The 3910 House

As promised, here is the story of the 3910 house.

Way back in the middle of May, our landlord sent me a text stating that she had been waiting on her tax return to come in so she could catch up on our mortgage. However, she had back money owed to student loans, and they took all of her return. Which meant the house was being foreclosed on. WHAT?! ?! Yeah. I was livid. How in the world was our house being foreclosed on, when I made sure that the rent check was in her possession every single month. Where was that money going???

So, we asked if we could just take over the mortgage. Simple, right? Not so much. After she talked to her loan holders..we first would have to get pre-approved and find financing. Also, because she had two loans for the house, both loan holders would have to sign off on a quick sale. Which, luckily they were willing to do. Unfortunately, because of lack of credit, Josh would not be able to qualify to be on the loan. I was going to have to be on the loan all by myself, and because I am a server, my pay stubs and tax returns only show so much income coming into my house. Plus, I had a good amount of debt to clear up from previous credit card accounts. We were turned down.

Thus began our search for a home. The first loan broker told us we could only afford about a $40k house. This left us with very limited options...and very unfortunate looking houses. I reached out to another mortgage company, a local one in fact instead of a corporate bank. We were pre-qualified and told we could probably get financed for more around $70k. Maybe more if needed. We kept looking. And we found a house in the same neighborhood that we liked. Granted it needed some love, and updating; but because of the loan we would be going through, HUD would pay for the updates. It was a great deal. only $54. Two bedroom, one bath, nice size kitchen, living room, and a den for Josh to have a man cave. We placed our bid. We were out bid. Our search continued.

I researched and scoured the Crye-Leike website. I compiled a list of houses to look at and contacted our agent. That's when we found 805 and it was love at first site. But, it was a little higher than what we were told we could afford. I called the loan officer and she played with numbers and said that she saw no reason why we couldn't afford it. So we put in our offer. 805 was listed at $89,900 and we offered $82k. Our offer was accepted the next day.

I worked with the mortgage company and we got everything ready for the underwriter. Our loan broker was so helpful, and did a great job pulling together our loan. However, because of my debt ratio, the underwriter denied us. But, because the broker was so excellent, she passed all of our information to a friend at another mortgage company. And finally, after paying off some more debt, we were approved and heading to closing.

Now keep in mind, while all this was going on, we had no idea when we were going to have to move out of 3910. We stayed there all summer, without any word from our landlord. We actually hadn't talked to her since we found out that we were unable to purchase that home. I guess it was the end of August that we received a letter from an attorney stating that the house was being auctioned on October 16. We moved out on the 14th of October, moved boxes to my parents house, furniture to storage and stayed up on the mountain until closing on the 22nd.

Now we are almost fully moved into 805. There are still a few more boxes up on the mountain, which will be recovered this weekend. Holy man. I never, ever want to go through that again. It was a hell of a summer, and I hope that none of you ever have to go through that headache. But, it's all over and now we have a home. A home of our very own.



P.S. We still have not heard from our ex-landlord. Last we heard, she ran off to Oklahoma. Coward.

Home Sweet Home

WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!  Yup, that's right! We've been keeping this a big secret ALL summer, and it finally is official. We had closing yesterday and have already started moving some boxes in. All the big furniture will be moved tomorrow, which will also be our first night in our new home. We couldn't be happier..and lemme tell ya, it was a looooong stressful process. But we will get more into that whole story later. Let's get to the pictures!

Welcome to 805!

This is our master bathroom

 

And our master bedroom

 guest bedroom 1: aka craft room

 guest bedroom 2: aka guest bedroom

main bathroom

hallway

living room

Kitchen with eat-in dining room

stairs to the den/man cave

den/man cave and laundry room

and our backyard

 

 

 

So there she is friends...in all her beauty. Now the real fun begins with moving and painting and remodeling! I am sooo excited! And of course, I will keep all updated on all the new and fun things we do in 805!

 

 



Mr & Mrs Gorman

This past weekend I was lucky enough to be a part of one of my dear friend's wedding. Ashley and I have been friends since we met in FIRST GRADE! Crazy, right? Right. But it's the truth. We grew up together and spent most of our high school days completely inseperable. And it was in high school that she and Nick started dating. They have been together for 10 years and havehad many ups and downs that made them who they are today.

