We're going back to Walt Disney World in May 09!...pics added

[englishrose47]

Hi I finally made it over here will catch up later

 

[englishrose47]

Hi there! If you've eaten at Teppan Edo, Coral Reef, or Chefs de France let me know what you think. We haven't done any of these and I'm trying to decide which one for our trip....let me know what ya think!

Okay I lied I started reading !!! First you are an adorable family!!!
I have eaten at Chefs and am returning this May as you may knowfrom my PTR and other threads we co habit!!!!
I loved Chefs I hd the Shrimp and Scalopps and the apple crepes YUMMY!
I pln to try Teppan this May and am very excited !! Have you seen the really cute way they serve the kids meals !!!!????

 

[leamom2princesses]

Glad to hear your interview went well!

I'm excited to ride TSM too! It opened on the day we left last year. I was soooo bummed we missed it! We're not early risers, but I'm going to try to get us to DHS for rope drop so we get a chance to ride. I've been thinking about getting up earlier on this vacation anyway since the park ours aren't as late, especially DHS.

Love the Mousekeeping envelopes! I need to do the same!!

It's been a while since I interviewed anywhere so I was pretty nervous. I put my game face on and went for it. Guess what?? They called me back yesterday afternoon and they want to move forward with me. I have a phone interview with their corporate engineers sometime next week between Monday and Wednesday...

You should try to get up early even just once and make it to the park at opening. The opening shows are cute, the lines for the rides are super short, and I can't explain the feeling of walking into the park without it being crammed with visitors. It's just so beautiful.

Greetings from It has been raining and windy. Avery has got up t 430am the last 2 mornings. Think that needs another I did get to eat some yummy ice cream today so that is good. Glad the interview went well. Maybe your old job will give you a bonus or some kind of insentive. I want to see a pic of your hair. Have a fun weekend-send sun vibes my way!!

Don't know what the old job is going to do. I have been open and up front. We'll see what happens. If I can get halfway between where I was and where I am with a new opportunity, I will be so happy. I'm sorry the weather has been yucky. Maybe today it will be better I need to get a pic of the do. Maybe I will get DH to take one for me.

Okay I lied I started reading !!! First you are an adorable family!!!
I have eaten at Chefs and am returning this May as you may knowfrom my PTR and other threads we co habit!!!!
I loved Chefs I hd the Shrimp and Scalopps and the apple crepes YUMMY!
I pln to try Teppan this May and am very excited !! Have you seen the really cute way they serve the kids meals !!!!????

Hi Rosie! Welcome to my PTR! WOW! I'm so happy you made it over. Thanks for the kind comments on the family. I'm looking forward to Teppan but haven't seen how they serve the kids meals. Need to go check that out. Thanks for the tip!

 

[leamom2princesses]

Okay guys something happened yesterday out of no where and I need some advice...

About two years ago and up to about a year ago Joe and I were on the hunt for a new home. Where we live is nice and the neighbors are great but we were wanting to upgrade a little and acquire some land. We have been spending a small fortune on horseback riding lessons for Lindsey. We'd rather buy her a horse and let Joe teach her as he rode horses his entire childhood.
We quit actively looking about this time last year because of some advice about puchasing in an election year, predictions on the economy etc. Please keep in mind that the housing market here isn't what it is in other regions of the country. Real estate is quite cheap and you get far more for your money. The average 3 bed 2 bath home in good condition with an acre lot goes for $120k. We live in a home like this. We bought it almost exactly 10 years ago before we were married.

Well about three weeks ago our agent (whom we haven't heard from in 6 months) sent us a listing for a house. The property has 4 beds, 2.5 baths, 6 acres, a shop, barn with stalls, and is already fenced. It is a 3200 sq ft. brick home and has two huge bonus rooms. It is listed for $299k but the owner paid 230k last year. We just looked at it said that's a nice place and moved on because we don't want to make a big commitment like that right now.

Well yesterday I get a call from the agent and the house is going to quick sale and can probably be bought for 150k. The property valuation council (this is a commonwealth) has the fair cash value at $264k. We had to go look at it. It is perfect for us and everything we were looking for and willing to pay much more for 18 months ago

So here is the dilemma:

Do we take the leap of faith? If we do we probably will not be able to go to WDW in May...

Do we pass it up?

I'm so torn because you know I LOVE me some WDW and I really want to meet my new DIS friends. (BTW, this would have been much easier if I hadn't made connections with such good people ).

We have some significant equity in this home that we could put down on the new home which would probably make our payments right at or slightly more than we pay now. We would also have an instant 110K equity in the new home. We're worried that in this market we may not be able to sell our current home. Our agent tells us the average time on the market for a home in our price range is 4 months...

Help me guys!?!

 

[bouncycat]

I don't envy the decision you have to make at all!! Good luck right off the bat. A few things that popped into my mind, is first and foremost, do what's BEST for your family. With that said, not sure of the housing market where you are, but here it SUCKS!! I personally wouldn't want to venture into a buy/sell anything regarding houses right now. People are buying tho, the house across the street from me just sold for $102k, after being on the short sale market for almost a year if the housing market in your area isn't that bad, yea, I'd not want to miss wdw either, but there's always next time, how many times does the perfect house for your family roll around? I don't know if I'd be taking out an equity line on your current house either, cause what if you can't sell it AND cover the equity line? I see that more and more with people and their houses down here, but of course this could be different then your area. I'm by no means in the real estate career market, so I don't know squat but those are the first things that popped into my mind, maybe someone can give you some better advice...but first and FOREMOST, do what's BEST for your family!!!

 

[Leleluvsdis]

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I would go for the house.

