Going on our 5th house...

Alright...here is an explanation to the comment I made yesterday about buying the house across the street from us.

When Jim and I were married in December of 2001, we moved into a house (after a few weeks of living with my mom and dad and three younger sisters as newlyweds...that was interesting!) that we had completely gutted and remodeled, with A LOT of help from Jim's dad. Gil is a contractor and has been doing this kind of work for years and does a great job at it! So, growing up, Jim learned to do a lot of the same stuff. We lived in our very first house for about a year and 2 months, then decided we better upgrade (this house was only 800 sq. ft., but it was SO cute!) because I was pregnant. So we bought a new house #2, which we got a GREAT deal on and remodeled and updated the inside. We lived here for about a year and a month of two. Then moved on to house #3, which was another VERY GREAT deal. Jim can find the deals, y'all! He's great at it! We updated it, painted paneling in the living room, totally remodeled the master bathroom. We lived there for about 9 months. I know you are probably laughing, thinking I am crazy, but we love the change! Then we moved into the house that we currently live in (house #4). This was also another VERY GREAT deal! We have lived in this house for almost 2 years! Can you believe that? That is a record for us! It will be 2 years in April. However, there is a lady Jim's work who is getting a divorce and has been looking for a new house to move into; Jim told her she was welcome to come look at our house because we were ready to move again. So she came and looked at it and LOVED it. Then several weeks ago, we saw our neighbors across the street moving out. Jim wrote them a letter saying that we were interested in looking at their house since we had sold ours through principle. They called us and Jim went to look at it. He came home and said we were buying it because it was, yet again, another VERY GREAT deal! The couple who lived there have already built another house on the other side of our neighborhood and it was going to be vacant until they sold it. We asked them if we could take possession of it so we could start remodeling and updating and wait to close in February. They were fine with that idea. And the lady who wants to buy our house doesn't want to move until then, so it all worked out! So currently, Jim is working on the house across the street, painting, re-tiling, new carpet, new countertops...it's going to be a nice house when it's finished. It was built in the 80's so it was 80's style...carpet, wallpaper, etc. It will only be a temporary home because we are expecting to buy a house just around the corner.

Yes, we have a house around the corner that we love the outide of and it is right on the golf course and a great back yard! Which is one of the main things we are looking for! Several months ago, Jim wrote them a letter saying that we were interested in looking at their house to buy it. They called us and were not interested. Then when we took possession of the house across the street, Jim wrote them another letter saying that we were really, really interested in looking at their house to buy. As he was walking up to tape it onto their door, they answered the door and invited him in. He stayed for an hour and a half. The couple showed him around. Jim said it was a great house, needs some updating, but could be a great house for us.

So, we are planning on moving into the house across the street in February, live there for just a while until the other couple is ready to sell us their house. Jim thinks that they will want to sell in late fall of 2008. He's hoping.

Let me assure you people who are worried about the finances...Jim is a finance guru and is VERY smart with his money. We have made a profit on each house we have sold and used the profit as part of downpayment on the next house. And besides all of these houses, we have had a couple of duplexes that we rented out. We will never do that again...it's just too much trouble. But we made a profit on those. Then we bought a patio home a while back because it was SO cheap and just put it back on the market for it's true value and made money on that! Jim is willing to do anything to make some money. So, call us crazy, but we love it. We love the change.

In fact, I think we've created nomads out of our children. The house we live in now is the girl's 4th house. However, she was conceived in our very first house, so it could be her 5th house if you want it to be. This house is the boy's 2nd. They are already to move across the street and have already claimed their bedrooms!

That's our story, and we're stickin' it!