Our Unicorn Hunt
This may be one of the longer posts you’ll find here at waymakeracres.com. You might want to pour yourself a hot beverage, curl up in a cozy chair, and clear a bit of your schedule because this is kind of long.
Every time we have moved, it’s been a great story. That has been the truest it’s ever been this time around. We didn’t go looking to move last year. Despite dreaming about country living for years, every time we looked into it, it seemed out of reach for us. To get what we wanted we needed a much larger budget or to move to the middle of nowhere. Or so we thought.
Early in the year, The Firefighter was looking at possibilities of moving. We even talked to our realtor way back in March about putting the house on the market. But life was too hectic for us. My sister was living with us at the time. The Inventor was in a show. We were trying to finish the school year strong. It just didn’t seem like a good idea. The very thought of all of the stuff that is necessary to get pre-approved for a loan, much less keep a house show ready and pack up a house seemed suffocating to me. I told The Firefighter to stop sending me listings because I just couldn’t handle it. He graciously complied.
Fast forward to July and we caught wind of an 18-acre property that we could make work. After much prayer and thinking, we decided to go look at it and wanted to put in an offer. Before our offer was ever even presented, the sellers had already taken another offer. It was never officially on the market. Bottom line, my heart was broken, and I didn’t understand why after finally having peace about pursuing a move that we’d have the rug torn out from under us like that.
Six weeks later, we found another property that we thought would be perfect. By the time we were able to talk to our agent, it too was gone. It was then that we decided that if we really wanted to do this, we had to be more prepared. And so, we put our house on the market on a Friday. By Tuesday night we had a cash offer. It was our second showing.
That’s how our #UnicornHunt began in earnest. We had sold our house and needed a new place to live. We didn’t want to just move to another suburban neighborhood though. We wanted at least 3 bedrooms in a move-in ready property that had accommodations for our horse that wasn’t too far from our community/life and didn’t break the bank. See? Unicorn.
I remember chatting with a friend during this time and saying, “God’s specialty is unicorns.” I believe that is 100% true. When I said that, I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I knew that whatever did happen, it was going to be a great story.
That didn’t mean it was easy, though. In fact, I asked God to show us if we were even to keep moving forward in this process. Multiple times after we put our house on the market and seeing the slim pickings of what was available, I asked The Firefighter, “Are you sure we are supposed to be doing this? Maybe we didn’t hear right. We’ll never find what we really want at the price we can afford.” He would continually reassure me, “Yes. I don’t believe we would have sold our house so quickly and easily if it wasn’t God’s plan for this season in our lives.” Because I look to him as being the spiritual leader of our home, I had to rest and trust that he was hearing from the Lord and that there was a bigger purpose in play here.
Early in October, we fell in love with a property that seemed to be everything we were looking for in a house. Surely this was our unicorn! We put in an offer, wrote letters to the sellers, and prayed that God would open this door if this was where we were to live. We were all so excited and hopeful. We were saddened when we were outbid. We heard later that the sellers really wanted to sell to us, but the other offer was better for them financially. They had to go with them.
A few days later, as my family and I gathered around the firepit, I suggested that we make a list of all the things we wanted in a property. “Let’s dream together,” I said. How were we going to know what the perfect property was if we didn’t have it written down? We decided to make a list so we could know it when we saw it.
Around the circle we went, adding things to our dream property list: horse ready, at least 7.5 acres, 3+ bedrooms at least one of which would be on the main level of the home, under budget, chicken coop, not too far from our church, water source on the property, etc. We all had specific things to add as well. We were dreaming, right? So we might as well dream about the perfect place for us.
I wanted a willow tree.
The Equestrian wanted a tack room – not just a place that could work, but an actual tack room.
The Inventor wanted a “shop with a loft.” When he said this, I remember saying, “Wow, that’s specific.”
The Firefighter wanted “nice amenities.” In other words, he didn’t want to walk into a house that looked like it needed updating because the last update was in 1963. He also wanted a place he could shoot/hunt on the land, although, this was unspoken and never made it to the official list.
The list was made and put on the fridge. A week or two passed and I was getting discouraged. The inventory just wasn’t super great. Then, one day, I got a text from The Firefighter. It was a for sale by owner 15-acre property that was a little out of our search perimeter, but we were willing to go look at it. Our realtor made the arrangements, and we made the drive out to see it on Sunday October, 20.
We drove up the long driveway and I gasped.
“Oh my gosh!” I said.
“What is it, Mom?”
“Look! There’s a willow tree!”
Willow tree…check.
There may have been some teenage eye-rolling, but this was a good first sign for me.
