Growing Up

Andrew and I like to talk about how life will be "when we grow up." Amusingly, our kids have caught onto this silly phrase and often as, "Mom and Dad, when you grow up, can we..."! It totally cracks me up. One of the things we've always said we would do when we grew up was to buy a house. You know, our own house. Not leased, not rented. Ours. With the market the way it is here in Detroit, lots of people have lost their jobs... and then their homes. A lot of these people are families who want to rent homes, not just apartments, so the rental home market has become SUPER saturated and VERY much the sellers market. And the housing market has become over saturated with these great homes these unfortunate families have lost... creating the perfect storm for an amazing buyers market.

Andrew and I have always rented. Some of the places have been, er... less than ideal. Not our current home. We lucked into this rental home when we moved to Michigan for his medical rotations three years ago. Two of my dear friends, Melody and Erin, called to congratulate us for matching to medical rotations 3rd and 4th year at Henry Ford Wyandotte like their husbands had the year before on match day 2008. As luck would have it, they just so happened to be at my dear friend Anona's house for a playdate at the time, and when we put together that her family would be moving into their new (grown up) home just in time for us to move to Michigan, she was so awesome to offer us the awesome house that they were currently renting. That very day we were able to secure this sweet home for our family to live in through rotations and graduation. It was such a blessing. The rent is incredibly low, the landlords could not be more awesome (seriously, they have become surrogate grandparents to my children!) the location could not be more perfect, the fully fenced yard is a dream come true, and the ward we were in... simply the best. We are actually something like the fifth or sixth LDS/KCOM family that has lived here. The landlords are an older couple-- he grew up in this house and never wanted to give it away-- so they baby it. They are old fashioned and love "us kind of people" and are so confident in the type of LDS families that live here that they won't take a deposit or make us sign a lease-- much less charge rent that is even kind of close to what the place is worth. Awesome. BUT-- it's a bit on the small side. With three bedrooms (one is the converted attic) and only one tiny little bathroom, our family of six (soon to be seven) has simply outgrown the goodness of the house. Even more, Andrewa got an awesome residency position last year after graduating and starting an Emergency Medicine Residency at St. Mary Mercy Hospital in Livonia... which is about 45 minutes from where we live now. The 1 1/2-2 hour daily commute has taken a toll on my man and on our budget over the last year. There is no denying it. We need a new house. It needs to be closer to Andrew's work. BUT-- finding a sweet place to lease where the price is right like this one we've got here has proven impossible.

So. We. MUST. Grow. Up.

For the year we've been casually looking, now and then, at homes to buy. Several times the magnitude of actually owning a home has weighed too heavily on our juvenile minds and we've feverishly searched the lease/rental ads too. But nothing seemed to be panning out. Somehow though in the last week, miracle after miracle has occurred. First, our lender called us with a sweet deal on a doctor's mortgage that is too good to turn down. Next day, our agent found a home new on the market that will fit our needs to a T.

Really, the place is a dream come true. Not too big, not too small. Great yard, awesome garage, perfect location (less than a mile from Andrew's work, in one of Livonia's most sought after family neighborhoods). It's old enough to have character and charm, but has recently been completely refinished by an awesome company who refinished the original wood floors (they are so beautiful... they make me want to cry!) They also completely updated the electrical and plumbing systems, installed new energy efficient windows, furnace, and air conditioner systems, painted everything, added perfect light fixtures, and, to ice this beautiful cake-- they also gutted and completely refinished the kitchen and bathrooms to be charming and up to date with beautiful appliances and granite counters that make me want to cry.

What is the catch, you ask? Miraculously, there really isn't one. Yet. The price is RIGHT! Our mortgage with insurance and taxes will be several hundred dollars less that what we would have paid for a much smaller, yucky apartment or home anywhere near Andrew's hospital. It is well within our budget. We've got enough saved to close and get into the home-- and maybe even a little to buy something pretty to put inside it. We love everything about the home that has seemed to just fall into our laps.

But. We. MUST. Grow. Up.

And this is so hard to do for little Andrew and baby Ruth. The last couple of days we've been busy signing contracts, faxing documents, making good faith deposits, and NEGOTIATING. Ohhh.... Blehhh... negotiating. BOO. Those who know me best know that I HATE HATE HATE negotiating. I know how to debate. I know how to stand up for things. I do. But, I rarely have the fight in me to actually want something enough to disagree with someone over it. I'd rather just get along, you know?! So this whole process has been torture for me. Back and forth and back and forth and threats of walking and back and forth again. Oh! I'd honestly rather clean 1,000 toilets than go through this process. But-- I keep thinking that, if all goes right, with a little luck and a whole lot of divine goodness... This beautiful home could be OURS in as little as a month from now.

So.... there is nothing left to do. We gotta grow up. Now. Oh, and pray a lot. Because getting to own this home might just be, well, miraculous. It's that perfect.
Fingers crossed, right! Wish us luck. We're gonna need it.

Pictures to come as soon as we can. Be warned though. You might cry. It's that pretty. ;)