the HAMPTON house.

Will it be our house? Pray, please. Thanks.

Speaking of dreams...
Throughout the past 6 months, we haven't put much thought into what our "next house" will be like. It was more like...hopefully we will have an "our house" again. We did know that we would rather it NOT be the townhouse.

We were on a foreclosure kick for a few weeks. We found some great fixer-uppers...and one that was WAY to big, but a great deal that we loved. But, the moral of the story is...it has to make one simple equation work. We HAVE to be able to afford it. I know, that sounds like a stupid DUH comment...

Did our "dream" look like Ben's brothers house? It does now.

PRAY that the details of our idea will fall into place. In a nutshell, we CANNOT afford much more than anything we are paying right now. We are not paying a mortgage, we are not paying utilities, or for childcare. We have a *&!$-load of debt, in case you forgot. With rediculous interest rates and high payments. Credit cards are of the devil, in my opionion if you forgot that too. CUT THEM UP, now. Be done with them.

So, for the amount we pay in bad decisions, we could roll that into a house & pay the same of less...and afford a house. This is not what Dave Ramsey would say to do, but we think that it might be our best choice.

A few reasons why: We can't live here for free for much longer. Andrew's house with a few renovations/additions would be just fine (good location/blah blah). It would help Andrew. He would be a part of a family...hopefully this will help him to have a little more structure in his life. And, with Andrew living there/paying part of the mortgage it obviously makes it more affordable.

Gotta find a mortgage person. We had a potential investor that would make some $$ on this venture, but that didn't work out. Hopefully we can get approved & move forward. Easier said than done, I'm sure. Pray.

If it goes as we "dream" we will add a living room & finish the basement. Andrew will have a bedroom/bathroom/kitchen-ette downstairs. The laundry room will be downstairs. Upstairs: two bedrooms, one full bath, kitchen, dining room, and we would add a living room. It is small but cozy and would be great.

Pray. I'll keep you posted.