When fate closes a door...

somewhere it opens one of those giant balloon hanger doors... or something.

If there's one thing I've learned in my 28 years on this planet, it's that when something seemingly awesome falls through, something way better tends to replace it. Every rental place I've ever gotten my heart set on, every car I've ever had, my infantile first marriage, the list goes on.

It's happened again.

We pulled out of the deal on the Howard Street house. The sellers were yanking us around and the bank appraiser was being nitpicky about the tiniest of details and wouldn't approve the house for a USDA loan. We had contacted the sellers at the end of November to request an extension on the closing date so that the issues the appraiser had could be resolved - they never responded. We waited two weeks and heard NOTHING, so apparently they're not in a big hurry to sell their house. Works for me, because my guy is the king of back-up plans. I didn't even know, but he already had one in place. He called the realtor and got the ball rolling...

I will NOT have some creepy lime green lawn, for sure. And the house won't be that color, but you get the idea.

There is a local developer who is about to break ground on half a dozen houses that will be built specifically to USDA loan requirements. It's almost the exact same square footage as the Howard Street house, same size lot, quieter street with no rentals on it, kids in the neighborhood... and it's the same price. Brand new, no one has ever lived in it... and it's the same price as the 20 year old house that had tons of little miscellaneous things wrong with it. They break ground in the next few weeks and should have the house finished by the end of April.

HOT DOG!