Offer Accepted, Keep Praying!
We are farther in the house-buying process than we've ever been! Last week, we put an offer on a house and it was accepted! It's 3-family house in good condition and close to The Boston Project's neighborhood. Now we are on vacation in South Carolina, and hope to continue the homebuying process when we get back and complete the purchase by the end of June.
The House
The house is a large 3-family house in the best condition of almost any house that we've seen in the past 15 months! Our family would live in the first floor apartment, which has 4 bedrooms, a large living/dining room area, and a kitchen that Sarah approves of :). It's a Philadelphia-style, so two of the bedrooms are on second floor, which is perfect for the boys. The other two apartments have two bedrooms each. Because of the size and layout of the house, there are many possibilities for different types of ministry and outreach that could happen in the space. The family who owned the house for the past 40 years was a foundation of the neighborhood, and we hope to continue a positive presence if we are blessed to live in this house.
The only drawback to the property is the very small yard, which is about the width of the house and extends about 25 feet in front and in back. This is a typical city yard for our area, but will be quite a change from the half-acre tree-lined yard we have had for the past seven years. The good news is that it is literally around the corner from a vacant lot that neighbors are interested in transforming into a park space, which brings us to...
The Neighborhood
This house is in a neighborhood that is "next-door" to the neighborhood where The Boston Project's original home is located on Elmhurst Street. It's just across a major boundary street, which puts it in a nearby, but different neighborhood than BP's current ministry house. However, in a way The Boston Project already has a presence in this neighborhood through the ministry of two of our board members, one of which lives across the street from the house we are hoping to buy. These two board members have been actively reaching out to young men in this neighborhood for many years, and we are excited to join them in these efforts and explore other ways we can join and expand God's work in this specific neighborhood.
The Process
This sale is a "short sale," which usually means that it's anything but short (everyone we've talked to has told us that short sales are usually long and tedious). The home is going into foreclosure, but is not yet owned by the bank. Rather than going into foreclosure and seizing the property, the bank will sometimes approve a "short sale," which means they will take less money than is owed on the house rather than get nothing at all.
Right now, we have a signed offer from the owners, an approval from the seller's bank that they will take our offer, and are hoping to sign the Purchase and Sale agreement when we return to Boston on April 12. After this, we will apply for a loan, get an appraisal done, and then try to get to the closing as quick as possible! There are several factors that still need to be worked out (see below), so we ask for your continued prayers.
How you can pray:
- Pray for the funding. We need additional money to buy this house. We are hoping to receive up to $10,000 from the City of Boston's homebuying program and the federal tax credit of $8,000. For these to happen, we need to meet certain qualifications (for city funds) and close by June 30 (for the tax credit).
- Pray for our future ministry. We already know several people on the street, including a board member of The Boston Project who is already doing outreach with young men in the neighborhood. Pray that we would be open to how God wants to use our presence to continue and expand His work in the neighborhood.
- Pray for our family. We are in for a busy few months. Ask God for a smooth transition for our boys to a new home, and that we are able to balance life in general. Joseph and Tim have been praying with us for God to provide the right house for a long time, so they are excited, too.
