(This was written in September- but published in April…as usual it takes me a while to actually get things around and hit the ”enter” button!)
As the time went on we knew we made the right choice and moving to the south. We knew that this year we wanted to find a home for a family again. We still weren’t sure exactly where we were going to end up or where we wanted to call home in the south. we were still stuck between Tennessee and Alabama. This summer we spent a month and a half up north. We decided to end that trip short because we wanted to get back and start our search for a house.
Alabama kept coming up as an option and we tried really hard to want to go there, for several reasons. So on our way home from our trip up north we by passed Tennessee and went straight to Alabama to see one last time if that was where we wanted to be, or if Tennessee was going to be home.
After driving around once again in Alabama we decided that Tennessee was going to be our home. So we went right home and started our search right away. Jared has a dream that requires a lot of acreage. So we started right away looking at as much acreage as we could. Among my original searches, a cabin and 40 acres popped up. This was less acreage than we were hoping for… but it just looked like it was something worth looking at. That next day we drove out to the property. While we were sitting in the driveway we decided to hit contact on the Zillow listing. Not long after we got a phone call from the agent giving us more information on the property. The very next morning we went out and had a showing at the house.
We liked it…. and I said to Jared that this could be home. (Although I was still very skeptical because it was the very first property that we had looked at.) Also it needed some work- scratch that- it needed a lot of work. After a few conversations together we decided to put in an offer.
(Since we had just gotten home and just started the process our offer was contingent on financing. While we were waiting for a response to see if the seller excepted our offer, the real estate agent called us to tell us that another offer was put in at the same time- and beat ours because they had their financing and we were still waiting. We were pretty bummed to say the least.
We ran through all the scenarios of why this happened and blaming ourselves for not coming home sooner and starting our search sooner. We tried to put a backup offer in and were told that it was pretty much a guarantee that it was going to be sold so we never ended up putting in a backup offer.
Soooooo we continued our search, on our own, and spread out our area to practically all over the state. We drove around to a lot of different properties, one day we even drove for eight hours looking around. (If I were to guess…we probably viewed 30? 35? different properties..)
For what we were looking for we didn’t have a lot of options, and anything we looked at was only second-best to the first piece of property that we had found. I was trying to get over it, but Jared was really stuck on that one property that we lost. One day after driving around all day looking at different places he decided to look back on Zillow at the original house that we had put an offer in on. He noticed that it was still pending and kept asking me out loud “Why is it still pending it shouldn’t still be pending!”
So finally he just had this urge inside him that told him that he should call the agent through Zillow again and ask The status…What we found out was that the person who put in the offer and went under contract disappeared and stopped responding to any correspondence. So at that time they would accept a backup offer. So we were very excited to put in a backup offer and crossing our fingers that it would be excepted. It was, and the next step was to make sure the other buyer was actually backing out.
It was a long few days of waiting….
The original buyer backed out and our offer was taken. We went under contract immediately. We couldn’t believe that we had a second opportunity to grab this piece of property.
Closing only takes about 30 days down here so everything was going to be happening very fast. Although throughout the entire process I was very nervous and almost in denial that it was actually happening. It just seemed too good to be true.
Now I know that the way that I talk about this place makes it sound like this big fancy place up on top of a mountain but it’s actually nothing like that. It’s located down a long dirt road that I like to call a cow path- in the middle of nowhere and the house needs so much work! It’s a one bedroom cabin, and there’s three of us plus a dog…
But one thing I know for certain is that I am confident that Jared will take care of us and has the ability to make this house a home for us. I know that when we are done, well…we’ll never be done… but when we are happy with how things are it will be a totally new and different place.
We close on October 1st. And boy what a process it is to get a mortgage for the self employed.. I said it before and I’ll say it again.. ”I NEVER want to have to go through that mess again!!!”
A few days before he turned 80
He was sittin’ out back in a rocker
He said, “What you been up to lately?”
I told him, “Chasing a dollar”
And in between sips of coffee
He poured this wisdom out
Said, “If you want my two cents on making a dollar countBuy dirt
Find the one you can’t live without
Get a ring, let your knee hit the ground
Do what you love but call it work
And throw a little money in the plate at church
Send your prayers up and your roots down deep
Add a few limbs to your family tree
And watch their pencil marks
And the grass in the yard all grow up”‘Cause the truth about it is
It all goes by real quick
You can’t buy happiness
But you can buy dirtBefore you get caught on that ladder
Let me tell you what it’s all about
Find you a few things that matter
That you can put a fence around
And then he laid it outBuy dirt
Find the one you can’t live without
Get a ring, let your knee hit the ground
Do what you love but call it work
And throw a little money in the plate at church
Send your prayers up and your roots down deep
And add a few limbs to your family tree
And watch their pencil marks
And the grass in the yard all grow up’Cause the truth about it is
It all goes by real quick
You can’t buy happiness
But you can buy dirtYou can buy dirt
And thank the good Lord for it
‘Cause He ain’t makin’ any more of itSo buy dirt
Find the one you can’t live without
Get a ring, let your knee hit the ground
Do what you love but call it work
And throw a little money in the plate at church
Send your prayers up and your roots down deep
Add a few limbs to your family tree
And watch their pencil marks
And the grass in the yard all grow up’Cause the truth about it is
It all goes by real quick
You can’t buy happiness
But you can buy dirt
-Song by Jordan Davis
Nina.Neen.Beanie. 