We Bought a House

Less than one week from when we sold our house, we have bought a house. It was kind of a quick, winding trip from when we sold our house till when we put in our offer on Monday night.

Last weekend, we looked at 5 different houses either in North Liberty or just outside of town. The first was this massive, remodeled farmhouse out in the country. Lots and lots of room, and I mean lots. The remodeling was very well done and there was a big yard. However, the basement looked like the one in the closing scenes of "Silence of the Lambs," except that one was better lit. My dad even said it was creepy. I just couldn't get past that. I'd eventually have to go down there to refill the water softener, and at that point the dead bodies would rise because I swore I saw an area where seances were once held.

The next house we looked at was across the street. This one had a brand new kitchen added on that was wonderful. It also had a great back yard with lots of space for the kids. But overall, the house was too small.

We looked at a new house in a subdivision with two floors and a basement, but hated it instantly. Even the realtor said it was a bad house. So we were in and out pretty quick.

We looked at another house in this same subdivision and it was incredible. Brand new ranch style with 3 bedrooms and a massive basement. Nice deck on the back with a great back yard. A true dream house.

Last in line was a Victorian style house in town. A charming little abode, but no central air, so forget it. It utilized an old boiler system, so to install central air would be very expensive. This will be a nice house for someone, but not us.

So, we were pretty much sold on the ranch house. But there was a problem . . .the price. Yeah, we could technically afford it (and the banks certainly said we could afford it). But it seemed like too much of a stretch. But we decided to pursue it anyway. Well, no, maybe not. Lots of prayer went in to this one and we decided that we simply probably could swing it. Well, no, we can't. Back and forth it went.

At the heart of all this was a sort of indulgence factor. We just didn't feel right jumping up to this level of a house. Our church has something to do with it also. Had we still been attending upper class Trinity Evangelical Free Church, this would have fit right in. But attending a blue collar church in the city, it just didn't feel right. We weren't being all self-righteous here or meaning to denigrate those with nice houses, but we just couldn't do it. Part of the reason we sold our house was to get rid of some debt we had incurred very stupidly (with emphasis on the "stupidly"). Upgrading to such a house, while technically within our means, didn't seem like the right thing to do.

So, we decided to take a second look at the house across the street from the farmhouse, the one that was too small. Amazing how second looks can go. Yes, it's not huge, but we absolutely loved it. It will serve us just fine.

But the big selling point is the back yard. There's a detached two car garage with pavement going all the way to back to another 3 stall building that the current owner used for tinkering. So, the kids can ride their bikes and scooters on pavement without having to be on the street (and without us having to watch them all the time). It is also very quiet. We were beginning to get very annoyed at two sets of kids from the neighborhood wanting to come over and play. They were kids that were not watched very well by their parents and we didn't want to become surrogate parents. Also, they were not the best influence and even Anna didn't like playing with them (and she is as social as you can get). What I went back to was how much Stu and Joyce's kids loved growing up in their house in the Ohio countryside. They had tons of space for outdoor activities, and that's what we wanted for our kids also.

So, we put in an offer on Monday night and are now waiting for the financing and inspection stages to run their course. It's a major change in style for us. A couple years ago, had you asked us if we wanted to move to the country, we'd say NO WAY. But both our kids love the outside, and this place just accommodates that in a big way. We'll no longer have to sit outside with them to watch them in the street and such. Just open the door and let them go.