually when that happens that means they accept the offer so our realtor took the listing off the MLS and told us we had our house. I went out and bought my washer and dryer and fridge, started looking at carpet samples, paint samples, took our earnest money to the realtor, and we were so excited and I even posted a blog all about it. We didn't hear anything else from the bank for awhile but then come to find out...the guy really meant, "the offer looks like all the details are in order, I will be sending it in to the board within the next few weeks and it's up to them if they say yes." Banks are not very easy to work with and it basically depends on how someone is feeling that day. Many times the way things go aren't very logical, but they do things with certain protocols and don't really care if you love the house. Anyway...two weeks later...we got a no. I was devestated. We started from the drawing board all over again. So now it's Thanksgiving time and we're still looking and we decide to put an offer in on a 2 year old, never lived in home that was foreclosed because two investors went in on it and one didn't make the payments. The house was beautiful and it had everything I wanted. We put an offer in on that one, but learned not to expect much and kept looking elsewhere. Eventually they came back with a no as well (fyi, they just reduced their price...again...stupid bank...we gave them a great offer). Anyway...we finally found a home and are working with real people this time and they accepted our offer, our inspection went through, and things are looking good. I have had so many ups and downs with this whole housing thing that I can't even begin to think it's ours until our names are signed at closing. Our closing date is Feb. 15th so wish us luck! The home is beautiful, I'll post pictures of it once we get in. Sorry for the long post, but I've been through the ringer with this house stuff and I want people to realize that we've been working really hard to find a home and it hasn't been easy. I think sometimes people think we're just living with my parents for fun or something or that we're just not looking hard enough or we're too picky. I get some of the strangest comments sometimes about it. So yes, we have found our house and hopefully on Feburary 15th we will be first time homeowners! Yeah us!