Done and Done

Well, here we are almost a week after closing on our first house and the Savini family couldn't be happier. We have a few more curtains to hang and bins to unpack, but other than that, it looks and feels like home.  My commute has been so nice and Matt has only been stuck in terrible traffic once.  We both feel like we made the right decision to buy this house and we all know Wheati couldn't be happier.  Thanks for following our journey of ups and downs and being so supportive.  We look forward to making happy memories here and sharing our home with others.  God Bless and come visit :)

You're kidding me...

So, we were all panicked about the $5,000 we had to bring to closing and when we arrived and went over the paper work, we were asked to cut a check for $3.02.  bahahahaha!  God has a sense of humor alright!  Bad news is that the owner decided to take the refrigerator so we're in the market for one of those before we move in on Saturday.  When we finally cross one hump, I feel like we're already hiking up another, but I guess that's the way life is.  It has been a long and awesome day and Wheati couldn't be happier.  More to come soon, so stay posted :)

Makin' Progress

I just wanted to throw out an update to you and bring you up to speed.  We were able to get everything together to close this Thursday.  Surprise, surprise, something came up we didn't know about.  It turns out we have to bring like, THOUSANDS of dollars to closing (when we negotiated them into the contract...).  Apparently in Texas, you have to pay 13 months of taxes in October and they decided to add them into our closing costs, UGH!  We're working on that and all I can say is "thank the Lord for my job!"  He has placed me at the right place at the right time, just like he always does.  I am in the middle of my first week of teaching Kindergarten and signing my life away after an eleven hour day is just a little much, so I told Matt he is in charge of moving us :) Aren't I sweet?  I'll help on the weekend, but since he wanted to do it so fast, he is in charge :)  It goes without saying that we need help packing.  If you love to pack dishes and see how much will fit into one vehicle and still have the truck shut, all in over 100 degree heat, come on down!  ha!  Please pray for us as we go through this exciting and stressful experience.  Hopefully the next post will have a picture of the keys to our new home. :)

Big News

After waiting for reports from the roofer, plumber, electrician and builder, we were finally able to submit our repairs to the seller.  After waiting for what has felt like forever, really 2 days, Ramsey called with the news that the seller is going to fix EVERYTHING!  Praise the Lord!  It was another dance party in the computer room.  Just as Matt was filling me in on his call with Ramsey, I receive this message from HGTV, "Hey Rachael, Just so you know, everyone on our end is on pins and needles.  The possibility of working on your story has brought some cheer to our group."  Talk about buzz kill.  They have been calling, and asking how we have been doing and if our offer somehow fell through.  If the seller hadn't agreed to fix everything, Matt and I were willing to walk away and find another home and if that had happened, they were going to come out and film the rest of our house hunting journey.  It is really a shame, but everything happens for a reason.  But on the bright side, we now have two spare bedrooms for guests, so book your vacation with us :)

Inspection(s), CHECK!

Matt and I had thought that it would be smooth sailing after we heard Ramsey say the words, "they accepted your offer; you got the house!"  The worst was over.  No more internet searches, late night drives, showings, or frustration because WE found the perfect house and it was going to be OURS.  Boy, were we wrong.  We, I really mean Matt, has been on the phone with our lender every day this week (I feel like I need to add him to our Christmas card list) trying to eliminate some of the many documents they need before we can move forward.  After much searching the file cabinets, Tupperware I had crammed in the back of the closet and both of our computer hard-drives, we finally finished the last thing on our list and are hoping to close early.  We once again, were on cloud nine thinking we really have this whole "house buying thing" down pat.  WRONG-O!  We underwent our inspection, you know, the really expensive one that makes you paranoid about every little thing, well, that's what happened to me.  We were e-mailed a copy of the inspection report to find a few, I say few, but really enough "needs attention" to fill eight pages.  Ramsey says that is pretty good since he just had a client's come in at thirty-five pages.  I'm counting my blessings after hearing that!  Well, these eight pages have had my full attention lately.  I've met with the plumber, roofer, foundation experts, and the builder to review the home and discuss how they were going to hook me up and straighten it all out.  I can say now, $542 later, that the house is in great shape and I am certainly not going to say that we have a handle on this process because I don't want to see how God will show me that I don't, but we are on schedule to close August 31st, hopefully early.  Prayers appreciated :)

One last thing before I head to bed... I have to give props to Matt.  He has really grabbed every challenge by the reigns and refused to get discouraged.  I am so thankful to have such an awesome husband fight to find me the perfect house to make into our first home <3

We are UNDER CONTRACT!

