5 Things to Know When Buying A Home After A Short Sale.

I originally posted this on my old blog back in 2012, but since we're currently under contract on our 3rd home I thought I'd revisit this post and share some of what we've learned. Maybe you're going through something similar I hope that it encourages you along your journey. 

I started writing this post back in Sept. 2012, it's taken me this long to complete it and hit publish. Mostly because the home buying process took a lot longer than expected and I really wanted to give you the best possible picture of what it has been like before sharing my thoughts with you. As there were many things we found out after starting this process that we didn't know about.

So here goes, a post 6 months in the making. My prayer is that it's helpful and saves even 1 family from dreading this process and finding joy instead.

If you've been reading for a while now then you already know that three years ago we sold our first home in Minnesota as a short sale. Due to my job lay off in October 2008 we put our home on the market in April 2009. This was such a hard decision for us to come to, being our first home there were so many memories attached to it. Such a feeling of defeat when I lost my job and we knew that was going to effect our home situation greatly. After months of night being able to find work myself we finally made the decision to put it on the market.

We listed it in April '09 but it didn't finally sell until November of 2009. Luckily we had a great realtor working with us who made this process easy and helped us a lot during this time. He really helped to guide us through the process.

What made the process especially hard was feeling failure and defeat. We bought our home right before the market crashed. We got in right before, had a great rate and had no clue the events that would happen with my job. It was hard feeling like we "did everything right" and still finding ourselves in a position to not be able to pay our mortgage. We were skipping out on it and just refusing to pay even though we could. Getting laid off and then not being able to find steady work afterwards made it even harder to keep paying our mortgage. We knew something had to change. It was a hard decision to come to but after prayer and consideration listing the home as a short sale was our decision.

I wanted to share this process with you all because I know there are several of you that have gone through the same thing. During the last three years God has made my heart so sensitive and open to those who faced the same thing my family and I did. It can be such a painful and shameful thing to go through, but today I wanted to offer hope and tell you that there's always a light at the end of the tunnel.

After three years we have now found ourselves in a position to be home owners again. It's an exciting time for our family. These last three years have been filled with so much, we've learned and grown a lot and today I wanted to share with you Five Things to Know When Buying A Home After a Short Sale. 

Please keep in mind that I am not a professional, I'm just a wife and mom sharing with you what we've learned through the help of professionals we trust, this is just my own experience and encouragement. I urge you to consult the help of professional Realtors, brokers and financial planners that you trust as well. Also, if you faced foreclosure some of these may or may not apply to you, again consult a professional about those logistics.

1. Know that there's going to be a waiting period. I think this is probably one of the most important things to know, that's why I'm going to talk about it first. The reality is that after you face short sale or foreclosure you can not turn around and buy another home anytime soon. It's best to know this going into it, and wrap your mind around this fact now instead of later finding out and being discourages. Typically with short sales history you can not buy another home till 3 years after you short sale is final. We've been waiting three years to finally be in a place where we can buy and it's been some of the hardest three years, filled with transition and lots of waiting. Going into it buying a home any time in the next year was far from our minds. Honestly we were still healing from our loss, and there were lots of emotional things that needed to be dealt with to even begin thinking about buying  a home again. During this time since we knew there would be a waiting period we took that time to just wait and trust in the Lord that he had a plan. And even though we were in this not so great situation and time of transition we made the most of it and waited. I encourage you to do the same, this brought us a lot of peace during that waiting time.

Here's the most practical thing to know, you're waiting period begins three years from when your insurance claim was paid, not the actual sale of your home. This was a big one for us, as we didn't know this going into it. We thought it was three years after the sale, in our case our short sale happened in November 2009 but our insurance claim wasn't paid by HUD until January 2010. Making it three years from that date, which would be January 2013.

We ended up having to wait till then to purchase our home. This is known as "caivers." The best way for your find out when your caivers were paid is to call the National HUD office in Oklahoma City, OK and ask them. They will ask you for your SSN and address info of your short sale so have that info handy. And tell them that you want to know when your caivers were paid and that you're trying to buy a home after short sale/forclosure (which ever your situation may be)

2. Know that having a short sale/foreclosure on your credit history wrecks it. Anytime you go through something like this your credit is going to be tainted, ruined and will probably have to be re built. Foreclosures stay on your credit history for 7 years. At the time of we didn't care much since we knew we were going to have to wait anyway, and credit problems were far from our minds. About a year before our waiting period was up we met with a broker to help us gain a credit history. Since we didn't have a credit card or any "revolving" debt we needed to speak with someone who was knowledgeable in this are to help us re build our credit. He offered tips and suggestions to help us get started and get our credit back on track where it needed to be in order to finance a loan for the purchase of a home.

