Competition is Tough in Real Estate

So, we finally heard back from the bank and apparently our offer was not selected.  The difference between ours and the other offer was about $16k.  They ended up paying $100k over asking price for the property.  (Yikes!)  So when I look at it from that perspective I feel better bc I wouldn't pay that much over the list price for a house that needed quite a few fixes/changes and probably won't see a return that big for years (if at all) bc of the surrounding comps.


On a happy note, we put an offer in on a house that has only been listed for about a week and it was accepted!  Now on to the "fun" stages of inspections and counting down the days until closing.  We're praying that the inspection goes well (it's a newer house, so we don't expect there to be problems) and the closing date comes soon!  I was excited to hear that the chickens and coop come with the property, so check that off my wish list! lol     

"Buyer's Market" is an Oxymoron

So, we finally heard back from the bank and apparently they are still deciding between our offer and one other offer.  At this point, I'm not entirely sure if banks actually want to sell their REO properties.  If they do, why don't they make their choices faster when they have two solid offers to choose from?  Here's to waiting another ?? hours/days/weeks for a response.  At some point someone has to want to sell a house to us, right??  Only time will tell... 

House Hunting is Torture

For the past 2+ years, Steven and I have been looking for a more permanent home.  (Renting is getting kind of old.  I'm tired of wanting to plant/update/paint things, but not being able to do so because we don't own our house.)  After many deals that fell through bc of issues with the homes (or home owners), we think that our most recent offer might finally go through.  We're waiting to hear if our offer was accepted and if so, when we can hope to close after the necessary inspections.  It's pretty exciting in a nerve racking way!  The house we like needs a few improvements, so I look forward to blogging about the changes we'll be making before and after moving in if it all works out.  Let's hope this is the one!  

Summer is here!

I'm so excited that summer has finally arrived in the Rogue Valley!  Although it's often too hot outside to do anything in the afternoons, we try to make the best of it in the morning and get outside before lunch time.  (Also convenient because you miss the big crowds at the playground.)  Elijah loves making random friends where ever we go and is very proud to show off his little brother to those new friends.  Unfortunately, this has already resulted in Troy getting a minor cold once this month, so we're working on waving to his brother from the big-toy as opposed to bringing all the kids over to the stroller.  


Here are some pictures of us enjoying our first picnic of the summer.  Please stay tuned for more posts to come as more happens with our little family!

Getting ready for the first picnic of the summer...

Happy to be outside in the sun!

Troy's first summer picnic was great!

Testing out the slide...

View from playground

Hanging out at the playground

Elijah's birthday...month

August was a very busy month. (As if everyone couldn't tell by how fast it came and went...) Unfortunately I didn't keep up on my blog with all the events happening down here, so I'm trying to make up for it today by sharing some of the highlights.

First things first... I finally got my fishing license renewed, so Steven and I could take Elijah fishing. It was a pretty spontaneous outing, so of course we showed up to the lake when it was almost 80 degrees out with little protection from the sun. Thankfully Steven (the eagle scout) was with us, because I have long forgotten how to tie knots for adding hooks and weights to a fishing line. Without his skills, we would've been stuck trying to catch the fish with our net or with pointy sticks like on Survivor...



From the dock we saw a few small fish, but unfortunately they were too lazy to care about the yummy bait on the hook of Elijah's Spiderman fishing pole to get caught.

Needless to say I didn't have any luck either despite using my awesome hot-pink pole with matching stink-bait. After the 100th time of my line getting tangled up in the reel, I tried using Elijah's pole to minimize frustration. (I think the fish actually liked his better, so from now on I'll be buying a $10 pole to fish with despite what sales-people advise me to do.) At this point in time, I decided that fishing off a dock in 80+ degree heat wasn't the most exciting thing to do when pregnant. By the time this pic was taken, I was ready to go home...


Overall, we had a great time bonding over our attempt to catch fish. Thankfully, Steven brought frozen chocolate bars and other tasty snacks to make the "fishing" trip a fun and relaxing family experience...

If everyone else is doing it...

...maybe I should too!? I've gradually realized that many of my friends and family keep current, informative, and often amusing blogs for one of three reasons: 1) To keep people posted on important events 2) To entertain family and friends 3) To maintain their own sanity by venting about what ever is on their mind. Apparently, all three reasons were enough to convince me to start one for our family. Although I may not be as creative as others are with their insight and outlook on life, I figure that I can still use our new family blog to update everyone on life's happenings down here in Southern Oregon (and where ever the road takes us). If you find my posts entertaining, then I'll consider myself special and may just have to keep-up this new hobby :)

With that said, I promise to try to make each post from here on out worth at least your 1-5 minutes of procrastination and hopefully you can try to keep up with our ever growing and changing Griffith family :)