About Our New Home

Moving. To Sandy, Oregon. To a home with acreage. It's always been one of those things that we discussed and dreamed about, but it seemed completely out of reach. Sometimes it felt like the time would never come, but we kept trying to plan and save for it. We purchased our first home (pre kids ;) back in November of 2005 and had planned on it being our starter home; putting some sweat equity in it, then selling it for a profit and moving to the country. Unfortunately, when home values started dropping a couple of years ago, we were one of many who found ourselves owing more than our home was worth and were therefore unable to sell it. We thought we were stuck. Even so, we would occasionally browse http://www.rmls.com/ to see what homes were selling for and what kind of deals were out there. Lately, more and more listings seemed to be coming up and beautiful homes with property were more affordable. On a particular day in late March of this year, I contacted Senior Mortgage Consultant Kendra Coverdale (http://www.financeyournwhome.com/) to see what, if anything our family would qualify for. We had spoke a few months before and Kendra had given us a few things to work on in order to qualify for a loan. Kendra was diligent, knowlegable, and talked us through all of our options in a way that I could understand. Immediately we felt like she was on our side and we were very comfortable with her guidance. In early April we qualified for a loan and with our awesome realtor Denise Greisen with Oregon Realty Company (who works closely with and referred us to Kendra) started our home search. Anything rural (an acre or more) in Sandy, Oregon City, Corbett, and other outlying areas was checked out. We took day trips to check out areas we liked, researched schools, researched home values, asked lots and lots of questions (I made spreadsheets - hehe... I just can't help myself!). Then the first day before we were officially going out to look at homes, Denise sent us a listing that we'd seen on RMLS but for some reason hadn't flagged to look at. (Same thing happened with our first home; we overlooked it and Denise convinced us to take a look and it ended up being the one... she's 2 for 2 :). We found ourselves just outside of Sandy looking at a 2000+ 5bd, 3bth home on THREE acres. Sometimes you just know when you find the house. This place was sort of messy, (it just needed some Nerpel love :), and the property was overgrown and choked out by weeds, blackberries, ivy, and just stuff everywhere. It didn't matter. Nate and I were running through those woods making all kinds of plans for what we would like to do. We looked at others that day, but could hardly focus on anything else but the house. At the end of the day we didn't even need to discuss our next move or which house topped our list. It was unanimous. We made an offer, Denise quickly submitted it, and it was accepted just hours later. The home was a short sale and we knew that meant a longer process but we wanted to find a renter for our first house and she needed to be able to move in before July which meant we had to move fast. Denise and Kendra got right to work and together with the selling agent and the great people at First American Title (specifically Sheila Engle) made this deal happen in 46 days; HALF the time I was told a short sale would take. We navigated some obstacles and throughout the process our questions were answered quickly and competantly. We were always updated with the status of the process and given different scenarios to prepare for. Our little dream team of home purchase experts were on top of everything. Talking with banks and lawyers to expedite payoff amounts on the short sale, working late, working odd hours, and on holidays to make this happen; they were always anticipating and being proactive about preparing documents and gathering info that might be requested. Throughout the process we knew it was more than just these ladies working hard to make a sale. They were working hard to help us make a good investment and to help our dreams come to fruition. I always felt like I had a friend in my corner. To be completely honest, I miss emailing and talking with them each day like we did throughout the purchase process!

Nobody asked me to write this and I'm not being compensated in any way for doing so. I just know that Denise and Kendra made this process a smooth and fun one, and worked REALLY HARD to get it done for us. We always felt like we were the first priority and there was always time for us. Nothing says thank you like a referral so I hope this testimonal of my very positive experience sends clients their way! Please feel free to share this story, I would love for it to empower others to follow their dreams!

*All images are copyright of Studio 623 Photography/Becky Nerpel 2011 may be reposted with photo credit

Road leading to our house

I was excited to put our name on the mailbox :)



Front Porch



Slightly wider view of the front back when we first looked at it



Part of the "backyard"




Looking out to the field: 14 plum trees, 10 apples, a fig, 4 cherries, blueberries, huckleberries, raspberries and many many MANY blackberries are found here. There are a lot of awesome plants, flowers, trees, shrubs etc that just need rescued from blackberries. The neighbors say not much has been done to the property in 15 years so we're excited to roll up our sleeves and remedy that :)