And one of the best parts? Mason, their son. He just turned 7 and he was such a good sport the day of the wedding. Even while we were setting up Camp Dixie at 9 in the morning on Sunday and all he had was us girls to keep him company.  He is such a kind, loving, funny, smart kid. Ashley and Nick have a great son, and they are great parents. I am so happy for this lil family and to be able to call them friends, and family. Congratulations to the Gorman Family! (and let me just say...Ashely was S.T.U.N.N.I.N.G.)

                                   ***All photos curtiosy Laura Knox Photography, Ashley's Photographer***
 

Baby, Baby, Baby

That's right friends. Our family is welcoming a new member! Josh and I are................going to be an aunt and uncle!!!! (Again).  Ha! Betcha thought we were pregnant, didn't ya!? Well, no such luck...for now. But Chris and Kittie, they are having a little one. Due in March. We are beyond excited. Josh and I already have a nephew on his side, but I didn't get to spend much time with him when he was a baby. Hopefully with this new budle of joy we can kidnap him every once and awhile and have him here with us. Now mind you, I say him....but we have no idea if it's a boy or girl. And we may not until March gets here. Chris wants it to be a surprise, Kittie would like to know. But I have a feeling Chris will win this one. And that's okay....even if I can start buying gender specific items....there's toooooons of other stuff I can load up on. Man, this is going to be one spoiled baby.

 

Two Sweet Friends

I realize it has been awhile since I have written, but there has been a lot going on around the O'Dell household. Unfortunately, my first post back won't be a super happy one. But, happy news is on the way, so just be patient.

Right, so you remember when Rascal had to have his leg removed?? If not, here's the post all about that story: Rascal's Story. Well, shortly after the results of Rascal's bone sample came back positive for cancer, we found out that our dear sweet cat, Kitty, also was plagued with a horrible cancer. We took her in for her normal check-up and a rabies shot, when the vet mentioned how Kitty looked skinner. So, we made another appointment to have some blood work done and other tests. With that visit we discovered that she had an infected tooth that had to be removed. Josh and I were really hoping that this would solve Kitty's problems, however, when the tests came back from a tissue sample they sent out, it was positive for cancer, and turns out Kitty Cat had a tumor in her nasal cavity.

Now, if we had wanted  afford it, we could have taken her to Knoxville and either tried to have it removed or do some chemo-therapy. Only problem. Either way, there would be no guarantee either would work. So, we just decided to let her live out her days in love and try to get her to eat whatever we could. And this worked. At first. Then we noticed that she was starting to have some swelling under her one eye, and not eating as much. So we got her a steroid shot...which helped a whole whole lot. For about a week or two. Then we got her another one, and it just didn't do the trick like the first one. Now mind you, this whole time, poor Kitty Cat is drooling, sticking her tongue out,  and making weird noises when she purrs because 1. she was missing a tooth and 2. she had a tumor pressing on her sinus cavities. Well, on Saturday, September 29,  our dear, sweet, loved, Kitty passed away. She put up one heck of a fight. She really was a trooper and stuck it out as long as she could. She was a great, dear friend to both Josh and me. And a good big sister to Lola (who still looks around for her every once and awhile). She knew she was loved, and I'm sure she still knows that she will always be loved and missed.

Now, back to Rascal. It had been three months since he had any type of check up after removing his leg, which he adjusted to quite well. So, my mom took him into work with her one day to get his x-rays' done. And of course, the cancer came back and attacked his lungs. Within a week of the x-ray he had developed a constant wheezing while breathing, and last weekend started coughing very badly, even to the point of coughing up blood. It was not looking good for my puppy dog, and we had to let him go. It was the best decision  because it was just going to get worse and he would have been in so much pain.

I am very sad to have lost both of these great pets in the same week, but I am so very thankful to have had them in my life, and that they are no longer in pain. And I am glad to know that they have each other to look after and play with. They were loved and spoiled and brought lots of love and laughter into our lives. They will be forever cherished and missed.

                                                                          Kitty

                                                   February 1, 2002- September 29, 2012

Rascal

 

2002- October 2, 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

We will always love you two.