Thursday, November 10, 2011

Waiting on the moon

Last week we mentioned the Luna house that captivated us. Well, it wasn’t quite love at first sight. When we first walked in we decided she looked like an Italian restaurant with 6 laundry rooms. Erik thought the former owner-husband must have surprised his wife every few weeks by building another laundry room before she came home from work. We wondered if she appreciated his efforts.

But after further reflection and a second visit, we saw beneath her disguises. She has lots of space, some lovely brick floors, beamed ceilings, gorgeous fireplaces, and best of all, the most perfect layout. She also has countless roof leaks, mostly bare concrete floors, a man-eating jungle of an overgrown yard, and is pining for updates galore. But we love the license that leaves for us to restore her with our own creative vision and functional preferences. Erik, ever the wonderful husband, would love to fix her up himself to build a ‘dream house’ for me. And we think she’d be an ideal place to host friends and family as well as church and community gatherings.

So about a month ago, we were thrilled to sign a contract with the seller! I started trolling Craig’s List for rugs, windows, and appliances in earnest. Erik zeroed in on the best roof replacement options. Luke became excited about moving to the ‘giant house’ where there’d even be room for a train table!  Yesterday, however, the contract derailed. We had to terminate because it couldn’t close due to a lien on the property. So now we’re submitting a short sale offer to the bank and settling in to wait. We’ve heard that at times the bank replies in two weeks and in other cases two years go by without a response.

We have prayed, hand-wringed, and discussed this house through and through. We are thankful that the process is in God’s hands now and that He can have our low offer treated as He wishes by the bank. And we’re so grateful for the cozy and memory-filled home we have here right now. We’ll keep you in the Luna loop!

2 comments :

  1. ooh, that's big news . . . and more to come?

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  2. i do need to update this, stephen! the seller didn't think our short-sale offer was high enough so he rejected it without countering and without passing it on to the bank. that is unusual because in an estate short sale the price wouldn't mean more/less for him since he wasn't getting any money from it anyway. so now we're contemplating offering higher on luna, or considering other properties, or just waiting to see what else comes on the market next year. it's hard to pass up luna though since we're so attached to her! and we're afraid the winter snows will bring major damage due to her failing roof so we think asap is best if we want her. we'll see!

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