We have a house! we put an offer in and are pending now :)
It's huge compared to what we are used too and it has a huge wired/insulated workshop in the huge back yard. we have a home inspection scheduled for monday. our closing for selling our duplex is ahead of schedule too. Praise God!

things are progressing

so, things are progressing nicely with the sale- the home inspection happened on mon- which resulted in the buyer asking for 5000 off the asking price- but we held our guns, knowing that was her trying to get a better price, not her seriously concerned with the shape of the house. so we offered another 500 off the agreed price and she took it! soooo all that is left is her funding clearing-she was already pre-approved. hip hip hooray!
so we have been looking at houses to buy. what an adventure! we were wanting to move close to our church- west austin- but the more i look the more i realize that a smart move would be buying in east austin, a little north of where we are now- because we can get way more bang for our buck- which means gabe working less and/or us paying off our mortgage sooner.

UNDER CONTRACT!!!

YAY!
the Duplex is now(As of sat, 28th) under contract! we settled for 10K under our asking price which is great seeing as our agreed upon price is 25K over anything else sold on the street.
guess all those improvements worked!the home inspection was done yesterday, and the closing date is set for on or before may 25th.

as for other news-

i got back from a wonderful retreat this weekend. i was sick as a dog but it was still great. Sebastian is a big flirt and enjoyed all the attention.
Sebastian cut his first tooth Thursday night. big boy!
Speaking of BIG- he weighs 21 pounds now!!! he just turned 6 months!

today's happenings

well today i set out to work on the duplex and got do do it )mostly) kid-free. i painted the first coat on the cabinet doors and cabinet bases. sounds like not alot, but there are alot of cabinets. I also spent a long time talking with a Realtor about listing the duplex and also purchasing a single family home after the sale. he was great and was very impressed with the duplex. YAY! he was pretty sure we could list at what i want to list at. YAY again!
unfortunately we don't have the skill/know how to do a few of the left over jobs on the duplex, so i am scrambling to find someone to hire to do them. i really want this duplex done and listed by the 15th. please please please
we are going to bust our this weekend, and hopefully it will pay off.

buying another duplex?

yes, yes, i know- but Liz, you hate the duplex!
lol but THIS duplex is better..bigger..more central
am i completely insane? perhaps..perhaps
or maybe i just have a knack for investments in real estate.
lol