There we were. Months away from bringing our 5th child into the world, in a home we could barely afford that seemed to already be busting at the seams. Debt collectors were relentless. It was obvious to us our dream of owning a nicer home was dead and it was time to file bankruptcy if we were to ever have a chance of digging ourself out of this hole. We felt like failures.
The attorney suggested we file seperetly due to only my name being on the house deed. We were fortunate enough to get my husband's filed and over with relatively quickly. Mine was more complicated. We had to decide if we were able to commit to this house we hated for another 30 years. Even then, our payment was going to be raising.
Our other option was to move and add the home onto my bankruptcy. This would forego any equity I had built in the 7 years I had been paying on it, and it was unlikely we'd find a rental at or below what our house payment was.
It was a hard decision. I had so many memories with my mom there. It was the 1st home I bought for myself and my children, and I had managed to do it as a single mom. On the other hand, though perfect when it was just me and my two children, it just wasn't functional for our large family now, and the fact that it was attached to the negative stigma I associated with loosing my mom's house next door was overwhelming at times.
I spent a lot of time praying about what to do. Then, one day I went to pick up my daughter from work. She had mentioned our dilemma to the lady she worked for. She would always walk my daughter out to my car. It was obvious she could see the worry and distress in my face. She talked with me for a long time and said she would be praying for us also. I left feeling reassured. Whatever happened, we would end up where God intended for us to be.
A few days later, we were nearly out of time on our decision. I again picked my daughter up and was greeted by her employer. She told me of someone she knew who had a home for sale and might consider land contract. I tried hard not to get my hopes up, but I felt this had to be the sign I'd been looking for!
I contacted her immidiately. She was willing to waive the deposit and allow us to pay the same thing monthly we were paying on our current house payment. In return, we agreed to devote the majority of our tax return to making a large extra payment toward the balance every year. We would spend the next few years rebuilding our credit and would then revisit the contract in order to finance the remaining balance with a conventional loan.
We went to see the house and loved it! Though it was still 3 bedrooms, it had an extra bath and nearly double the square footage! It also had a full unfinished basement perfect for storage but also left so many options for extra room with a bit of renovation. It seemed our prayers had been answered. I felt so foolish for being so distraught.
We moved in immidiately! We agreed to rent it through the holidays to get to know each other and would sign the contract a few months later when we got our tax return and could make our 1st balloon payment. We went from feeling hopeless in our tiny sardine can to looking forward to bringing our baby home to a big, beautiful home that would one day be our own, full of memories we would make together with our family. We'd been given a 2nd chance.
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