Found

Well, forward march. We found our prayers for a quick sale immediately turning to prayers for us to find our next home. We prayed that all would go well with our Buyer and the inspection. It went very well, and Buyer waived her option period allowing us to make an offer on a home right away in hopes of having a loan in place by closing.
Thursday saw another string of homes for sale. These were either too pricey, backed up to Wal-Mart or 7-11, or were in awful condition. Some of them had the trifecta of crap possessing all three of those flaws. (Awesome.) Anything that did not fall into those categories sold before we could even see it, much less make an offer.
Becoming increasingly discouraged, I went with the realtor to see one last home that the mister and I had generally ruled out already. It did have the benefits of allowing the kids to stay in their current schools, and it was the same floor plan that recurred in half of our top four home choices. It was within walking distance of our current house and neighbors, and had a nice community pool and playground with reasonable dues.
The home was the very same floor plan we had offered on in the beginning with some key differences. This one was not what the mister bluntly referred to as, "a dump". Neither was it a showplace that would present challenges to live in and maintain. There was a covered over-sized patio with electric ceiling fans and lighting, a shed for storage to free up the garage for cars, a study with wood floor, the Boy's room featured its own full bathroom, a giant kitchen, a half bath for visitors, two sinks in the bathroom to be shared by the girls, and it was generally up-to-date with an overall warm, homey feeling. Hmmm.
Realtor Jeannie and I picked up the mister and the kids while scheduling a second showing. The mister commented that the house felt like home, and that he could see us there in a decade. I fretted and cringed over the price working and reworking the estimated budget that would leave us feeling house poor based solely on the mister's primary income. The reality was that the home met every single stated need on our list, and all but one want. (That want is not to be found in any of the home we saw. We avoid carpet like the plague.) The mister made the final decision to make an offer.
We had dinner that night in the same kitchen, but at a different home. Walker and her family live in the same floor plan. We failed to find a single thing at Walker's house we did not admire, and she dispelled much of my budget worry by confirming that the allowances made for utilities were on par with her actual bills. We waited to hear the Seller's response.
Saturday morning the word came of a counter offer. We expected Sellers to give either the price or the closing costs asked for, but they came back with most of both requests. The house would also receive a new roof. We stopped by our realtor's house to sign the contract. Walker commented that we would be house twins. (We already have a host of other similarities. Why not houses?) Our loan officer came to our house that evening to have us sign all the loan paperwork.
Now, we wait for inspection on New House in two days, and appraisals on both Old House and New House while hoping to have all the details wrapped up before Katie and I leave for our time in Honduras. March looks like it will be no less the whirlwind than February. Whee.