So Good

So remember how I asked you to pray that things would move quickly yesterday? Well, today the appraisal finally came back, and man did it show up. Querencia is appraised at 20% more than our offer. Which, of course, makes me freak out and think that the sellers will want to back out, but they actually originally listed it at market value, then reduced the price to sell it faster, then accepted our offer that was way below that. We've been in escrow since May (or was it April?), so if they're going to back out now they've wasted an awful lot of their own time.

I'm such a worrier. Every huge obstacle so far has been overcome, and now that there is good news I'm finding the one possible bad thing to worry over. Oh me of little faith. :)

Escrow is highly unlikely to close this week, which is a bummer since we're taking Jake to the airport on Saturday, and we have no idea how international document signing is supposed to work. Or I guess, more appropriately, how much it's going to cost. Because all of the things that need to be done and bought and fixed are adding up, and we're just treading water already. We're getting what we firmly believe is the best deal in San Diego county, but it's at the very top of our budget. This should pay off if we decide we don't like living on such a tight budget, because with just the fixes that we'll do to make it livable for us we should turn a decent profit. Of course, we're expecting that the rural lifestyle and outdoor freedom that it will give us will far outweigh the money stuff. We've lived on a tighter budget in our condo and made it okay, so this should be a piece of cake. "What could possibly go wrong," she asked, tempting fate. We like beans and vegetables, and I'm now quite good at using every bit of a chicken, to its bones. :)

Anyway, thank you for praying. Querencia is almost real life, guys!

Final Stretch

So close, so close! We keep overcoming every obstacle, and two more take it's place. We sold the San Jacinto house (finally!), we got inspections (everything looks fantastic! More on that later), we got renters in contract for our condo, everything we can do has been done. Now we're waiting on the appraisal (which was done sixteen days ago) to go through the bank so that they'll fund our loan. The problem is, even though the house is structurally sound, the well pump is new, the roof is fine, etc., there aren't any comparables to help them decide on the value of the house. There's no house/property like it because it's a custom-built, strangely retrofitted, dirty junker of a house, and while we're excited that there's nothing else like it, apparently the bank isn't as keen.

The inspections came back with great news. The well pump and septic tank are both less than two years old. The roof is missing a few shingles, but other than that looks good. All of the crazy electrical wiring and piping has been unattached properly and just needs to be pulled down. The well water is clean and happy, and no major hazards or needed repairs were found. All of the things we were worried about, all of our deal-breakers have turned out just fine. Now we're just waiting on the red-tape, and waiting without any work to do.

Wait, did I say "no work to do"? I'm a liar. Whether we get Querencia or not, we're renting out our condo, which has to be cleaned and painted and re-tiled before August 14th. So.... there's that. I'm going to be packing and cleaning and painting while Jake is the UK again (for two solid weeks!) and my parents are on vacation. Luckily my mom is bribing my brothers to come help me for a day or two, but I think that's all the backup I get. I have to pack our entire condo of four people's stuff and take care of these, let's say energetic, children.

It's times like this that I realize how American I am. I have been so continually and thoroughly taken in by the lie of consumerism that our place is packed to the gills with crap we don't need. I mean, absolute crap. I started packing up the bathroom, but when confronted with the baskets of soaps and lotions and potions that all have been barely used, I had to stop, completely disgusted with myself. How many of these things did I buy (because I neeeded it) to make something about my life better? And when it didn't completely transform me into the person I wanted to be the first time I used it, it ended up in the basket to await the company of the next thing I "need" but will only use twice. It doesn't help that Jake and I are both kind of hoarders. He forms an emotional attachment to paperwork, car magazines, and other strange things like holey shirts and old cars. I get attached to clothes that used to fit, books (but that's not a problem), and every piece of "art" that Dan has ever created. I mean, I have a church bulletin from two years ago with no sermon notes or anything helpful, but a little squiggle of pen that makes it impossible to throw away. I'm a crazy person.

I'm looking forward to living a simpler life, even though it will come in the form of a bigger house. Money will be going different directions, like to a garden or chickens or little boy boots. It's embarrassing that I'll only stop buying things because I'll have to, and that I can't quite manage to do it on my own, but there you go. That's real me. I'm always trying to be better, but there's nothing like circumstances making you rise to them to get going. Kind of like how my addiction to TV will be settled, very much against my will. It'll only happen because it has to, not because I have the strength of mind to fix myself. Damn it.