The Burtons Buy a House
July 2016 Tim and I head back to the bank with our checked off to-do list to show, our banker was impressed and gave us the good news, we were approved! Not even out of the parking lot of the bank we were on the phone with the realtor.
Within a week we had found our dream home, it was crazy we'd only seen a handful of houses but when we walked through our house we just knew this was it! I remember as we walked through each room and loved it more and more I felt butterflies wondering if we were walking through the home we would raise our family in.
The next morning we signed a contract and began praying they would choose us, knowing it was likely we were not the only ones to love this home. The next 3 days I was an anxious mess, attending a homeschool training for a new co-op we'd joined I struggled to pay attention waiting for my phone to ring. We learned there was another offer and our realtor suggested some changes to make our offer more appealing.
Finally after 3 excruciating days we got the call, they accepted our offer! We thought the hard part was over, but apparently it had only begun. Over the next few days we submitted our earnest money, approval for inspections and appraisal and cringed at the cost.
The following week I get a call from Tim... our world stopped spinning when he said, "they fired me." Of course my first thought was, we're going to lose the house.. but I knew how much this must be crushing Tim and did my best to offer comfort. I assured him we'd figure things out with the house but wasn't really sure we would. We've been through unemployment before, we were angry, sad, angry again, freaked out a little. But after all that God has brought us through, I knew He would do it again.
Tim immediately started seeking new employment and within 24 hours heard back from the company on the top of his list for an interview. I could go through all the details of how wonderful this company is but that would be a whole new blog, ETS has been nothing but amazing to the Burton family. Tim was hired and set to work the following week, the pay was slightly less than we were used to but it was a flat salary, no more fluctuating nonsense. Company paid health insurance, always home by the weekend, 12 days paid time off per year, Christian leadership, they even gave Tim the week off (paid) when our home was broken into right before Christmas. These are only the highlights!
We thought we were back in business until the lender called with some bad news. The difference in Tim's pay disqualified us from our loan and we had 2 weeks to pay off $1300 of debt. On top of this the new job paid monthly, which for us meant 6 weeks between paychecks.. Additionally they did not offer a company credit card for expenses like food, hotel, flights and rental cars. So Tim had to ask his co-workers to cover his expenses because we didn't have any credit cards and couldn't open any with the house loan in progress. Don't forget we had agreed to $500 due diligence money also! Thankfully we already had that.
God did it again, friends and family sent money to help us, we sold everything we could and by the grace of God we pulled it off. In the end Tim's parents helped us out big time with some other details to make it all work. It was on my birthday that we paid off the debt, called the company to have them send proof to the bank, I don't think we did anything to celebrate but I didn't care, we were getting our dream house!
Meanwhile, due to the job change we were forced to push back our closing date so we could have 1 paystub to show. However, the same week Tim lost his job, our realtor encountered an unexpected family crisis and was MIA for a few weeks. We assumed someone had told the sellers about our situation and the new closing date but I did kind of wonder.. I happened to drive by our new house to steal a peek one day, which happened to be the day before our original closing date. I was surprised to see a huge uhaul out front, which likely meant they thought we were moving in that week. Oops! I texted our realtor immediately and it was true, somehow no one told them about the change in plans....
Mark, our lendor said our new closing date would likely be pushed 2 weeks out. With lots of begging, pleading and even more due diligence (donated by our realtor as an apology for her mistake) the buyers agreed to extend our contract to close 2 weeks later.
Over those next weeks we prayed, packed and I spent so much time printing paperwork, scanning and sending it back, collecting documents and sending them, praying some more!
We began to become concerned that our closing date would affect our vacation plans. Originally we had planned it for the beginning of September but our friends graciously agreed to push it looked like we might be closing that week. The planner/organizer in me desperately wanted to be in our new house before we went on vacation and not to host guests in an unpacked house. God always finds a way to stretch and grow me outside my comfort zone.
Our vacation plans had been set for months and months, we were so excited to do this with our friends for the first time. Matt and Tim had grown up together, more like brothers than friends, Sadie and I had only met the year before but made an immediate connection that felt like we'd always been friends! Our kids loved playing together, Matt's son Christian and my son Asher are a few years apart but connect just like Matt and Tim did all those years ago. We reserved a breathtaking cabin in the mountains of Blowing Rock, NC for 3 glorious nights. To be followed with a few nights in our new house, showing our friends around Raleigh for the first time.
