How to Sell Your House in 4 Days Without Listing It.

The following is our story of how God truly performed a miracle in our lives and has blessed us more than we can imagine. It all started about a year and a half ago when we found out I was pregnant with our second son Max, who is now 9 ½ months old. We live in a 2 bedroom townhome with a loft and were struggling to figure out how to accommodate our new addition in our limited space. We had talked about building the loft into a 3rd bedroom, but this would net us no more space and the loft was already full of furniture. The housing market was pretty rough at the time and we did not feel like the timing was right to sell. So, we converted the master closet into a “nursery” and bought an industrial clothing rack to hold our clothes, placed right in the middle of our bedroom. And, I started praying for a miracle. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen with our house or how long we would have to wait to sell, but I knew nothing would happen without God. I shared with the ladies at my MOMS table at church and they began praying alongside me. This past fall, August 2008, Max was born on the same day Steve started his MBA program and has quite enjoyed the comforts of his little closet nursery. But, as our oldest son is getting bigger, the crib he currently sleeps in is becoming a bit of a hazard. At 2 ½ he has yet to climb out, but has come close and it is time to make the transition to a big kid bed.

On June 3, I set up an appointment to meet with a local realtor to assess the current market for the sale of our home. During our appointment we were told that the average market time for home sales in our neighborhood was 6 months and only 3 homes have sold in the past 6 months. This same day, Steve opened a letter from a different realtor stating the following: “Dear Homeowner, I have a qualified buyer who is seeking to purchase either a 2 bedroom with loft or 3 bedroom home in your neighborhood. Please contact me if you would be interested in selling.” At first glance, we thought this was some sort of a gimmick. But, Steve had another realtor take a look at it and she thought it was legitimate.

On Thursday, June 4, Steve left this woman a message to call me and get some more information. When she called later that afternoon, we agreed to show our house to her clients on Friday afternoon. Friday was Steve’s regularly scheduled day off with his company’s compressed workweek for the summer. So, from 7:30pm Thursday night to 3:30 Friday afternoon, we worked our tails off to get our house “show ready.” This meant painting scuffed baseboards and all the marks on the main walls, decluttering even more from the shelves and our room, reorganizing furniture, and a bit of standard cleaning. On Saturday afternoon, we received a phone call asking if they could view the house again on Sunday after church. So, again, we spent the following afternoon into evening doing more cleaning, including washing windows, scrubbing out the bathtubs so they were sparkly white, washing doors, and Steve even took apart the outside lights to get them sparkly, too. All our efforts must have paid off because on Sunday afternoon, their realtor called with an offer.

Sunday, we were actually on our way to Iowa because Steve had a work commitment and I was tagging along to see old friends of ours. So, when we finished dinner with them and settled into the hotel, Steve and I began to put together our counteroffer. It was sent at about 11:30 on Sunday night and on Monday afternoon, I received a call saying that the clients had accepted our counter offer, and papers were signed when we returned from Iowa on Tuesday. Steve and I were flabbergasted and overwhelmed by the incredible timing of everything. Things moved so quickly that we were trying to get everything set up while out of town, but it all worked out. I like to think of all of this as Phase 1 of our miracle. We still need to work out the financing for closing and, more importantly, find a new home, by July 13. But, we feel that God handed us this opportunity and just asks that we continue to trust Him for what is yet to come.

To those of you who have prayed alongside us during the process, thank you for your support. It’s not over yet, and we are hopeful and expectant to see what else God has in store. This has truly been an experience of God’s mighty power, not our own efforts or something we could have orchestrated.

Spring is "almost" in the air...I think...

So here is a little glimpse at what we've been up to this spring. And, the cute Easter photo for you, mom, to see...

Operation Status

Okay, so it has been 3 weeks since commencing operation bride's maid dress. Not much is changing, leaving me searching for alternative options. So, since Max is now on the bottle, I decided to take my dental hygienist's advice and try a cleanse, or detox. She recommended one from Whole Foods and I picked it up the other day. Today is day 3 and the thing should definitely, definitely come with a warning. It should explicitly state that one should not plan on leaving the house for at least 3 hours every morning after taking the veggie tablets claiming to gently cleanse the colon. It has not made for a fun few days. Not sure if I'm going to finish, but I'm praying this helps. If only my knee was better and I could do this diet and exercise thing the healthy way!

Operation Bridesmaid Dress

Here's the challenge. Seven months ago, I ordered a bridesmaid dress to be worn in May. Here is what I looked like 7 months ago...The dress still hasn't come in yet, but I ordered my "normal" size in it. I have no idea what my normal size is after 2 kids, but I am praying that the stupid thing fits when it finally shows up...Or I can find a really good girdle!