Thursday afternoon I picked Jill up at the airport. We went and visited Katie at work, and then went to the grocery store to buy ingredients for "Mennonite Enchiladas." (My nickname for my grandma and aunt's enchilada recipe that calls for cream of mushroom soup - a key ingredient in many mid-west Lutheran and Mennonite potluck casserole dishes.) As I started to prepare dinner I got a call from Leif Anderson, a local real estate agent who has also done business telephone systems in the area for some time. I have worked with Leif professionally in regards to the phone systems in a couple of the county buildings, and so when Katie and I started thinking about finding a house, he was the person I called. Back to the tale at hand - Leif called and told me that there was a house that they had just been contracted to sell that day, not even yet listed, which he thought we might be interested in. He gave me the address and I told him that we'd like to view it at 12:30 Friday afternoon. I put dinner prep on hold the minute we got off the phone, and Jill, Katie and I piled in the car to go take a look at the exterior. The house was in a good location, and though in need of paint, looked solid. We returned to the house, by way of White Drug, to visit my mom & pick up a prescription, and I finished preparing dinner. The meal was very nice, and everyone had a nice time. We ate too much and generally enjoyed ourselves.
Friday morning, Katie went to work, and Jill and myself went to visit the banker whom I started conversing about home loans with several weeks ago, just to find out what a loan would look like if we did like this house. I also inquired about the possibility of a USDA Rural Development home loan, and though initially unsure, she decided that the likelihood of qualifying was great enough that it was worth applying for. Jill and I went and talked at Baker Boy, the local doughnut and coffee shop, and then went home around noon, when Katie got off from work. Shortly thereafter we drove back over to the house and met Leif to take the full tour. The house was built in 1951. It has hardwood floors, a modest, but sufficient kitchen, 2 bedrooms upstairs, 1 bathroom, a partially finished basement with an additional bedroom, a garage/shop large enough for tools and a work area as well as a parked car, and a nice large backyard. The furnace (forced air) is original, and was converted from coal to natural gas sometime in the 70's. It's probably not the most efficient, but far from the least as well, and is beautifully simple, which makes it easy to maintain and repair should it be necessary. On the whole Katie and really liked it and Leif told us to go home, talk about it, sleep on it and call him in the morning. From there we drove to Glendive, as Katie had a couple appointments, and then returned to Sidney to spend the evening with the Yockims, where beer was consumed and conversations were enjoyed.
Today when I finally dragged myself out of bed, I ran to the store for bacon. When I got home, I made buttermilk waffles, bacon and cheesy scrambled eggs for the whole family. I called Leif and asked to see the house again at 11:00. My aunt and uncle stopped by on their way through to Glendive, where my cousin Annie lives, and so we very nearly didn't make it out of the house on time, as we had asked my mom to come with us to view the house as well. On second look, the house did not become less appealing. I used a far more critical eye, as did everyone else, and though we found things that would need to be addressed in time, we ultimately decided that we would make an offer. We ran my mom back to her place, as she had things to get done, and Jill went with us to go draw up an offer on the house. As the asking price was very reasonable, we offered to pay 5K over asking if the seller would pay up to 5K closing costs. As the house was no longer inhabited (elderly lady who has moved into a care facility) we also offered to allow them to leave what personal property they did not want to keep. This was to ease the burden of the daughter who is in charge of cleaning out the house and preparing it for sale, and to assure that the process would move in a timely fashion. (The daughter lives out of town.) We'll know mid-week if the offer is accepted, and then, provided everything else goes smoothly, we would close on the 23rd of June.
Hopes, prayers, sound advice and financial gifts are greatly appreciated! *wink*
Blessings
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