WE GOT THE HOUSE!  The Savinis will be relocating to Live Oak.  We chose the home the GPS brought us to (read all about the background story in "Hot Off The Press").  Matt and I feel like God picked this home out for us and we couldn't be more excited. 
Our new home is a single-story 1614 sq ft home with three bedrooms, two baths, and a two car garage.  I know how much Matt and I love the house, but does it meet all of Wheati's wish list?
-Fenced in yard for blitzing around like a mad man, CHECK!
-3+ bedrooms so that he can get his mom and dad's office out of his room, CHECK!
-2.5 baths ("one for mom, one for dad, and mine with NO SHOWER please!") Single story so he'll get over it, CHECK!
-Tile or hardwoods somewhere in the house for him to lay on during the hot Texas days, CHECK!
He is going to LOVE his new home :)
We are looking forward to the house getting inspected and appraised and keep us in your prayers! :)

Hot Off The Press!

Well, I fell in love with a single-story very upgraded house that Matt was on the fence about and he fell in love with a two-story new construction house that I was on the fence about.  We put in an offer on my house, and it wasn't accepted; then put in an offer on Matt's and that wasn't accepted either.  Keep in mind that we are looking for an awesome house at a steal of a price and as Dad says, "stick to your guns."  We're keeping the motto, "love the price more than the house," and so far, we're doing great.
Since the house hunting experience began, the Savini family has made a tradition, nightly family drives.  We all pile into the car after the sun goes down, roll down the rear windows for Wheati, and program the GPS for at least three neighborhoods we're interested in.  We like to see what the neighbors are like and how the neighborhood changes once everyone is home.  Usually, these drives are depressing.  We find some don't have streetlights, and some have more on-street parking than you'd expect with everyone having a two-car garage or just isn't all we thought it would be.  And adding more stress is all of the construction in San Antonio which makes our GPS go crazy and we watch our arrival time climb higher and higher with each wrong turn.  Well, last night's drive with three U-turns, was worth it.  We came to a dead stop as the GPS says, "You have arrived."  We turn off the AC and roll down the front windows and stare at a beautiful house for sale, but not the one we set out to see.  I quickly wrote down the address we were parked at, and then we scooted down the street to find the one we actually set out to find.  We arrived home late, as usual, and tucked Wheati into bed and then we contacted Ramsey about the unexpected find and the home we were initially looking for.  Turns out the house the GPS brought us to would be a real steal for the neighborhood.  We set up a viewing for Saturday afternoon.  As we walked the grounds, for the first time, we both had the same feeling, "this could be it."  As we stood in the kitchen, Ramsey leaning on the island, Matt sitting on the counter and I propped up on the breakfast bar, we all were in agreement, for the first time, "this is a great house."  The property has great comps, a perfect record for renting, close to my school, shopping centers, and it's an easy commute for Matt.  We put in an offer and are hoping for an acceptance but realistically a counter.  We'll keep you posted! :)

Split Decision

Yesterday, Matt, Ramsey and I went out on another search for Wheati's new home.  I packed my usual goodie bag of gatorade, Milky Ways, pretzels and granola bars, all to keep myself in high spirits as we viewed home after home with no luck in meeting all of Honey Wheati's requirements.  We were in an established community with mature trees, sidewalks, street lights, and well cared for homes lining the streets.  The first home on the list to view was lacking the open floor plan we were looking for.  Since Wheats has to be in the same room we are, we'd like the main rooms of the house to be open to feel as spacious as possible.  We moved a few houses down the street to find a quaint little one-story home with an absolutely beautiful dark stained wooden door that immediately caught my attention.  The inside was captivating.  The entry way has tile flooring and leads to new high-quality carpet in the living room with vaulted ceiling, white brick fireplace, and plantation shutters on every window.  From the front door, you can see the dining room and kitchen with tile floor.  The dining room has a full wall of picture-frame woodwork painted white and the space would perfectly fit our dining room table.  From there, the kitchen grabs your eye, with granite counter tops, solid wood cabinets, neutral back-splash, stainless steel appliances, a deep white sink and high arch faucet.  Beautiful.  The place takes your breathe away.  And then you go outside to a covered patio with another connected patio perfect for a patio set with umbrella.  It is fenced in and has a perfect area for Wheati to have a "dog run" that I can see him loving.  Back inside, we were led to the master.  It has crown molding, not huge, but large enough to fit all of our furniture with a connected bath with a combo tub/shower and walk-in closet with beautiful built-ins.  Down the hallway you'll find two bedrooms with more crown molding and wooden built-ins and another beautiful full bathroom.  I feel at home in this house, but Matt isn't sold on the exterior of the house.  I see the exterior as something we can change to make the home our own since there is so little in the home that we would change.  A drawback would be the laundry hookups are in the garage.
I'll let you know the verdict on the house and when we hear about HGTV.