3. Know that you're going to have to save money. Buying a home always requires money. But, buying a home after a short sale requires even more. When we bought our first home we bought at zero down besides our earnest money. So this time around thinking about buying after a short sale we knew after meeting with our broker that we were probably going to be doing FHA financing which requires a minimum of 3.5% down. Plus, you may want to consider and plan for the fact that you may or may not have to contribute to your closing costs which is another 3-4%. Another thing to consider depending on the area and what the market is like where you live you might have to replace appliances right away or do other improvements right away to make the home livable. So, the more you can save the better in this case.

4. Know that you NEED to do your Homework & Ask A lot of Questions. Buying a home requires a lot of information I have learned. There's tons of forms to gather, paperwork to gather and then on top of that more to sign, etc. When buying a home after a short sale the rules are different than when you bought the first time. Do you home work!  Research your area, ask a lot of questions of your realtor & broker. Know that there isn't a silly question, and all the ones you do as will help to make things less complicated for you. We bought a home in another state the second time around, the real estate laws are different state to state. Research the market(s) you may want to buy in.

5. Be Ready for anything! I'm always going to be on the side of encouragement and being positive when it comes to this process. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't be realistic as well. In this type of transaction anything can happen, closing dates can get pushed back, loans can fall through, interest rates can change from what you thought you'd get, etc. We learned the hard way that anything can happen, nothing is final till the papers are signed and the keys are yours. I don't want you to think nothing will work out, but I'm just encouraging you to ask a lot of questions of your lender, broker, title company agents and realtors so that you are prepared for anything that might happen.

And lastly..........Enjoy the process! Buying a home can be stressful, time consuming and sometimes take longer than you think. Honestly there were times through this process that completely sucked all the joy out of buying a home but, My last piece of advice is to enjoy the process whatever it is. If you're buying a home after a short sale history chances are you've already waited a long time to be in the buying position again. Know that you are blessed with this amazing opportunity, embrace it and enjoy it as much as you can. God has blessed you so to be in this position again, awaiting a new and exciting chapter. Don't let the pressures, stress or frustration get to you. Lean on your spouse, family and friends to help you through this time. Most importantly draw closer to the Lord. Every good and perfect gift comes from above. James 1:7

Fall House Tour 2014 Video

Hi friends! Yes, I realize what the title says. I forgot I even had this video in my editing floor. So today I thought I'd still upload it and show you our updated space, since I last showed it to you in 2013 a lot has changed. For more source info and pictures visit this post for all the details. 

For more videos I'd love for you all to subscribe to my Youtube channel here. 

Ava's Big Girl Room

HI friends, I'm excited to share with you Ava's big girl room finally! We've lived in our current home for two years now, and her room has been finished for a while now. This room was done on a budget, which is probably why it took so long to complete. We bought things as we could afford them. Shopped for deals and bought both her dresser and bed on Craigslist. I've just been waiting around to photograph it and show it to you. 

She was two and half when we moved into this home. Her old room still had all it's nursery decor in it, I knew moving would give us a blank space to turn her room into a more little girl like space. We got rid of all the baby toys, and all her old nursery furniture (crib, glider & changing table) when to Zane's nursery. It was a good time to start over. 

We didn't buy a whole lot of new things for this room, we did have to get her a new bed however, and a few other decor related items which I'll go through. But most of the changes took place by way of paint. I love paint, you can really transform a room with it. So let's take a little tour of her big girl space. 

Both her and Zane's room's are next to each other, they share a wall and her's has an awkward entrance. It's really hard to photograph, but there's this small part of the closet wall as you enter where the pictures hangs to the left.

We did these bold grey & pink stripes on the wall behind her bed, they make the most dramatic difference to the over all look and feel of her room. I just love some stripes! We found her sleigh bed on Craigslist, such a great find! I love the romantic and whimsical feel to her room. 

The reading nook is one of my favorites, Ava's always loved books since she was little. We read to her a lot as a baby, in her big girl room I wanted to have a place to display books and a place she could sit and read if she wanted. The rocking chair was mine as a kid, she's had it in her room since she was a baby. I repainted it white and added some bows to the back of it. The print above it says "Be Still And Know" by Emily Ley. 

Ava's dresser was another Craigslist find we got when she was a baby but it's a dresser from Ikea. 

We placed a few momentos from her nursery like baby pictures and her hand print on the dresser. 

The art work above her bed is one of my favorite easy DIYs ever! I made them using some old canvas' I just painted over, you can see the full project here. I also made the tassel banner above it for her 3rd birthday and afterwards we just stuck it in her room. 

