Housing Update

Well, it's been quite a while since I've been on here. I've logged on a few times, but gave up because I'm not sure what exactly to say. Biggest problem? I don't have any darn pictures to put up. Who wants to read a bunch of words without pictures? But I got a gentle reminder tonight from a dear friend in Chicago, asking me to update, so here we go!

About 10 days after we moved here, we came home to a notice of foreclosure taped to our front door. Yep, our landlord was not paying his mortgage, and the notice let us know the house would be going to auction in September and we'd be out 60 days later. Of course, our landlord was telling us that was an old notice and that the home was protected under his bankruptcy. Well, he wasn't about to start telling the truth then, so for the next 4 months we lived in total uncertainty. We kind of unpacked, never knowing if we would have to pack back up in 60 days to move to another rental. It made feeling settled here very difficult.

In order to understand our rights in all of this, we ended up hiring our own attorney. Jeff seemed to be in constant contact with our attorney, the bank attorney, and our landlord's attorney. Really, we were just trying to figure out if we had some rights to continue our lease if the house was sold. Finally, the auction of the home came on November 18th. Our attorney let us know that when it was sold, we would indeed have to be out in 60 days. Moving over the holidays...anyone jealous? Jeff went to the auction that morning, on the courthouse steps. (really, just like in the movies) Unexpectedly, the bank bought the house back at auction, and the bank rep turned to Jeff and said, "You may as well rent from us through the terms of your lease."

We were so thrilled to not be homeless! It had proved impossible to find another rental within our school and church boundaries, so we were truly thrilled to hear we wouldn't have to move! The very next day we had all the locks changed on the house and really felt settled for the first time since setting foot in WA.

We really thought we were doing the most responsible thing by renting. But, it has actually been a nightmare. So, we actively started looking for a home of our own. One we can pay the mortgage on every month, and not worry about being kicked out of!

Well, one thing's for sure, those basements of the Midwest and East Coast sure have spoiled us! Nothing here has basements, and it just kills me. I can't figure out where all the kid "stuff" is supposed to go. My kids spent so much time in our basement family room and I haven't been able to get used to them using our main family room so much. So, we were on the hunt for a house with a basement. Here, the only way to get that is to buy a house on a hill with a walk out basement. There haven't been too many of those to pick from, so we made a surprising (at least to me) choice...we've decided to build one!

This building thing is so new to us. We're excited about it, though. We are so happy to have a basement, once again. However, our lot is so steep, it'll feel like we live in a tree house. I don't think we'll barely have much of a back yard, however, we asked the kids if they wanted a basement or a backyard and basement won the vote. It sure hasn't rained much since we've lived here, however, we hear once it starts it doesn't quit. So, I think we'll get much more use out of a basement than a backyard, anyways.

I never thought I'd build a house. It's never even appealed to me. However, I think I'm excited about the process. The house should be done by June, which is the exact time our lease is up, so the timing should work out perfectly.

As far as what else has been happening for us? I'll save that for another post. Not because there's anything super exciting to report. Just because I have a feeling this post is long enough at this point.