The seller came out to meet us. Our realtor was already there and had already started chatting with him, getting to know the property a bit. Leaves were still on trees and grass was still green. It really was a gorgeous day. He suggested that we start over in the barn that he said was a mess.
He continued to apologize about what a mess the barn was. He hasn’t spent much time out there and the cows had gotten into the hay, throwing it all over the place. We assured him that we didn’t care. We finished looking through the barn and headed back toward the house. As we were leaving the barn, The Equestrian asked, “What’s behind this door?”
“Oh, that’s the tack room.”
Tack room…check.
He then took us over to the detached garage which he called a “shop” where he promptly told us that he had just finished building a loft.
Shop with loft…check.
Are you even kidding me?! At this point, I’m thinking that a lot of our boxes were being checked off. Specifics that would have been easy to make happen after we moved in (given the time and money) were already in place. The Equestrian came up excitedly and said, “Mom, can we get it? Can we get it? PLEASE?” I respond with, “We haven’t even seen inside yet.” I tried to keep a cool head, but I felt hope growing.
We went inside to a beautiful…BEAUTIFUL…home. Simple. Country. Updated kitchen. Bedroom and bathroom on main level. Instantly, I felt at home.
Nice amenities…check.
We finished touring the house and headed outside to the covered porch that looks out onto a fenced-in front yard with fruit trees (apple, peach, plum, and cherry) and beyond to a pasture of rolling hills dotted with cattle. It’s idyllic and takes my breath away. I was convinced this was the house we wanted to do everything possible to purchase.
As we were out there chatting with the seller, he casually shared with us that he “sights his rifles in over on the shooting range on the east side of the property” and that he hunts on the property as well.
Place to shoot/hunt…check.
Can it get any more perfect? I mean, this house is screaming “I’m your Unicorn!!!!?”
The drive home was full of excited chatter. Could we see ourselves living there? Absolutely. We quizzed each other on the various features of the property? “Did you see this? Do you think we could put in one of these?” We were dreaming together and were all on the same page…we wanted this house.
That evening, we chatted around the firepit again. This time, the question was “What do we NOT like about the house?” We needed to know if any of those things were deal breakers.
While there were a few things that we thought would take some getting used to – living on a gravel road, not having a fireplace, not having a 4th bedroom – we all agreed that none of them were deal breakers as everything else about the property seemed perfect for us. We chatted with the realtor and made an offer. We made it strong with some room for negotiation if needed.
We were then in a waiting game. The offer expired the next day at five pm. All day long on Monday, I was anxious to hear the news. Were we under contract? Instead I kept getting calls and texts from my realtor.
The first was about a cat. The sellers wanted to know if we would take care of their barn cat. She never came inside the house, she was fed twice a day, and pretty much takes care of herself. The realtor told them she was sure that The Equestrian would love to take care of the cat. I assured her that YES! We would take care of the cat. I knew moving to the country would make this non-cat person become a cat owner. In fact, earlier this year I had a conversation with a friend about how to know you get a good mouser for your barn. So, absolutely. A cat that’s already familiar with her barn and comes with the property? Bonus.
Next up was a text about my dogs. The sellers wanted to know if the dogs would bother the cat. I said I didn’t know but that I would do my best to protect the cat as much as possible.
A few hours later was a call that started like this, “These people are so precious…” They wanted to make sure that we, being “city folk,” were going to be ok living in the country with all the critters and the like – you know, snakes, spiders, mice, and the lot. We assured her of what she already knew. We’ve been looking for a long time. We’ve thought about this a lot. We are outdoorsy people, and more.
It was obvious that they were really thinking through this whole thing and wanted to make sure that the *right* family came to live in this home that they loved.
Five pm came and went and we were still anxious to hear. Apparently there was going to be another showing that night. The seller assured our realtor that he was only showing it for a back up and that he would sign our offer. What I learned the next day AFTER we were under contract was that at the showing that night, the seller had been offered more money and a lower commission to be paid to the realtor. That potential buyer said, “What are they offering? I’ll give you more.”
Do you know what the seller told him?
“I’ve already promised our cat to their daughter, and I can’t go back on my word.”
You guys! This deal was sealed on the promise of a cat!
I don’t even like cats!!!! But I’m grateful for this one and will take care of her to her dying day.
There are so many other amazing details that are just too intricate to share adequately this way. God has been so faithful EVERY step of the way and continues to show us his kindness over and over again. We are humbled and grateful. This place instantly felt like home and is now startling to look more and more like home as we settle in.
We truly believe that the Lord led us through this process day by day and it is His faithfulness that is so magnificently showcased here. Every detail. Every need. Every bump in the road. He took care of it all. All glory be to Him!
~Louise
