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So we’ve started to look at some houses yet again. The difference this time is that our current house is not on the market. After seeing how much stress it caused the last time we tried, my wife and I decided that we’d much rather shoulder the cost of trying to sell an empty house and keep our sanity intact than we would trying to maintain a clean house (at practically a moment’s notice), start homeschooling the children (well, teaching them to read at least) and look for a new house. Plus, we’re not quite sure why the Lord seems to be closing the doors on houses for us right now.
In any event, the whole process will be slightly more costly by doing it this way. You see, after you close on a house you have roughly a month before your first payment on the new house is due. Now, I’ve already been in contact with a mortgage broker, and like all banks they tell me that I can afford quite the house while keeping my current one1. However, these banks don’t take into account standard of living and giving– my more than 10% to my church/charity.
So, there’s no way I want to go that high, but even if I come close, I don’t have enough saved up for the down-payment AND paying for both houses for very long. Let’s just say it will be tight. I’d really like to avoid borrowing, and I’m not quite sure just how much we’ll settle for as far as lowering our asking price.
I know there are places online that let you sell homes fast by basically giving you a lower payment in exchange for a quick close. In fact, this site, iBuyHouses.com claims that they can produce the money in as little as 7 days. I haven’t done enough research, but I could see where there is money to be made.
We’ve seen quite a few houses now that someone has just bought up so that they can flip it, and even though the market is down right now, if you have cash and are handy you can stand to make a significant amount of money.
Though I’m not sure about the area we’re in, it might be worth your time if you’re selling your house to check out this option– in my case, selling my house in as little as seven days could really make a difference.
- This was by the grace of God providing a competing job offer that gave me a promotion with a large raise. [↩]
Hope you find the right home and property, I’m sure you are both wanting to get settled before next fall and school starting. Sometimes trusting God means stepping out on faith and if moving isn’t His will for you right now, I guess He’ll keep shutting doors. He’s probably waiting for the perfect place, doesn’t want you to miss out on it by jumping out the gate too early!
Blessings as you go…
Mary’s last blog post..Burned to the Ground