Her light fixture is one of my favorites, I'd been eyeing it forever at Ikea. I knew it'd be perfect here. We added a hook to the left of her closet, we pick out outfits the night before and hang them there for the morning. It makes our routine in the morning go much faster. We also use it to hold all kinds of necklaces from The Glitter Revival, she makes the best ones! 

I loved finding the perfect bedding for her. I found the ruffle devet at Homegoods and just went from there. The "A" pillow & the heart are designs from The TomKat Studio I used and then ordered from Shutterfly. The artwork on the opposite wall is from The TomKat Studio as well. 

I love how her room came together, Ava is pretty girly so it fits her nicely. I love watching her play in her room, and reading stories to her at night. 

For a list of sources see below; if you have any other questions just shoot me an email or leave me a comment below.

Sparkle Print, Heart Pillow + "A" Pillow: The TomKat Studio

Ruffle Duvet Cover: Home Goods

Grey ruffle pillow: DownEast Home 

Pink Pillow, art work canvas', tassel banner: made by me

Polka dot sheets: Target

Light fixture: Ikea

Hook: World Market

Dresser: Ikea

Mirror: Home Goods

Lamp: Target 

Book ledges: Ikea

Be Still Print: Emily Ley 

Dollhouse: Zulily 

Curtains: JC Penny 

Creating A Family Binder

Welcome back! So Monday I shared with you all the FREE printables for your home binders! Today I'm excited to share with you how I use and put together my binder. Let's take a look at the binder itself first shall we? 

I choose this 8.5x11 3 ring binder, I found it on WeR Memory Keepers. Here's a link to it here. 

I love that the corners are reinforced with hardware making this binder a little extra durable! The gold polka dots help at all for cutness.. LOL! 

Ok, let's take a look at the inside and see it in action.  The two parts I wanted to section off were the "meals" and the "budget." I used some paper file folders and cut them in half and used some stickers to write the section names. 

I've already started to fill our our family's favorite meals and I can already tell how handy this is going to be for me. The grocery list is tucked behind this, I printed off a bunch just to have on hand. 

Budget worksheets, and my 52 week savings plan worksheet are behind the "budget" dividers. 

I also placed a clear pocket on the back of my binder to hold receipts. If you missed the free worksheets click on this post to download and print them. 

If you've already downloaded them I'd love to hear your thoughts and how you're using them. Tell me in the comments below.

Our Christmas 2014 Home Tour

I'm excited to share with you today our Christmas home tour! This month marks two years of living in our home. Before this we lived in a small apartment, and all decor covered that tiny space. We moved in December 2012 just two weeks before Zane was born, I hardly decorated for Christmas that year. I think we put up a tree and stockings. And last year we didn't decorate at all since we were out of town for two weeks over Christmas. 

This year we made up for it though, we used all that we had and I quickly realized I need more Christmas decor. What I had filled up an apartment, doesn't fill an entire house. But we'll get there someday and in the meantime I'm looking forward to after Christmas sales! 

This post is picture heavy, I'll let them do most of the talking but let's start at the front door. Most all my decor is old, like a few years old. One thing I did buy new this year were these pre lit trees for our front porch. 

We upgraded our tree last year and got this 7.5 foot one. We put our little 5 ft tree we've had since we were married up in our loft area, you'll see it later. I love this tree. It's big and full and I have loved decorating it this year. 

We don't have a traditional mantle so each year I hang them on our entertainment center. 

Moving into the kitchen and dining area you'll see more traditional reds and green decor. I've had most of this since we first got married as those were the colors I went with the first year we celebrated Christmas. I pulled it all out this year and went for a more traditional look. 

For the last two years I've been hanging our Christmas cards we get from family on the pantry door! I love seeing them each time I open the door, and we leave and enter the house through the garage most of the time so we see them more. This is one of my favorite things about the holidays, getting the cards in the mail. Most of our friends live far away from us too so it's nice seeing how they change year to year.

Going up the stairs we have some simple garland, and you can see the other tree I mentioned. I was going to get rid of it and donate it when we got the new one, but I'm glad we kept it. It now sits upstairs in the small loft area. It has the ornaments on it that the kids choose each year, and some of my ornaments I had as a child that my parents gave me. Under the tree you'll find our advent books we do every night with the kids for the 12 Days of Christmas. 

There you have it, our little Christmas cozy home! If you have a question about where something is from just ask. I'd source it all for you but since most of it is either DIY or really old I might not be much help. 

Have you decorated for Christmas? Do you go big with a lot of decor or just really simple? Tell me in the comments below.