D squared + J squared = Anderson

It’s been a very busy few weeks, however, we’re quite happy with the results, especially since this is our first time to renovate.  Below are the before and after pictures.

Living Room Before

Living Room After

Main Bath Before

Main Bath After

First Bedroom Before

First Bedroom After

Second Bedroom Before

Second Bedroom After

Master Bedroom Before – it was purple before the same shade as the stairway

Master Bedroom After

Master Bath (Spindles and all)

Master Bath After

Dining Room Before

Dining Room After

Kitchen Before

Kitchen After

Stairway Before

Stairway After

The stairway is still in progress.

Shelves Before

Shelves After

As you may have heard or read in our last blog post, we purchased a home.  You may be wondering how or why!?!

The how – it’s expensive to buy a home and you may be thinking why are we asking for additional financial partners if we can purchase a home – no, our financial ministry budget isn’t met and no we don’t have the funds to buy a home, however, the Lord opened the doors with the low interest rates, David is a veteran so we used the VA loan which meant no money down and no PMI.  We crunched numbers and began looking at homes in Pleasant Hill.  The doors to several homes were being slammed shut – multiple offers, needed major repairs, next door to a not so desirable place, etc…  We we thinking we should stop looking.  There was a home that had been on the market for 152 days, it didn’t have the most appealing pictures online (usually the online pictures are better than what a place looks like in person) and the price was higher than we could afford for a mortgage payment.  We ended up looking at it.  The home was painted in all pastel colors – purple, lavender, mint, country blue, etc…  Other than being a pastel palace and needing sweat equity, it was in great shape.  After a weekend of prayer, we decided to make an offer significantly less than the asking price.  The seller’s agent didn’t think we had a chance because the homeowner’s refused all other offers that were much higher than our offer.  The next day we had the answer that the seller’s accepted our offer.  What!?!  We bought a house!  It was exciting, nerve racking and shocking all rolled into one.  The inspections went great and we began fantasizing about the paint color.  We had money from our tax return to make the earnest deposit and pay for paint.  The open doors didn’t stop there.  At closing the title company told us that they owed us money.  What!?!  We’ve purchased homes before and we’ve always had to pay something – this time we received money back.  When we went to Home Depot to purchase the paint for the interior of the home, that day only and at that specific Home Depot, they had a paint sale.  We saved $120 plus we received money off because the Home Depot registers were glitching that day and it took about 30 minutes to check out and we didn’t complain and were thanked with a percentage off our total.

The why – as we began processing working from home remotely and continuing as missionaries with Wycliffe only in the USA, we realized we would be staying put for an extended amount of time.  We felt it made more financial sense in the long run to purchase a home and build some equity.  It has already helped the boys not be so anxious about being root less.  Plus our rent was going to be increased, so it was the right time to look (end of school year, before the rent increases, etc…)

After we finish the painting and minor repairs, I’ll post before and after pictures.  Thank you for your encouragement and support!

UPDATE:  I just have to share this update.  This morning I was painting and I needed to unplug a router that has puzzled us.  There is a line of sight antenna on the roof and this router in a bedroom.  We left it alone and thought we would investigate it more at a later time.  I needed to remove the switch plate and left it unplugged.  About 30 minutes to an hour later there was a work truck that pulled up in front of the house and a man came to the door.  He asked if our power was out.  I replied, “no.”  He was confused why the internet was down.  I was confused by the conversation.  Long story short, he was a technician for a local internet provider and the previous owners allowed the company to install the antenna on the roof and the router in the bedroom and in exchange the company provides us internet for free.  He set us up and of course, plugged his equipment back in.  We were just talking about what internet provider we were going to look into for the house and now we know – it’s taken care!