Our Very Own Fixer Upper

Ryan and I are so excited to announce our latest adventure, our very own fixer upper! This has been a dream of ours since we first called Austin home. Because the housing market is so competitive and in such high demand, we quickly realized that if we wanted the opportunity to truly make a house our own, we would have to buy a home that needed to be renovated. This hasn't been a quick or easy journey, but seeing how God has worked through this entire process has been so real and so wonderful.

Last fall, Ryan came across a property that we both fell in love with. It had all of the features we wanted in our dream home: a unique house with minimal renovations already done, property with wide, open spaces, and privacy, but it was over our budget. Over the course of a few months with several visits and many prayers, we finally felt like it was the right time to make an offer.  After a few counter offers back and forth, the owners of the home did not counter again, and wished us the best. We felt like we lost our dream home. As disappointed as we were, we had prayed from the beginning that if this home and this opportunity was meant to be ours, then God would allow it to be. We tried not to second guess ourselves and not to wonder if we could have done better, but instead tried to trust that this wasn't meant to be and the Lord had another plan for us. 
A few months later during a trip to Houston, we received not one but three calls from our broker and friend. When Ryan finally called him back, his first words to us were, "You have to see this house." After he sent us the listing, we were surprised to see such a unique home on a beautiful property, but it needed major work. We quickly decided it was an opportunity we didn't want to pass up as it, too, had all of the features we wanted, and was in a great location near our friends and our church, so we planned to visit as soon as we got home on Sunday. During our showing on Sunday, we realized this property was something special and highly sought after as at least five other groups walked through the property at the same time.
When we left, we discussed the situation and didn't want to miss this unique opportunity, and decided to make an offer. Once we got home, we sat down together and again prayed over this opportunity, and placed it all in the Lord's hands. Then, we sent over our offer. Within two days, the property had numerous offers, including ours, and the waiting game began. As the week went on, we had heard that the property was so popular it had to be taken off the market, but that a decision would be made by Wednesday. As Wednesday evening rolled around, we still had no news. The next morning, we were informed a decision would now be made on Friday. Friday finally came, but by Friday evening, we still didn't have an answer. The disappointment began to sink in again as we were certain this house wasn't meant to be. Discouraged by Saturday morning with no updates, we thought about taking back our offer. As we were about to reach out to our broker to share our disappointment, he called. We were sure it would be bad news, but when we answered the phone he said, "We got it!" 
Ryan and I looked at each other stunned! Then, as the smiles appeared on our faces, the hundreds of questions came flooding in as to how this happened! By the grace of God and the hard work of our amazing team at Culhane Properties, this one of a kind home was going to be ours. It was such an answer to our prayers and we felt nothing but grateful, thankful, and so excited for this opportunity that was even better than we hoped for before. 
A few weeks later, we proceeded with our closing, got the keys, celebrated, and knew the adventure was about to begin!

"Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus..forever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21

Enjoy a few before photos from the property listing: