We Bought a House

We bought a house! This has been a long time in the making. About 4 years ago, we looked at the prospect of buying in the Inland Empire. We even put an offer on a house. We didn't get it and we soon realized the drive was not feasible to Huntington Beach. Then the prospect of moving to Texas came. I flew out with Fred, looked at home and we ultimately decided that we didn't want to be so far away from all our families. Then nothing happened for a long while. We felt stuck. We couldn't afford a home in Mission Viejo and we also wanted to be closer to our families. We just didn't know where to look or where we could afford. 

Finally one night, when Fred and I were at dinner, we were talking about this very topic and we brought up the idea of Santa Clarita. I had been opposed to the idea since I could remember but more recently had been thinking about all the positives it could offer us. Fred decided to cry carefully talk to his boss about the idea and what that would mean for working in Huntington Beach. 

His boss was on board and said that Fred could move there with the promise of going to Huntington Beach once a week. This is doable. Could it actually work? After much prayer, budgeting and strategy, we decided to look for homes in Santa Clarita. 

We started with a realtor that was referred to us by Lindsey's MIL. We met with him once and knew he was the wrong person for the job. In fact, he was horrible at his job and far too young and inexperienced for us to place such trust in. We then ended up going with another realtor who was referred to us by my parents. We worked with her for about 3 weeks. We made offers on homes with her but didn't get any of them. It was a very hard process, passing on homes for another but regretting that AND not getting an accepted offer. Plus, I was doing all the work. She, too, was not a good agent. She was just horrible at her job and seemed far too lax.

We finally decided to go with a agent that we would find ourselves. I found John and Laura Coffey. I felt good about them and so we proceeded with them. We made an offer on a home that were members of the church in my parents ward and they countered. Their counter wasn't something we were pleased with and we already were so-so on the house so we walked away. We kept looking and looking...and...looking. We then finally made an offer on a house on Bennington Dr. The house didn't fit our exact needs but the location was great. We also felt a little desperate at this point and time was running out. Summer was more than half way over and we didn't know where the kids would go to school. It was an extremely stressful time and I often found myself crying in frustration. We were driving up to SCV every weekend and our parents were feeding us and watching our kids. Life was so hectic and stressful. 

So, we put the offer on Bennington and it was accepted. We put down a deposit and I kept feeling like it wasn't right. It wasn't what we should be doing. That evening, a house popped up that had everything on our wants and needs list. I heard the Spirit tell me, "You need to go see this house." I immediately called Fred. We were in escrow on a house and I didn't even know if we could get out of it or if we could get this new house! The next day we saw the house that all our wants and needs. I loved it. Fred loved it. We decided to back out of Bennington and try for this new house. 

We didn't get the house. I was devastated. We went from being in escrow to nothing. We started from square one again. I was so frustrated and just didn't understand why we didn't get the house if I felt inspired to go see it. We decided to open our search to older Valencia which feeds into Hart High School. Immediately homes started popping up. I found one that I liked but thought it might be a long shot because it was listed at $650K and that was our max budget limit. It had only been listed for 5 days and their already was one offer on it for full asking price of $650K. We knew it was a long shot but we thought, what do we have to lose? We decided to make an offer on it. After we left the house, the neighbor across the street came up to us and introduced herself and said they have 2 boys Asher and Caleb's age. They told us there we tons of kids around, they have block parties and the HOA has a swim team. It was exactly the kind of neighborhood we were looking for. It was a big factor for us which we wanted for the kids. The schools were in walking distance! So, we got all our documents in place, wrote a cover letter and sent it off. Then we went to take family pictures. 

While driving home to Mission Viejo at 10:30pm, our agent called us and told us we got the house. What? We got it? How? What? we saw it that afternoon, got it at 10:30pm and opened Escrow the very next day. It was nuts. Our agents told us that the current owners felt bad for us not being to have our kids in a home before school starting and we had already lost on multiple homes we offered on. They also said that the sellers were trying to buy a house and the agent they're buying from knew our agent and she was willing to help with that transaction. I believe this was all made possible with our agents, their connections and reputation in the business. 

We had a week overlap from leaving our rental to getting the keys which is why we had to live with my parents for a week. We packed up our stuff in storage, they kept it for a week and we unpacked it within a few days of getting the keys. 

These pictures were taken the day we got our keys. Fred carried me in like newlyweds do. The kids were so excited to finally be in a house and have so much more room!

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We've been in the home for about a month. We've had many family and friends over and hosted dinner a handful of times. We've learned a family in the ward live directly across the street and they have some kids who are around Ethan's age. The neighbor who introduced herself is Richelle and her husband is Taylor. They have 2 boys same ages as Asher and Caleb named Sharky and Ryder. Caleb and Asher are constantly playing with them. Ethan walks to school with the members across the street and so do Caleb and Asher. Everyone has been so warm and welcoming to us. We finally bought a sectional that took all day to find on Labor Day. 

Just a few days ago, our kitchen sink was backing up. Fred tried to fix it himself but nothing was working. So, we called a plumber. He came and snaked it and it got stuck. It came out clean which means that it was rubbing on cement or dirt which means there is a hole in the line and a blockage. Long story short, we could potentially be looking at repiping our whole house after not even living here a month. I was devastated. I cried for a good 2 hours yesterday, through the night and a little today. We had another plumber come out with the proper tools and he told us we're going to have to open up the walls to get a better look at the pipes to see whats the problem. So, for now, the joy of home owning as completely gone.

This has been such a draining process. We're so devastated that this is happening. But we're all healthy and here so we're counting our blessings. From starting to look at homes until now, it's all been stressful and scary. But I know it'll be worth it. It has to be worth it.

Welcome to home ownership.