Thursday, June 02, 2011

House Hunting in Iquique, Part Five

After the cliffhanger on my previous post, I had better get right to the point! Let's talk about the "perfect" house we saw. It was listed in the paper this way:
3.968UF house 187,78 m2 construction, south sector, 4 bedrooms, master with two closets, 3 bathrooms, 1 office, spacious living-comedor, eat-in kitchen, balcony with ocean view, storage, parking, front patio, large patio
With that description, who wouldn't want to see it, right? It sounded too good to be true. I called and spoke to the owner only to learn that someone was already interested in purchasing the home. However, he seemed to really want us to see it first and asked if we could come at 9 AM the next morning (they were supposed to sign a purchase document with the other interested family at noon.)

Pedro and I were at their door right on the dot, this time with Ian and Alec in tow. The couple selling the house were very nice and as it turns out they raised two little boys, so the wife soon pulled out some trucks (and to Ian and Alec's delight, even sent one home with each of them!) It also turned out that they were believers who attend a local Christian & Missionary Alliance church in town. In fact, they have used their home in the past for hosting Bible studies and the wife said she had been praying for someone to buy the house who would continue to use it in that way. But, I digress!

Why do I say this house was "perfect?" Well, the owners had built on to it over the years but did so with a lot of insight and care to make the spaces open and comfortable. No narrow hallways or tight stairways, instead everything was wide and well-planned. The four bedrooms upstairs were big enough for at least a double bed or two singles each (in one room they once used three single beds comfortably) - as opposed, for instance, to our girls' current bedroom where the trundle is tucked underneath each morning and when it is pulled out there is no room to walk around it.

Downstairs, the L-shaped living-comedor was spacious and throughout the house the ceilings were high (the low ceilings in the previous house were one factor we did not like.) There was a small, tiled front patio and a spacious, tiled back patio. Plenty of room for entertaining! The kitchen was big enough for an eat-in table and had built-in shelving along one wall. There was a full downstairs guest bathroom. This is a plus for us because for some reason our current house was not built with a bathroom on the first floor level, so our Chilean guests must use the girls' bathroom and often seem apologetic about going upstairs to what they consider our "private" bedroom area.

Needless to say, if we had the money in hand we would have signed on the dotted line right then and there! At $185,000 the house was more than comparable for its size and even the fact that is was on a pasaje (narrow street) would not have deterred us. We told the owners as much but honestly admitted to them that we have only been given a 70% loan and simply do not have the 30% down to offer at this time. We are looking for options and asking God to provide, but obviously it is not His time just yet. They were very gracious and understanding, and of course the great thing for them is that they already have someone willing to pay just under the full asking price so the sale of their home is assured.

I would be less than honest if I didn't admit I was disappointed. I was honestly in a funk for the rest of the day, but soon after I arrived home God used a couple of things to speak straight to my heart. I plan to write about those next.

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