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Heartwarming Small-Town Romances and Thrilling Mysteries

This week, our house in Boise will officially belong to someone else. An artist will be living in our townhouse. She’s got great neighbors around her, and we wish her happy times there. She’ll get to enjoy our blueberries next spring which makes me slightly envious.

The feeling of homelessness is still there, but I have a roof over my head, a bed to sleep in, and food on the table. I have absolutely nothing to complain about. In fact, I’m very thankful for all that I have. Hubby and I continue to look for a home of our own and debate about where that house should be. I’ve prayed and prayed for guidance on this (Psalms 48:14). God has always directed us where we need to be, and I trust He’ll do it again.

Many of you have lived in the same house for decades. You’re settled, know your neighbors, know where everything is, and have no desire for anything else. How lucky you are! You’ve likely forgotten what it’s like to look for a place to live. Let me tell you how it is.

We’ve moved several times with Hubby’s career and mine. Twice we bought houses before they were on the market. Once we bought a house because the others for sale were junk, and it was by far the best one. Back then, the housing market was full of places to look over and choose from. But today, it’s a sellers market so there are few homes to choose from and the ones that are for sale go quickly. Unless you’re standing there with cash in hand, it’s hard to get your choice of homes.

Houses talk to me. If I walk in a house and feel nothing, we walk away. There was no feeling there, other than it wasn’t the right place for us. But if I walk in a home and it says “welcome home” to me, I know we’ve found our new home. It feels like home. That’s how we picked our previous houses, except for the one that was the best we could find, but it worked out okay.

Right before Thanksgiving, we found a very nice house to buy in Canyon, Texas. It had everything we wanted: upgraded interior, a workshop for Hubby, RV parking, and was in a neighborhood we wanted to be in. Our Texas kids went to look at it for us and liked it. We put in an offer pending on the sale of our Boise house, but someone with cash offered to buy it then and there. Our bid couldn’t compete with that so we lost it. Broke our hearts.

A week or so later, we walked in a newer house in Rapid City that said welcome to me. It was perfect! One level with zero entry, office space for both of us, a large garage for Hubby, big decks, and lots of windows to let in the sunshine. I loved that house and wanted it very badly. Only one problem: someone had smoked one cigarette in it. Hubby is hypersensitive to cigarette smoke and perfumes. He got a roaring headache just walking in the living room. The garage had been smoked in more. We had to walk away from that house because there’s no good way to get that smell out without extensive work. I shed a few tears walking away from that beautiful home. Later, we found out the house was bought by a man who had just been diagnosed with Parkinson’s. God knew he needed that place far more than we did and made sure it happened that way. I felt better about losing it.

We’ve looked at other houses, mostly online. There’s a lot of houses that are fixer-uppers, but those days are behind us. We want something ready to move into. Our townhouse was brand new when we moved in and that spoiled us. We’d love to build, but it’s not feasible for us right now. So we keep looking at houses when they come up. Since our townhouse sold, we have cash in hand to make an appealing offer which helps our odds of finding one. All we have to do is wait until I hear one say, “Welcome home.”

2 Responses

  1. Yes I heard it is a sellers market – in AZ too. I can’t imagine wanting a place to find out your offer isn’t there because of this or that reason. sorry to hear. Our daughter said some people offer more than the asking price to get a home. Just nuts, congrats on the sale of your town house in Boise, Now Cash in hand!! Best of luck with house searching — and Merry Christmas. God Bless

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