Not too long after Chris felt secure and comfortable at his job, we were considering the possibilities of buying a home. We were tired of renting and "throwing our money away". Yes, renting an apartment provides a place for a family to live, but we wanted our income to invest in what would be ours, a house. So, Chris contacted Laura Roberts of Carol Jones Realtors, a friend of my mother-in-law, very friendly, helpful, and professional. She gave us a contact at OakStar Bank to help us apply for a pre-approval.
After several weeks, we had a pre-approval of a rural development loan. Not long after that, we started looking at houses; a few of them were houses many years old and needing some extra work (i.e. new roof). But then, Laura took us to Clever, MO, 20 minutes southwest of Springfield. The town's population is a little more than 1,000 but growing. The first house we saw was awesome! The original purchase price was $116,000, but since it was on foreclosure, the new selling price came down to $83,000! Laura, however, told us we would have to bid the full amount of our loan (not including closing costs) to even be considered a buyer. The best bid is what wins on foreclosures. We thought about trying it, but we didn't have a few extra thousand to pay for the closing costs.
As we kept that option in our heads, we toured a few houses on sale in a newly developed subdivision called Westview Fields. We liked what we saw and decided to build through a contractor. We just needed to pick a floor plan and lot. On our next appointment with Laura, she took us to a home (not in Clever) we had not toured yet. It was built by a contractor who also owns some lots in Clever. Chris absolutely fell in love with it, and I liked it but didn't love it as he did. As we thought about it and after we showed the house to our family, we decided it would be the floor plan best suited for us.
Our new home will have 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a two-car garage. The living room and dining area are open to each other, and the laundry room is right by the kitchen. It is a nice home for our little family, a good starter home. The day we decided that was what we wanted (last Saturday), we also picked our carpet, counter tops, and cabinets. We completed the paperwork of our offer to the contractor (Cantrell's Patriot Homes) as well. Laura says it should be accepted, because we are offering to pay for everything they are asking for.
We will keep everyone updated, and of course, post pictures of our developing home. The house should close Sept. 30, and we will move in not long after that in October. So, our new address from that time will be:
204 Spruce Ave.
Clever, MO 65631
If for some reason that address changes, of course, we will let everyone know. We are super excited and grateful we received this opportunity! We are truly blessed.
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2 comments:
Congragulations you guys! That's so exciting that you're building a new home and you'll love having your own space to do whatever you want with!
That's really exciting!! So, you ARE building a house or decided on one that's already built? I'll miss seeing you at Church!
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