Making an Offer

There were so many things about this piece of property that we really loved. 

• It's flat!
• It's one acre. Big enough to have some space, not so big we'll be a slave to maintenance.
• It's has a great open feeling outside. There are several nurseries around us and a large field out the back of the property.
• There was already a septic tank on the property. Even though there were no buildings on the property now, a septic approved for a 3 bedroom house had already been installed. This probably saved us $25-$30,000.
• Other than the septic, it's all city utilities. There's natural gas at the street (hooray! no propane tank) and it ties in to the City of Portland water (no well!)
• From the corner of the property there's even a view of the top of Mt. Hood.

So with all of that we decided to move ahead. We were headed to the beach for a weekend with friends but wanted to at least let the owner (Ray) know we wanted to put in an offer. We didn't really expect to be able to make it happen before we left but Ray said he could meet us out there Friday morning at 8am. 

At this point, things almost became comical to Troy and I as all the pieces fell into place. More than once we gave each other a look that said, "Really? Could this work any better for us?"

• Ray let us know he was firm on the price, which we felt was fair. 
• We wanted to have the septic inspected. Ray said, "I'll pay for that and have it pumped."
• The boundary lines were a bit unclear so we said we'd like to have a survey done. Again, Ray said, "I can take care of paying for that."
• He was going to Sandy to see about talking with a title company to draw up documents. We headed into Gresham to turn in our loan application. While we were turning in our paperwork, Ray called and said he was at the Gresham title company and was there any way we could sign papers in Gresham instead. As it turned out, he was two buildings away and we just walked over from the bank.
• While filling out the sale documents, Ray asked if $500 was an okay amount for earnest money. We almost laughed at the low amount he was requesting.
• Ray then asked if we could wait to close on the property until after the first of the year. Since our house wasn't even on the market yet this couldn't have been more perfect.

Overall, we left that day with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude to the Lord. We both are very aware that this is a lavish gift. It's not a need, we've already been blessed with a great home. It's definitely an "extra" in life & we're super thankful for a chance at this adventure and the opportunity to fulfill a dream.