The Next New Adventure

Ready for the next thing. This house is sold (well, we have contract that appears to be good, still a lot of hurdles to jump; option period, inspection, appraisal, survey...but we are supposed to close April 25).
We have bought another house. (have not officially bought it yet, but we should close next week.) Yes, we have. A new adventure, new project.
The house we are buying is in Dublin. We did not WANT to move to Dublin. We like Stephenville, really, really like Stephenville. Stephenville is very convenient, I can run to HEB any time I need to. We have grandchildren in Stephenville. The others live in the Ft. Worth area. Moving to Dublin gets us 12 minutes further away from all of our children and grandchildren. Twelve minutes away from all shopping. Twelve minutes away from our bank.  Yeah, I know, 12 minutes is not that long, but, still, we did not want to move 12 minutes away. And, did I mention that we like Stephenville. When we moved here 27 years ago, Stephenville was a refuge for us. We left the city, the crowds, the crime, the faster paced life. We left a very legalistic, cult-church. When we moved here, we relaxed, we could breathe. The first 10 months we lived here, we rented a house one house away from the city park. Les and I would sit on the porch and watch cars drive by and talk. People in the cars would wave at us. I asked Les, "Do you know those people?" He didn't, and I didn't either, but that was the kind of town this was, and still is. When I went to the clothing store, the employees would hold my baby so that I could shop. It was comfortable to ask a perfect stranger who was shopping if she thought a dress fit right. It was that kind of little town.
So, our hearts are tied to Stephenville.
Before we really began to look for a house, this house on the main street in Dublin caught our eye. It is a pretty house with good curb appeal, for sale by owner. I called about it and the price was good, so we took a look. The house was built in 1930,h as a lot of charm, but needs a lot of work...just what we want. It is bigger than this house, has a converted attic that is perfect for a play room, something that this house lacks. There is a workshop attached to the garage, which Les can use for his guitar business he is building. It is on a very large lot that has good trees. The only negative thing about it is that it is not in Stephenville.
Over the next several weeks, we looked for something in Stephenville in our price range that fit our needs. We made an offer on one house, but another offer was accepted. We were ready to make an offer on another house, but a contract came in on it. Another house we were interested in sold before we could do anything. There was one house that had been on the market for 7 years, SEVEN  years. It was more than we wanted to spend, but, the price was reduced so that it was a really good deal, so we made arrangements to see it. Our realtor called back and said it had sold that day!!! I told Les that we needed to look at more houses in Stephenville because we were doing wonders for the market here. A total of 7 houses that we were interested in sold right when we were looking at them.
OK, we may be dense, but we finally got it. God wants us to move to Dublin, or He does not want us to move at all. We felt totally sure that it is time to sell this house, and we need to have a house where children have a place to play. We made an offer on the Dublin house, came to an agreement with the owner, and are ready to begin work as soon as we close. Now, we can't wait. Actually, I can't wait. I can see this house full of children playing, while friends and family visit. Dublin will be a great place to live.

Ready to Sell

Yep, we are ready to sell. Our friends have questioned whether we would really sell after all the hard work and love we have put into this house. I wondered if we would really sell it. But, as finished up the last projects, it just seemed right to sell it. It is finished. Our original plan was to buy this old, neglected house, restore it, and sell it (hopefully for a profit)!  It is time to sell it.
So, here is a quick tour of the finished house.

If anyone is interested in buying, it is 3-2-2, 1448 sq feet, build in 1909, "rebuilt" in 2013,

 price is $115,000.