Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Answered prayers!
Yay! Praise the Lord, our mortgage lender called yesterday to tell us that the appraiser had appraised our house for the full amount we needed. She said that he had remarked over what a great deal and beautiful house we got! Chris had been so nervous because so much of the work is still yet to be done, but the appraiser said that it will be worth even more when it's finished!! He did really squeeze us into the bracket we needed though...and it was TOTALLY God at work on our behalf. You see, Chris had given the mort. lender the # for the appraiser who'd looked at the house last summer, before we bought it, thinking he'd be the best to do the appraisal, knowing what it had looked like before and all...but he was not available when she called, out of his office, sick. So she called us back to let us know that she'd given our # to one of the appraisers she knew instead. This made Chris and I both very nervous, but I had a feeling (b/c the circumstances were so abruptlychanged from how we'd *planned* it to happen) to just trust that God was at work here...
Sure enough! Originally, our house had been on sale for $99k, and apparently a few people had even tried before us to finance it, but couldn't get financing since it needed so much work, even though it had been tax-assessed for $105k at the time, it wouldn't appraise for that. But the elbow room, property and surrounding area is lovely (what we fell in love with) and the neighboring houses all new and expensive, so we saw it as being a great investment. After praying and sleeping on it, Chris had offered the sellers $80k (which I baulked over, as I was so worried he was going to thereby insult them and lose any chance we had at getting the house-but by now, I've learned to trust in these matters), *and* they accepted and signed the contract. The *very next day!* they had a cash offer for the full amount, so apparently we were just in time. But when we finally met the seller, Nancy (whose husband had built this house in 1950), a precious Christian lady, she told me that she and her children had been praying that God would arrange for the right buyers to get this house, and that they (us) would be Christians, and she didn't care about or need the $$, so she was glad that we got it!!
Truly, we've seen that God's been in it all along anyways, and I believe God gave us favor w/this appraiser, and he came in and appraised it for $147k now (granted, we've done alot)!!! So, we should get our equity loan within a week or two, says our mort. lender. Chris is ecstatic, and we're so thankful to those of you who have offered prayers in our behalf for this, I know of few especially faithful friends and family, you know who you are...He was/is listening.
Now, please agree with us, as we're praying for wisdom as to how to best apply the $$. Should we use it *all* to pay off the truck, or should we put it away and use it/ration it out to pay our bills each month,as a necessary buffer until Chris gets his income going better? He's recently become an independent insurance agent, which means he must buy*all* of his own leads, and this so expensive...but necessary to get and keep going in sales. He's also open to and considering even pursuing taking on handy-man jobs as available. Yesterday, out of curiosity, he asked a mort. lender how much they spend on leads each month...and she said thousands, personally, because it's a numbers game. You have to buy so many, knowing that only a small percentage of those will even be fruitful. I'm praying God will intervene on our behalf concerningChris's work still...and covet your prayers in this too.
God is awesome!! I mean, we didn't even have the sink in the bathroom yet when the appraiser came, and the windows are still the originals, with many cracks in the panes, and no trim b/c that's waiting on the new windows to goin first, and the outside of the house needs painting *really* bad, and is all grungy/ugly still, w/a bare masonry ring around each window, where Chris had pulled off the old metal awnings (intending to put up shutters *eventually*, AFTER painting)! We've still got bare, unfinished drywall for all the walls in the breezeway, etc., etc...we were sweatin' it, but had to try b/c we need the $$, like yesterday!;) And this appraiser simply must have caught our vision!
Sure enough! Originally, our house had been on sale for $99k, and apparently a few people had even tried before us to finance it, but couldn't get financing since it needed so much work, even though it had been tax-assessed for $105k at the time, it wouldn't appraise for that. But the elbow room, property and surrounding area is lovely (what we fell in love with) and the neighboring houses all new and expensive, so we saw it as being a great investment. After praying and sleeping on it, Chris had offered the sellers $80k (which I baulked over, as I was so worried he was going to thereby insult them and lose any chance we had at getting the house-but by now, I've learned to trust in these matters), *and* they accepted and signed the contract. The *very next day!* they had a cash offer for the full amount, so apparently we were just in time. But when we finally met the seller, Nancy (whose husband had built this house in 1950), a precious Christian lady, she told me that she and her children had been praying that God would arrange for the right buyers to get this house, and that they (us) would be Christians, and she didn't care about or need the $$, so she was glad that we got it!!
Truly, we've seen that God's been in it all along anyways, and I believe God gave us favor w/this appraiser, and he came in and appraised it for $147k now (granted, we've done alot)!!! So, we should get our equity loan within a week or two, says our mort. lender. Chris is ecstatic, and we're so thankful to those of you who have offered prayers in our behalf for this, I know of few especially faithful friends and family, you know who you are...He was/is listening.
Now, please agree with us, as we're praying for wisdom as to how to best apply the $$. Should we use it *all* to pay off the truck, or should we put it away and use it/ration it out to pay our bills each month,as a necessary buffer until Chris gets his income going better? He's recently become an independent insurance agent, which means he must buy*all* of his own leads, and this so expensive...but necessary to get and keep going in sales. He's also open to and considering even pursuing taking on handy-man jobs as available. Yesterday, out of curiosity, he asked a mort. lender how much they spend on leads each month...and she said thousands, personally, because it's a numbers game. You have to buy so many, knowing that only a small percentage of those will even be fruitful. I'm praying God will intervene on our behalf concerningChris's work still...and covet your prayers in this too.
God is awesome!! I mean, we didn't even have the sink in the bathroom yet when the appraiser came, and the windows are still the originals, with many cracks in the panes, and no trim b/c that's waiting on the new windows to goin first, and the outside of the house needs painting *really* bad, and is all grungy/ugly still, w/a bare masonry ring around each window, where Chris had pulled off the old metal awnings (intending to put up shutters *eventually*, AFTER painting)! We've still got bare, unfinished drywall for all the walls in the breezeway, etc., etc...we were sweatin' it, but had to try b/c we need the $$, like yesterday!;) And this appraiser simply must have caught our vision!
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