House Hunting

We started looking at homes in November. We got pre approved and stared the hunt. We saw about 10 homes and got really discouraged by the little inventory and prices. We were looking everywhere in Westminster and Broomfield. We laid low during Christmas and started again in January. We went to a ton  of open houses, we went to many more homes. We  put in an offer on an auction house in Broomfield, then we put in an offer on a big fixer upper in Broomfield, then we put in an offer on a house in the Greenway Golf course - which was excepted but they wanted 10K more. 

Then we saw 1156 Harlan St. It is in the neighborhood we want and backs out to Ryan Elementary. The house itself has good bones but its in bad shape. 15 year old carpet, nasty kitchen, downstairs, has no carpet and full of cat pee. The paint is awful and old. But we knew that it would give us what we wanted and be in the schools that we wanted. So we put a offer. The asking price was $235 and we bid $255 - we got the offer,

Four days later we had the inspection. It found several big issues - bad furnace, no AC, radon issues, carbon monoxide issues - we were pretty scared but with Tom's help we could get it done really nicely. We got bids on all the items. We asked for 15k off to help with repairs. They came back at 7000, we came back at 12k, then they came back at 9500 and we finalized it at 10K. So we got the house for $245k. 

We are getting the appraisal next week and hope to close at the end of March. Overall the experience has been exhausting! Emotionally super draining.  We had so many discussions with our realtor - most of them heated. We were getting educated and just wanting to make the best choice. Pat Salankey was our Realtor and he was amazing. So patient - specially with Tyson. Tyson experienced major REMO and had so much anxiety.  He would ask SO many questions and his biggest concern was that we bought at the very height of the market. 

We found out yesterday and immediately got down on our knees and said a prayer. We prayed so much over this house and the whole experience. I felt like Heavenly Father had really led us through the whole process. 

Last night we stopped at King Soopers and got some Ice Cream and celebrated buying our first home. We sat at the table, the four of us and talked about this house. It has been a LONG time coming and this house dosent just represent a new place to live - it means we are staying in Denver, which we love, in our ward ... all the things that mean community to us. We are so thankful for the learning we have done. I think it's also fitting that we celebrated 5 years in Denver this February. We came to Denver because of PFS but I always always felt that God and Colorado meant more than that. We've had our kids here, we became a family here. We have changed so much during our time here. We have learned to rely on each other and on total strangers - who now love us like family. I am so thankful for Denver and for that crazy idea Tyson had 5.5 years ago to move away from everything we knew and start over. Here's to our little green house.