Thursday, August 15

The Reason for our Crazy Summer

We bought a house!

Tyson was talking to a patient about wanting to buy a house. 
That patient happened to be a mortgage broker.
We had heard that we couldn't by a house without owning the business for 2 years.
We were discouraged because we have rented for 11 years! 11. That is a long time to live by someone elses rules. 
This patient of Tyson's said she could work with us.
Her underwriters were great.
It would work.

LONGEST STORY EVER...

It didn't work.
We were so bummed.
Two weeks before closing it came back to the 2 years of owning the business. 
They just wouldn't let us. It wouldn't pass the Frannie Mae/ Freddie Mac guidelines. 
We didn't fit into their box.
Other people fit into the box that have tons of consumer debt, and no money down... but a couple who is smart with their money and had 20% down didn't fit into their box because of one small problem...
It still sounds messed up to me...

Well, in the end this mortgage broker took our 5 inch file to a small bank in town who do not have to answer to Frannie Mae or Freddie Mac, and got us loan.

It was such a crazy time because we had to be out of our rental on June 30th.
He was nice enough to let us extend until the 7th, however we didn't even know if we had the house until the 12th when we closed, and we didn't get to move in until the 17th when the other party had signed, and the sale had been recorded with the state.

So 10 days of homelessness is no fun, but very doable with fabulous friends who fed us, let us stay at their house a couple nights, a great hotel with a fabulous pool for a couple nights, and some friends who just happened to be going on vacation for a week and we got to squat in their house. 

Anyways, we LOVE our house.
Both Tyson and I love it equally. I didn't have to talk Tyson into the house or vis versa. 
It was a mutual falling in love.

This is Tyson's favorite floor.

The daylight basement. 
We like this floor because it will grow with our family. 
Right now it is full of balls. All sizes, and the kids just run around like crazies.
In a couple of years it will be a game room with arcade games and a pingpong table or a theater room.

My favorite floor is the main floor.
I had some things that were high priorities but not essential.
1. I wanted a view. 
If I have to live in Oregon I want to see the beauty of it. :)
2. I wanted an open floor plan.
I wanted to be able to be in the kitchen but watch my kids play in the other room.
3.  I wanted a white kitchen.
Oregon is so gloomy in the winter. I want my house to be the opposite of that. I want light and airy. Bright and happy.

This house had 2 of those three things. 
And the one it didn't have, the white kitchen, was easy to fix.

When we walked into the house with the realtor and saw Mt. St. Helens from the huge windows that wall the back of the house, I was smitten.
The open floor plan is to die for. I really couldn't ask for anything more open.

And the kitchen is dreamy. HUGE. Roomy and would be great in white. 

We call it home.
How exciting is that?

We will be adding our personal touches, but after 10 days of homelessness, painting of walls will have to wait. We just wanted to get our stuff in.


2 love notes:

Sally said...

When we wanted to buy a house 4 years ago we couldn't get a loan because we had been living out of the country for so long and had not paid on any loans or owned credit cards for almost a decade. We had no credit scores which turns out to be worse than having a bad one. So even though we had lots of savings and a steady income no one would touch us. Except for Washington Federal who was able to work with us because they do not sell their loans so they can make their own decisions. Sometimes the little guy is the best.

I also love white kitchens. I love that you had the guts to do what you wanted. It looks awesome!

Shari said...

Oh! A new house! How lovely and exciting! I love your kitchen and I can't wait to see more pictures of the inside. The view sounds amazing and your future game room sounds wonderful. Congratulations!