My home, our first home we purchased, went on the market on Feb 5, 2013. We had multiple showings on the first day and by the end of the day, we had 2 offers. By the evening of Feb 6, we were under contract above list price. Since having my real estate license, I knew the buyer has 101 ways to get out of a contract, but the seller has almost none. The contract is built to protect the buyer. The night I came home after we were under contract, I knew the house was not mine anymore. While I had another month to live there, I had no recourse to change my mind.
I was on my knees saying my evening prayers in tears. I plead with my Heavenly Father to help me find a home in Fruita (Grand Junction) I loved just as much. I told him I knew it seemed materialistic, but I knew I needed a place to love over there to start our adventure off right. Some place we could call our home and I could make it our own. I plead for his help in giving me strength and peace in doing this. I had received the confirmation that moving there was right, but at times still struggled to follow that confirmation. I remembered something a friend once told me. She said "maybe someone is praying you there". Maybe a family out there needed our influence or help that we could give. We could be an answer to a prayer. It hit me pretty strong and seemed like "Yes! That could be it! I need to find why we are going out there!"
The next morning, our home was in my email inbox. It was in the same neighborhood as the one I had originally loved and it was the same exact floor plan with only a couple minor differences. I called Dan that morning and told him to tell the realtor out there to make an appointment to go see it. I was literally going to Grand Junction that day for the weekend to start looking a homes.
I drove out there that day, and got to the hotel. We were meeting our realtor the next morning. When we met with her, she said that the house we sent her was a short sale. The current tenants living in the home were out of town and the realtor didnt have a key to the home yet. We couldn't go see it. I was so bummed, but was so sure we needed to see it. She took us to several homes, one being the home directly behind us. I remember liking the floor plan, but was secretly using the views in that home, to look into "our" home behind it. I told Dan, I really need to see that house. We both agreed.
On Sunday we decided to go to the ward that that home was in. Fruita 3rd ward. I met one of my first friends that day. Nattalie White. She had only moved there from Utah, also leaving all her family just 2 months prior. She had a little girl Brooke's age and a boy Wendy's age. She was so nice and her kids were so sweet and friendly, urging my kids to go with them to Primary. She later invited us for dinner too, but we had already accepted dinner at another new friends home, Heather Healy. Heather was a single mom with 2 boys just older than Brooke. She was so sweet and friendly too. Her boys were so fun for Brooke and Tanner to play with that night rather than hanging out in our hotel room and eating fast food. Anyways, at church, we had the Bishop and EQ President come up to us and introduce themselves. It became very apparent that move-ins were not as common as they were in our current Denver ward. They were all so welcoming and said they would pray that we get a house in their ward! (BINGO!!!) They said to stay in contact and they would be happy to help us in any way they could.
After church, Dan and I decided to drive by the home again. When we did, we noticed there were cars in the driveway this time! I convinced Dan to go up to the door and knock on it to see if they would allow us to see the home. They were home and were so nice. After talking with them for a minute we discovered they actually had purchased the original home down the street I had liked. They were tired of waiting for the short sale to go through and moved on to something else. They were renting from the sellers during that process. Heidi was so sweet and also became one of my first friends there. She let us in with my 3 kids and showed us the home. Told us some tips and said she would contact the sellers. I LOVED the home. I was so excited. Plus, since our realtor never showed it to us or anything, we weren't obligated to give her a referral commission. My Dad and I handled the contract and making an offer. When we left, Dan looked at me and said "That's our home!". I knew it was too.
We made an offer on the home on Valentines Day officially and started yet another process of buying a short sale. In the mean time, the sellers told us they would be happy to rent the home to us for $1000/month until we closed. YAY! Dan moved in March 1 and lived there until we followed on the 15th! We eventually did close on the home on September 9, but more on that later.
When I returned to Denver, I had a renew confidence and energy what we were doing was right. The Lord totally helped me and led me through this difficult time. I felt so happy and blessed I was able to acknowledge Him DURING our difficult time, and not just after and looking back.
These are pictures of our home when it was listed:
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| 8151 Norfolk Way |
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| My kitchen |
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| The family room |
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| The living room |
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| other side of the living room |
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| Our master bedroom |
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| I was really going to miss this room. I loved the color I painted and our crown molding. |
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| Brookie's (the girls) room. Yes, I did the painting in here too. |
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| The back of the house. |
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| Our backyard. |
Living Room before and after
Half bath before and after
House before
House after
These are the MLS pictures from when the previous owners were selling it. We did a lot to this home. These pictures are on FB.
This home was so good to us. We drive by it occasionally when we go back to Denver. They did take down the swing set. But my "Welcome" on the front door is still there and so are all the window coverings I made. :)
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