The Home Shopping Adventure

The home shopping adventure, no this is not sitting at home and watching QVC or some other shopping channel. It is not even about surfing Amazon.com Mustangs Unlimited website. The adventure is literally shopping for a home. This adventure began many months ago shortly after discovering that we were to be heading to Fort Riley, Kansas for our next duty station.

We are used to “looking” for homes. In 22 years of marriage we have moved often, even more often since coming on active duty. In the last ten years most of our “looking” for a home was about checking out houses on the military post of which we were stationed. We decided while at our last duty station when the military housing became privatized, a story in itself, that we would purchase a home at our next duty station, well, that was until we were sent to Korea. We had to postpone that plan until after Korea.

As we come to the end of our time here in Korea it was time to reactivate that plan in preparation for the move to Fort Riley. So the home shopping adventure began. The adventure started with simply figuring out what the housing allowance was for the Fort Riley area and then figuring what size and price that amount would allow us to purchase. For those who have purchased a home you know that was the easiest part. The greater challenge was yet to come.
Confirmation of the move to Fort Riley through official orders came a few months after setting out on this adventure. We decided it was time to move forward with the plans to purchase a home. This is a realm that De’Dee and I have not entered before, and at times we wonder why we entered it. So with much fear and prayer we moved onward.

We were put in touch with a realtor through USAA and the adventure was now in full gallop. We began to look, and look, and look house after house. Soon we had narrowed it down to about five houses and soon those houses were removed from our list as they became unavailable. This was okay because we had no plans of purchasing let alone putting a bid on a house from all the way over in Korea.

James 4 talks about how we should say God willing we will do this, that, or the other. This becomes important when buying a house for what we planned to do and what has now taken place are two different things. We have technically put three bids on a home. The first bid we started but stopped real fast. We got some good advice and reevaluate where we were going. We praise God for his protection.

In the Army we call it a strategic withdrawal. We came to the rally point and regrouped. This time when we engaged the enemy we did so with a clearer plan and better fire power. We submitted a bid and have since received a counter offer, which we rejected. We have submitted a second bid. We shall see where that goes. The bottom line is this. If the builder doesn’t like it we will walk away. We are not desperate for a home so bad to give in. The house has been on the market since October. As far as we are concerned he can continue to sit on it.

So the adventure continues….