Back in November, we posted about our housing search here in the city of Antofagasta. These past months of Dec, Jan. and Feb. have been filled with ministry opportunities, a trip to Uruguay for the annual GMSA missionary conference, and continued searching for mission housing.
The housing search has been very difficult for many reasons. It has taken up many hours of our time searching online, making phone calls, walking the streets for leads, arranging viewings with a realtor, communicating leads to our missionary co-workers and our supporters. Throughout all of this, our sanctification has been tested. Much needed lessons of patience and trust in God's timing and provision were learned and re-learned.
We have had some housing leads but normally we needed to ask the owners to lower their price around $100,000 US for us to even consider pursuing the house. Obviously, the owners weren't interested in lowering the price, since they knew that someone else would buy it at the original price. After a while, it just got discouraging to have to ask the same question over and over. We needed a lead that had a starting price lower than our limit of funds.
After living in Antofagasta for 10 months now, we've learned a lot about the city, it's culture, it's housing market, it's challenges, and it's numerous ministry opportunities. We learned and came to grips with the fact that the type of house that our mission could afford in Antofagasta would have to be a "fixer-upper". The price of housing in this city is extremely unjust and owners and realtors alike are just trying to take advantage of the copper mining boom and all the money that has come into this city and region.
One day, Kristi found a vague housing lead online. The location was great, the size of the property was bigger than the average lot we've been running across, and the price was $30,000 US below our limit. Something wasn't right about this house. What was the catch? A house in THAT location, with THAT much land, for THAT price? Surely, there must be something missing that the realtor didn't mention online. We got a hold of the realtor and asked about the property and if we could schedule a visit. She mentioned to us that she didn't even have the keys yet, since the house was being held up in divorce court. Ah, so that's why the house was listed for a decent price (in relation to Antofagasta's crazy housing market prices). The realtor promised to get back to us as soon as the house was able to be seen.
Three weeks went by. Had she forgotten? Did she sell the house to someone else? Finally, Kristi called again to inquire about the status of the house. It was still being held up in court.
A few days later, Kristi and I were talking about all the information we knew about that house. We came to the conclusion that when and if the realtor called, we needed to be prepared to visit the house ASAP and be prepared to say, "We want it", no matter what the actual condition of the house was in. Kinda scary, huh? It was turning out to be the only reasonable lead that our mission could afford buying.
That afternoon, the lady called us back and said that the house was released from divorce court and it was available to see later on that evening. We scheduled to see it at 7 pm. We were excited, yet intrigued about the exact location and condition of the house. You see, realtors here in Antofagasta don't give you the exact address until about 30 mins. before your scheduled viewing. Crazy.
We asked our neighbor to watch Kaylee and Lukas, so we could just take the two boys with us to view the house. We arrived at the address 30 mins. before the scheduled time. And boy are we glad we did. The realtor was actually already at the property EARLY (that never happens). She was waiting for the lawyer to show up to give her the keys to the house.
Shortly after we arrived, several other couples arrived that were interested in viewing the house. Thankfully, we were first in line to see the house. The house was located on a corner lot in the Coviefi neighborhood. It was a one story home with 3 bedrooms and one bathroom. After taking some pictures, walking through the whole house, and chatting with the realtor, we told her that we were interested and would like to start the process to buy the house.
The condition of the house needed some obvious help, but the overall package of the property was nothing like we've seen before during our 6 month housing search.
Upon arriving home, we received a call from the realtor stating that the two other couples who saw the house after us were interested as well, so we needed to fully commit since we had priority. We called our field director and briefed him about the property and we decided to pursue the lead in earnest.
Currently, we are waiting until April 5th. On that day, Curtis, our field director, will fly up to Antofagasta to view the property and then (Lord willing) sign the paperwork and give a check to the realtor for the house. If all goes as planned, the house will be bought on the 5th and the lady who currently lives in the home will have three weeks to move out. We could have full possession of the house by the end of April.
Then what? Well, it will start a long process of assessing the house and planning a long list of construction projects that will need to be done before we can move into the house.
For example, some of the priority projects include:
*Take off the roof
*Pour a cement floor to be able to build a future second story
*Install a new kitchen (we will get the house with nothing in the kitchen)
*Replace the front gate and improve the side wall (to fully secure the property)
The projects are no small matter and could take up to 6 to 10 months to complete, depending on the provision of funds and possible work teams. The goal is to finish these initial projects so that our family can move from our apartment into the house, thus eliminating our high monthly rent costs. Once moved in, we can invest more in the house and the ministry potential at that property. We plan to use the house temporarily for meetings, services, and Bible studies, but the end goal is for the future church plant to have it's own property and building. That will be another search for another time.
Please continue to pray for...
*the finalization of the house purchase.
*God's provision for the first phase of construction projects.
*God's provision of work teams or individuals to help advance or complete the projects.
If you would like more detailed information about how to participate in these projects, just contact us via email, Skype, or Facebook.
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