Here It Is . . .

The house that might drive us to the poor house - LOL!

Front view with 3-car detached garage to the right, it is at the very end of a cul-de-sac street

Backyard from the far back corner - I see a pool (someday) in our future

This is a partial view of the kitchen, just to give you a feel for the colors and appliances. For an inventory home (one selected by the builders or another buyer that feel through), we are really happy with the selections and love the cherry cabinets!

The story of this house begins five years ago, March 31, 2001, on the day we signed the contract for our first house. We were shopping for a "starter home" and had been driving around for the day when we accidentally found our neighborhood. To make a long story short, we signed a contract to build a new house (which are plentiful in Houston) and moved in four months later. From the start, we had planned on living in this home for 5-7 years. Two years later, after Loo was born, we realized that we were going to out-grow our home fast :)

DH is a "researcher" for everything - it is so cute! So, after about two and a half years in the house, the research process for a new home began. I love to tease him about being the "HAR King"; yesterday, he could tell just by looking at a house in the newspaper what neighborhood it was in - can you say obsessed?!!? Anyway, we decided to move forward and get a hew house in October 2004 and signed an intent to build form for the EXACT SAME FLOOR PLAN that we are buying in the EXACT SAME SUBDIVISION! Unfortunately, the builder called us a few months later to say that they changed the "collection" of homes that they are offering on the street we had signed for. So, we got our money back and thought it was a sign to wait . . .

A few months later, we were driving through another neighborhood that we like and saw that a kick-ass lot was available. So, we went even further with process and selected the EXACT SAME HOUSE to build. Since, we contracted on this house so far in advance, we didn't know exactly when it would be finished and found out that we were pregnant with Loco (after ten months trying) the same week! In the end, the timeline worked out that the new house was scheduled to be finished two weeks after Loco was due, so we got out of the commitment in June 2005 for our sanity :) That must have been a sign, too, and the new home search continues . . .

After all of this, at the end of the summer, we had an opportunity to buy an one-acre lot about twenty minutes north of where we live. The lot had just become available and was right next to one of our current neighbors and good friends (Loo's BF's) and would be close to another couple we know. So, we purchased it and planned on building in a year or two. Unfortunately, unknown to us, things were not going well in our friends marriage; they got a divorce and sold their lot. Even though one of the main reasons for us moving out there was gone, DH and I were moving one with our plans and had picked out a floor plan, met with a builder, and were discussing the figures involved to build.

Then this Saturday, we went to breakfast with another set of good friends. After breakfast, we went driving around with them to look at a few houses in their area. They, ironically, live on the first street that we had planned to build on a year and a half ago! There is a new section in the neighborhood that we went to see. When we turned down the street, I said outloud, "That's the same house we were going to build!" . . . it was light a ray of light came down from the sky on it . . . I know, I know - LOL . . . but, it was really weird and felt like we were supposed to be seeing this house that had just become available b/c the original buyers did not receive a transfer to Houston.

DH jumped out to check the backyard, since this it is very important to us to have one big enough for our needs. It is hard to find in a good yard in a "cookie-cutter" subdivision (most of the neighborhoods around here are like that, unless you go further north for acreage). The backyard was awesome & could easily hold the playset with room to move, a dog and its poop bombs, and a future pool!

We took a deep breath, went home, and talked about our options before we saw the inside - it took patience to wait and not run up there that afternoon! Is this what we want? Can we make it work? Will we be able to sell our house and land quickly? Can we afford two mortgages until it sells? Then we met with our friend and realtor on Sunday to walk through the house - it was impressive - much better than we thought it would be for an inventory home. Our realtor worked out a deal with the builder for $10,000 off and we talked some more . . . Are we insane? Is the time line too quick? Can we do this before DH leaves? Do we really want this house?
In the end, we figured that, yes, we are a little insane, but decided to go for it! No matter how it happened, we know that moving into a new house (be it now or later) is going to be "messy" and involve some financial overlap. This way, we pick our circumstances.

There you have it! Wow - it is a long story and this house has been a long time in the making :) This Friday we do a walk-through with the builder and next Friday we close. By the time DH leaves for Thailand, we will be moved in! Did I mention that I am sooooooooo exited? Well, I am!