Home Sweet Home?

Last Saturday, Husband and I toured an open house on a whim (not an unusual occurrence in our household). 

Monday, hubbs called in sick and met with a mortgage lender.

Tuesday, we made an offer.

Home Sweet Home?

It was perfect. An adorable little condo tucked back from the street, at the end of a cobblestone drive. It had vines growing up the sides. VINES, people. That's, like, grown up. Fireplace. Hardwood floors. Tiniest kitchen I've ever seen (seriously. Those of you who know where I lived in college can imagine how small I'm talking). Grown-up bathtub. Little backyard patio. Room for growth, with just enough fixing-up to make us comfortable :). Best part: In our price range.

It was a dream come true.

Guys, I have to confess I loved it long before I should have (would NOT let myself fall in love, just in case). It was perfect for us, how could I not? I've heard countless times that you should never fall in love with a place until the keys are in-hand, but I just couldn't stop myself.

Recipe for disaster? Maybe.

We quickly realized that everything we knew about buying a house wouldn't apply to our case, since it was a foreclosure. However, the day after our offer was sent in, we had a counteroffer. The bargaining had begun!

We went back and forth a bunch of times, and throughout the process our numbers got closer and closer together, but they never really matched up. It was actually an interesting process, watching "our" house slip further and further from our grasp, and oddly being less and less devastated about it.

A week after the offer was placed, husband and I walked away from our little dream house. It was the weirdest thing, being at peace with the whole thing! We held fast to what we wanted, and when that wasn't happening, we walked away.

That was the kicker folks, being at peace with leaving the bargaining table. In the past, I would have viewed this as "giving up"; we essentially "failed" at getting the house we wanted. But I don't see it that way this time. We learned a lot, and it just wasn't the proper time for us to pull the trigger.  We've prayed a lot about it and for the first time in a long time, we really feel like it's not God's plan for us to own a home right now (Which actually makes sense. It would have been a tight budget during the summer when I'm not getting a paycheck! So excited for my promotion to kick in during August.).

On the other hand, we'd absolutely LOVE to buy a home when the Lord's timing is right. We'll start looking again in a couple months. Anyone you know have access to a foreclosure list? ;)