(Part II)
Dear Readers, this is the 2nd part of a great testimony I shared last week of lesson’s learned regarding God’s timing and the human elements involved to see our prayers come to pass.
I called our Realtor and asked her to politely refuse the offer.
It was her job to inform us that the offer was well below the asking price for homes in this market, and “I should carefully re-consider.” I thanked her for letting me know that, but we had made the decision to let it go.
That afternoon, the Seller’s offered more incentives which were more than gracious.
But we remained in peace about our decision to keep looking for “our” home, so with much thanksgiving for their offer, we backed away. (I was very happy to hear that it did sell just a short time later.)
Two weeks after all of this, our Realtor sent me another link to a new listing. As I scrolled through the photos my heart remained guarded, but optimistic. Remember, I had written the vision down and our home would have character?
Well, that was the opening statement on the listing and this 1939 home had tons of it. All updated, and just waiting for the right buyers. But when I looked at the price, I thought “wow”, this is way lower than I expected.
My Realtor called me and said, “the offer’s are starting to come in, but if you want I can get us a showing this afternoon.” Come to find out, she had just closed on another house with the Realtor involved in this one. (They had known each other for years and were friends.)
Now, it just so happened that my Hubby had gotten off work early that day and was able to met me at the house. It was a very familiar home to me near the courthouse in Angleton, I have driven by it probably hundreds of times in the past 30 plus years that we have lived in this town.
The moment I pulled in the driveway the peace of God’s flowed right threw me like a rush of wind, and the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit was overwhelming and I said under my breath, “Lord, THIS is OUR HOME!!”
My Husband had pulled up in the front of the house, and immediately he agreed!
We took the tour and it just got better and better as we strolled across the beautiful hard wood floors and past the huge built in china cabinets, with the window seat nestled in-between. Crown molding throughout and lot’s of windows in every room.
The kitchen was completely updated with granite countertops and a large stainless steel farm sink. There was one whole wall of built in cabinets. Plus, deep and wide storage places built in above the cabinets and reaching to the 10 foot ceilings. The home is pier and beam, with solid wood walls and ceilings.
I looked through the original windows to the recently built deck outback with a gorgeous display of Peggy Martin flowers splayed over the top and sides of the pergola. The landscaping was beautiful with a magnificent Magnolia tree towering over one side of the property. A white bench seat encircling it, provided shade for one whole side of the graceful old home.
My Husband liked the home but he was sold when he saw the huge newly constructed garage with drywall and reset lighting, complete with a long work table and sink.
Upon the advice of our son we offered about $10,000 above asking price and agreed to pay all closing cost. The Lord even put it on our hearts to include a personal letter to the seller why we wanted “this” home.
Well, the home had come on the market that morning and by evening time they had so many offers they quite taking them.
The next day we were informed that we got the house!! Praise the Lord!!
Because it was 82 years old, there was a lot to check out of course.
But the good reports started pouring in, the inspection report had several things listed our of code because of the age of the home, but nothing major, in truth he told me, “Mrs. Groves, this home is an exceptional find. You can’t even find the wood they used to construct this home anymore.”
The termite report was clear, the plumbing had been newly updated, and the foundation company told us that this homes foundation was “better than 99 percent of the homes we inspect.” It just kept getting better and better. It was above and beyond what we could ask or think! Eph. 3:20-21
We put in our offer on November 15th and closed on December 15th. Just in time for Christmas!!!
As another blessing, we wanted to meet the Seller during the buying process and she was eager to meet us. She and I became good friends and she was able to tell us some history of the home, and how to maintain it.
She even passed along all of her records for repairs, warranties and replacements that had been done over the past few years that she had owned it. She also gave us the detailed notes of the Contractor who had built the home in 1939. Wow!
Then I asked her what made her accept our offer, because I knew that she had received other attractive ones.
She told me that the incentives certainly helped, and the letter touched her heart, but the one thing she wanted was peace during the sell. She had heard of horror stories of rifts between Realtor’s and buyer/sellers, so she had prayed for a peaceful transaction. And when looking over all the offers, her Realtor expressed to her how easy my Realtor was to work with. She said, that was the deciding factor. (Did I mention that we had also prayed for favor:)
One day during one of our visits I asked her why she decided to sell the home, I could tell she was sad about leaving it. Then she told me that this was suppose to be her forever home, but she suffered a sudden personal loss of a loved one and she decided to sell the house and move in with her son.
God’s timing.
Of course God didn’t take someone’s life to provide us with this home. That was Satan’s work. (John 10:10) But in God’s foreknowledge, He knew when our home would be available.
So, when the Lord told us to look for a new home, I should have asked Him … when?
And here is an update to this testimony, we actually met the son of the man who had owned/built our home in 1939. He was able to give us so many details of the rich history of our house. Of course, we extended an invitation to visit us anytime. God is good- all the time!!!
You know, one morning after we moved in I was sitting in the back yard reflecting on how all of this had come about and the good reports we had received about the old home’s condition.
As I quietly thanked the Lord for those good reports, He replied, “I have been preserving it … for you.””
(Dear Readers, I added a lot of details because I wanted to boast in the Lord, it is all for God’s glory, and to testify of His goodness. He is no respecter of persons, what He did for us, He is more than willing to do for you.) Romans 2:11)
Contact Brenda Groves at: bkgroves1996@yahoo.com
