Patience. Ahhh… my least favorite virtue.
Trusting God’s timing and trying to remain patient in the waiting is difficult, but so rewarding.
Over the last three years, we have been in waiting. Sure a ton has happened in our lives including paying off debt, flipping a house, and most recently, adding our third and last child to our family, but the dream of building our barndo, in a lot of ways, has been relatively uneventful (at least blog-worthy content-wise). We have been trucking along trusting God’s timing, trying to remain obedient when God placed an opportunity of a lifetime in front of us that would end up fast-tracking our dream home timeline.
LET’S BUY A HOUSE WE DON’T PLAN TO LIVE IN
Last March we had the opportunity to purchase a home that old friends of ours owned and had been renting out for the last twelve years. We saw the renters’ post that they were moving and Eric and I both had the same idea – what if we buy it? This idea was a little crazy since we had been trying to prepare to build our dream home. Adding a mortgage and the expenses to fix up the property was not in our original financial plans. But after some discussion, and a lot of prayers, we decided as a couple that it was a “God-thing” and we were meant to take on this new challenge.
We reached out to Michael and Brittney Murphy, the owners of the home, and friends that we had lost touch with over the years. After catching up with them and asking about purchasing the house, we soon realized that buying the home from them would be a huge blessing for all of us. Michael and Brittney had been out of the state for over a decade. Renting out a home while out of state proved to be an expensive challenge and burdensome over the years. Because we knew them so well and had a great relationship, they were kind enough to sell us the home for what they owed on it. This was huge. Huge because we now had an opportunity to make a sizable profit if we could get the house back into decent shape.
Eric and I have always wanted to get into real-estate investing. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to get our feet wet. We began applying for a mortgage and through the whole process, every door easily opened for us. In just a few months’ time, we had closed on a house in a tiny neighboring town that we hoped we could either rent out for extra income or sell for a profit. At the same time, we rekindled a relationship with the Murphys that has been a blessing ever since.
RENOVATIONS
I was three months pregnant with two toddlers at home, racing the clock to get a whole house ready to rent or sell… honestly, it seemed insane. We prayed about it a lot and knew some way, somehow God would provide and guide us through the adventure.
This little home was structurally sound but needed a lot of TLC. Here are some looks at the home when we bought it and a few early on in the process:
We spent every night and weekend we could working on the house. We refinished the floors, built out the bathroom closet, gutted the kitchen, added cabinetry, put in all new appliances, added a bedroom and half bath to the basement, and painted every inch of the interior and exterior. It was a ton of work. There were multiple times Eric and I both wanted to throw in the towel. When mostly tedious finishing work was left, it took everything in us to push through. I know I cursed that house multiple times. But, we prevailed, we knew that God would see us through to the end and it would be a blessing. We had no idea just how much!
After some research, we realized that we would need to show a full year of rental income on the home before the purchase became a rental asset as opposed to a typical debt. We had hoped to build much sooner than that so after six months of hard work, with the help of some friends, we put the house on the market to sell.
Here is a look at the house at the time of listing:
TO SELL OR NOT TO SELL
We listed the house before the basement was completely done, in the hopes to sell before our third child was born. I kept praying that the house would sell quickly and we wouldn’t be stuck with the mortgage and utility costs over the winter. We knew selling during winter would be difficult, especially in a very small town. We listed the house FSBO for about a month before we decided to enlist a local real estate agent (shout out to Angie Roderick, she is a rockstar) to get the house sold asap. My health was starting to become a concern toward the end of my pregnancy and my anxiety was growing day by day because all I wanted was the house to sell BEFORE our daughter was born.
My prayer was for peace and patience as we waited for an offer on the house. Homes around us seemed to sell the same week or day that they were listed and I was fearful we had made a mistake. Still, we knew who was in control. I keep telling everyone who asked about the house that it was a “God-thing” and the timing would be perfect when it sold. While I knew that in my heart, it was still so difficult to wait.
WELCOMING A NEW BABY
Miss Gabby was due Christmas day and while I didn’t think she would go full-term, I had no idea she would come a month early! I went in for a non-stress test because of my rising blood pressure and history of preeclampsia, only to have a blood pressure of 170/110. Needless to say, I didn’t go home from that appointment. I got to take a little trip in the ambulance to a bigger hospital to deliver asap. Miss Gabby was born on November 29th and has been the perfect addition to our family. We might all be a little obsessed with her.
IT ALL COMES TOGETHER
Ironically enough (said sarcastically), the next day while sitting in the hospital, Angie called with an official offer on the house. After some negotiation, we sold the house over the listing price and were set to close just after the new year. Closing just after the new year also meant that we wouldn’t have to pay the capital gains taxes on the sale until 2024. It was as if God had a plan all along… weird.
Here we sit, only six weeks after closing, ready to sign paperwork for the contract and construction on our dream build. Tomorrow we meet with the bank and our builder to get the down payment for the build sorted and get on his books. Throughout this whole journey, doors have been easily opening left and right and things have fallen into place in ways that have been out of our control. I am excited to share those details and the floor plans for our build in the next post. Let me just say – trusting God’s plan and timing is the way to go. We couldn’t have planned any of this better ourselves! <3