Video Interview with HGTV, Check!

Wes, from HGTV, arrived around noon on Saturday and left shortly after two o'clock; it was an intense two hours.  Ramsey, our Realtor, was up first to bat and taught us how being on TV is done, not to mention having an audience of me, Matt, Aunt Chris, Jessie and Sarah (family in town from New Jersey).  I'm glad it's a rolling tape, and we could just start our answers over again.  I was on deck and asked the audience to "VACATE!"  My side of the interview went great, until they asked the question of my plan for if/when Matt gets deployed, a question I certainly wasn't expecting.  Having someone ask this question really made the possibility real, real scary that is.  Just the thought of it is devastating, but that doesn't pertain to our house hunt, so lets change the subject.  After I finished my interview, I found out that the audience had only moved to the hallway and had heard all of my answers!  Oh well, I guess if all of America has the possibility of hearing them, so should the people I'm closest to.  Matt was next on the chopping block and I was very verbal in helping him with his answers, "LAME!" or, "aw, how sweet!"  Jess and I had a good time trying to be quiet as we laughed at Matt in the other room.  After he answered every question perfectly with poise, we had our joint interview and our true personalities came out.  I felt good about the audition until Wes told me that he has already interviewed nine couples.  Talk about a buzz kill.  Of course I totally grilled Wes about the other couples and he finally answered:
Wes: "I think you guys have a good chance, you're young, energetic and have a good story."
Rae: "You probably say that to everyone."
Wes: "Yeah, something close to that, but I mean it with you guys."

After viewing many more listings on-line and late night drives to neighborhoods to see how they look when people are home, the quality of people in the area and we feel that we are another step closer to finding our perfect neighborhood.  We are touring some more homes with Ramsey tomorrow afternoon and we are so excited.  The home buying process has become more like another full-time job and is one that we are enjoying.  We'll update you as we find out more :)

Movin' Along Fast

The past twenty-four hours have been a complete whirl wind.  We were pre-approved for a loan with a 4.5% interest rate, and nailed down an awesome Realtor.  Ramsey has a lot of spunk and is ready to get us a great deal.  I received a phone call with a job offer to teach kindergarten up on the 1604 loop, which expands our searching area and to top it off, we were contacted by HGTV to be featured on their show, My First Place.

We have cruised through two hundred-fifty listings and have booked six showings, all in the north east district of San Antonio.  As of right now, we are loving the area of Converse, which puts me closer to work and gives Matt the longer commute, but after all, this was all his idea ;-)

We are continuing on this journey with Wheati's wishes at the top of our priority list and he may be the reason we get chosen to be featured on TV since the woman making the decisions is a Wheaten lover :)

Wheati's Wish List

So we were sitting on the couch one night and Wheati asked if we could have a family meeting. He informed us that he is tired of walking through shrubbery to pee, having the local Great Dane try to eat him on his walks, and not having been outside off his leash since arriving in San Antonio over 7 months ago.

Not wanting to make our amazing little boy suffer any more than necessary, we have decided to look into buying a home with a fenced in yard and more space for Wheati and all of his things. The search began this weekend at some new housing developments in Northeast San Antonio, as well as meeting with a Realtor to view one of his listings and get some advice on fulfilling Wheati's housing requirements.

His requirements are as follows:

-Fenced in yard for blitzing around like a mad man
-3+ bedrooms so that he can get his mom and dad's office out of his room
-2.5 baths ("one for mom, one for dad, and mine with NO SHOWER please!")
-Tile or hardwoods somewhere in the house for him to lay on during the hot Texas days

Wheati's list has kept us busy on our house hunting journey and we are looking forward to fulfilling all of his wish list and being a happy little family.