Something Big's Afoot...

in our household.   As you are all aware, we left Virginia a while back searching for a warmer place to live.  We were intending to move to Texas, but after a rather lengthy visit in Florida and the realization that prices in Florida were cheaper, we decided to stay in Florida for a year.  That way we could regroup after living in the camper for 3 months.  After that, we would then look into where we wanted to move after that.

Well, after only 4 months we made our decision, but earlier this week we found out that it looks like things are moving forward.  We've put an offer in on this house....

Love the shade (important in FL), but we're going to need to trim the trees back a bit.

in Sarasota, Florida and we have a closing date in less than 2 weeks (details on that below).

The decision process went a bit like I was thinking hoping it would.  I was hoping that Jon would change his mind and decide to stay in Florida after seeing just how warm the winter's are here compared to Texas.  We both realize that this winter has been unseasonably warm but when you take that into account, the temps in Florida are much more consistent.  The lows aren't as low, and the highs aren't as high.

Being that 1.  Jon loves to tinker and 2. we have a lease on the house we are in through August, we went in search of a short sale or a foreclosure.  That way we would have time to close, but also time to fix it up while we had somewhere else to live.  We were told that once we put in an offer it would take 3 - 4 months minimum for the bank to agree to the price (usually it involves a counter offer or two so that can add even more time as well) , and then another month or two after that for the appraisal and inspections.

If we close on our currently scheduled date (which looks like it should happen), the whole process will have taken less than 75 days.  We are surprised to say the least and so was our Realtor!  We do have a few things we want to do to the house before we move in (replacing the carpets and painting being at the top of the list) so we probably won't be living there full time for a couple months or so.

Banana Tree

Orange Tree

 All I know is that I am SO excited to be able to have a place that is "ours."  I will be able to decorate it and organize it the way I want (the downside to a furnished house... you can get stuck with some really strange stuff).  And the 1.38 acres will mean I can have a REAL garden (there are already orange and banana trees on the property) and the kids will have space to run around. 

And for those of you who are wondering... yes we have 1.38 acres, privacy, and we will still be within 5 minutes of everything Sarasota has to offer as well as 20 minutes from the number one beach in the US (Siesta Key).  Guess where we will be going as often as possible?

We made sure that we will have a spare room for those of you wanting to come down this way.  Call in advance though, we are already taking reservations.  :-)