Everyone worked as fast as they could but when it came down to it, part of the process was out of our hands and the type of loan we were doing required a certain period of time between steps. I'll never forget that sinking feeling when the emails came, we're not closing this week, we're not closing this week either. Finally it came down to the end of September when our lease was up, would we close in time to get out of our rental house? Would we close right in the middle of our vacation? Sadie was so sweet and reassured us we'd just roll with the punches, even if that meant we'd make the 3 hour drive home to sign papers and come back.
Not only were we hanging in the balance, so were my inlaws. Tim's parents had graciously offered to help us move, they thought they would move us and then attend their family reunion in VA which quickly turned to attending the reunion and then moving us. BUT then there were the days we were at the mountains, they had to stay in our completely packed house while we were gone and head home the day after we moved to make it home in time for work. We're so so grateful for their help and glad it worked out, especially since the friends who had offered to help us were unavailable the week we moved.
Another call came that we would have to bring $1,000 to closing to pay inspection costs, we were so devastated. We were expecting a month before our mortgage payment was due and after our last rent payment, we hoped to use that money to buy a washer and dryer for our new house. However, we thanked God again for providing that money. I called the inspection company and asked if I could mail a postdated check for payday (after settlement) to which they graciously agreed.
Finally we had a settlement date, just days before we were to leave for the mountains. We closed on our house September 29, 2016. The day we checked out of the cabin, God was so good to have orchestrated it so we could completely enjoy our time away! We packed the house, packed for vacation, enjoyed a meal in VA at the reunion to see the family and pick up the big kids (who stayed there with Tim's parents while we packed).
Monday morning we headed out to the cabin, stopping to sign more papers at the bank on the way! But we went with peace of mind that the date was set, we'd have help moving, the house was packed, and we had 3 days to relax and have fun before diving into the work of moving.
We were a little disappointed that our friends would end up having to help us move, also that instead of showing them around Raleigh we would be unpacking instead. However, God had performed a miracle getting us into this house, how could we complain?! God used Mark, Rhonda and Fiquet as His instruments in this.
Settlement Day! I don't think I've been that excited since our Wedding Day, we were nervous and exciting and anxious, could hardly believe the day was finally here! I hope I never forget that feeling. Tim and I woke up early and left the cabin before our friends were even awake, met with Tim's parents in Raleigh while we headed to the attorney's.
Mark promised he would be there, Fiquet was out of town and sent a co-worker in her stead. When we walked in, Mark wasn't there yet and we were obviously disappointed. This was as much his victory as ours. It was our turn to go in and he still wasn't there, the attorney asked about the $1k fee we owed and I informed him I had made arrangements with the company to pay it but the attorney said he needed proof it had already been paid. I panicked, for a few moments I thought we'd come this far to get turned away and inside I was freaking out. We thought, Mark can help us, let's call him. As the phone started ringing he walked into the room like our knight in shining armor. I'm pretty sure there was some sort of glow around him too. Very simply and matter of fact he had stated he had already worked that debt into our loan and we didn't need to pay it out of pocket after all. With those emotions swirling inside I nearly cried when he told us, I wanted to jump up and hug him. But we were in an attorney's office and considering I was about to buy a house that made me a grown up so I had to behave myself.
Signing the papers was as boring as it sounds, but then they passed us those keys across the table. The attorney congratulated us with little emotion and said his goodbyes. Mark stood up and gave us each a heartfelt hug, almost like 'we did it, it's over.' Our relief was apparent and as we walked out, Mark said he couldn't help but think of Romans 8:28 and how that applied to our story. My mouth fell open and I had no words, that was MY verse, the one that had come up throughout this entire journey, the one I clung to when I didn't think I could handle it anymore. The one that was on the mug my dear friend Jonelle gifted me for my birthday just a few weeks earlier.
"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."
All things did work together according to His purpose and we cannot take credit for what God did. It was a complete miracle that we made it to settlement day, every debt was settled and every problem taken care of. September 29th will never pass without us praising God for this miracle He did for us.
Comments
Post a Comment