We made an offer at the end of business day yesterday so we are patiently waiting to hear back from them. We offered asking price but with the stipulation they provide blinds, fans, an extra gate on the already promised fence and a fridge along with closing costs. We have an amazing realtor who is notorious in her negotiations for buyers so we are hopeful. We have really been guided and blessed in this house hunting trip. Ruth, our realtor, gave us a list of lenders to try out, we were able to get the best deal with one of them and he has been super helpful as well. Ruth is also a specialized realtor for “heroes.” She helps public servants (doctors, soldiers, EMT, teachers, firemen, policemen) use this resource which basically gives a deal to the seller AND a rebate to the buyer. I am so grateful we found her. Ruth became a realtor after buying her third home (if I remember correctly). Her Broker friend said, Ruth, you’re so good at this you should think about doing it as a career. Since her husband had been an EM attending for a number of years he was down to about 13 shifts a month. So with his flexible schedule he could help in the domestic area a bit more and she was able to pursue this. She really does have a gift for it. Any question I ask about realestate (or even car sales!) she has a broad depth and breadth of knowledge. She is on top of the latest trends and I feel confident in our purchase. Even if this deal doesn’t go through (which I can’t imagine it not going through since we’re getting it from a builder), we still have about two or three houses we LOVE and even more we’d be comfortable in. The house we are picking is a really good deal and we are confident that it will fit our needs as well as be a good investment in the long run. As I went into each home, I took my notebook and wrote pros and cons. The only cons I had for the house we made an offer on is that it’s in a heavy construction area, but I feel at ease with that now since the houses seem to be built fast and bought just as fast. It’s a small development so it will be finished before we know it. They are building a pool, but we don’t know when it will be done by, so we will most likely get a membership at another pool in the area. Neighborhoods sell memberships as well as the YMCA, a Jewish community center, and more. It will be the next thing I research before the move so Grandma can take the kids to a pool while we unpack. (that is, if she’s game for it :). When we get home we will be busy getting the house ready to sell. We have a fair amount of painting to do and I think it’ll be pretty close to ready to sell. Then I’ll focus some efforts on pricing for the garage sale. Because our new house doesn’t have vaulted ceilings I am going to sell some of my larger paintings. I didn’t sleep very well last night. I had a spout of insomnia after Bev woke up at 1:30 AM. I finally fell asleep around 3:30, then she woke up at 4:30 again. But anyway, while I was lying awake (probably from excitement) I thought of each room of our current house and where are furniture would go in the new home. We’ll have to get a few small things to help our new house fit our needs, because our current home has built in bookshelves and the new one does not. But other than that i think everything will fit great. We are debating whether to put the nursery in the HUGE master closet or fit it in with one of the queen beds. If we pair it up with the queen bed like we have it now, then we’ll put it in one of the larger rooms. Otherwise we’ll put the queen in the smaller room and the boys will get the larger room. The small rooms are 11x 12 11×13 then we have one that is 14×11 and 12×13. If there’s room in the guest downstairs we may put the pull out sofa in there for an extra guest bed. Needless to say I’m excited and can’t wait to hear back from the builders.