We are in a similar situation, but the housing market here is very high. We currently live in a 1000sq foot house with 3 bedrooms 1 1/2 bath and less than 1/2 lot and our house has been listed at $130k. The avereage 1500-1800sq ft house with 1/2 to 1 acre goes for min 180k and up. It's very frusterating, but we have been looking for almost a year, so I would go for the house. Once you get settled I'm sure you will be able to make a trip!

 

[kaysmommie]

That is a hard Dilemma. You know I'm super addicted to Disney and was looking forward to meeting you at the Dis meet. But for the perfect house I would pass on Disney this year. I can totally relate to your situation, houses are not selling fast here either. We live in a 2000 Sq. ft 3/2 home all brcik and in a nice neighborhood. Still I think a bigger house would be great for our family. We would love to have 4 bedrooms and a bonus room or nice finished basement. If your payment is only going to go up a little why not go for it! Also the extra land will be great for your family. Keep us updated on what you decide.

 

[wlwilliams9]

Ooh, this is a tough one. As much as we all love Disney, I think that sould not be a factor in your decision. Easy for me to say, right!! If you've been looking for 2+ years for the perfect house for your family and haven't seen anything until now, then I think you need to jump on it! I would definitely make it contingent on your current home selling though. You don't want to be carrying two mortgages. Since you are getting such a deal, you could still go to Disney!!


Good luck!

 

[leamom2princesses]

Hi again! Thanks for the input everyone.

I guess I left this out: with a short sale there are no contingencies (for home inspection results or buying when we close on our current home) so we either have two mortgages or we get a bridge loan until our current home sells. Knowing that a house in our range is on the market for an average of 4 months and knowing that the economic recession hasn't bottomed out yet has me super scared to make a move. I hate to pass up a great deal on a perfect house but I also hate to carry two mortgages and not get another job. Of course our agent says it will be no problem. We aren't convinced yet.

Decisions, decisions, decisions............

 

[leamom2princesses]

So we have made a decision for now...

We're going to the bank in the morning. We want to know what our rep will be willing to work out. We've been pre-approved for a long time but we want to make sure nothing has changed due the economic down turn. Joe has decided to sell one of his trucks-he has 3 vehicles and all are nice. He becomes emotionally attached for some crazy reason. We have been talking about it for a while but it hasn't been necessary so we just haven't done it. We have people randomly stop in our driveway and ask to buy this truck so I don't think it will be a problem to sell. This way we can get the house and go to WDW... ' Joe said "I can't believe I'm saying this out loud but I'm actually looking forward to going to Disney World with you and the girls. I don't want to cancel our trip." We don't need four vehicles. Getting rid of some of the excess would be a good thing.

Our real estate agent made us pretty angry yesterday. I told all of you that he was confident Friday that we could get the place for $150k. Yesterday afternoon he sends an email of all things and says he thinks we should bid $185k so that the bank knows were serious. Are you kidding me???? You're now telling us to offer $35k more in less than 18 hours???

The place is worth $185k don't get me wrong. It's more that he doesn't appear to have our best interest in mind. I will keep you posted. The great news is that we are going to Nashville here in a few minutes for shopping and I can still look for vacation clothes for the girls

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I hope everything works out for you with the house and with Disney.

 

[MaryAz]

I am glad I got to read the whole thread and not just the first "what would you do" post. My first reaction was "OMG I am not going to get to meet Leanne and her family" after I got over the "all about me" moment, I thought "wow, the perfect house, how can she pass that up" The I thought "maybe SOMEHOW they can do both" Kept reading and was like "thats right hubby man-you sell that truck and have you some DIsney fun" Shame on ur agent, hello Mister that is over 30k-let me just pull that out from under my matress. I really hope it works out and you get the house. Avery would be in heaven to have her own horse-I want to start her on lessons sometime. Have fun shopping and post some pics!!
Sun came out at the bech today!

 

[3princesses+aprince]

I just read your dilemma, and your update, so i'm glad you may be able to go with the house and Disney

We are looking to buy a house too, within the next year or so, If I had to choose between the 2 it would be the house. You can go to Disney anytime, the perfect house does not always show up.

 

[Leleluvsdis]

Hope everything works out for the best, and just remember if it's meant to be it will be!!!

 

[leamom2princesses]

I hope everything works out for you with the house and with Disney.

Me too. I have been really looking forward to the meeting everyone at the DIS meet.

I am glad I got to read the whole thread and not just the first "what would you do" post. My first reaction was "OMG I am not going to get to meet Leanne and her family" after I got over the "all about me" moment, I thought "wow, the perfect house, how can she pass that up" The I thought "maybe SOMEHOW they can do both" Kept reading and was like "thats right hubby man-you sell that truck and have you some DIsney fun" Shame on ur agent, hello Mister that is over 30k-let me just pull that out from under my matress. I really hope it works out and you get the house. Avery would be in heaven to have her own horse-I want to start her on lessons sometime. Have fun shopping and post some pics!!
Sun came out at the bech today!

YAY! The sun came out!

I'm glad you read the whole thing. We will have a better feel this afternoon about whether everything is going to work out how we think it will. If you think Avery is interested you should start interviewing riding instructors. Lindsey started lessons at 5 yrs old. After the first year, I highly recommend pursuing a longer lesson which teaches the process of taking care of, handling, and riding the horse. I think Lindsey really fell in love when she started these type of lessons. We also knew that she was serious because she didn't mind brushing, washing, applying medicine to wounds, taking care of saddles etc.

BTW, I made a lot of purchases and didn't spend a lot of money. There were some really good deals at the Disney Store yesterday. It helped my stress level significantly. I'll try to post some pics tonight!

I just read your dilemma, and your update, so i'm glad you may be able to go with the house and Disney

We are looking to buy a house too, within the next year or so, If I had to choose between the 2 it would be the house. You can go to Disney anytime, the perfect house does not always show up.

Thanks for the words of encouragement. This process has been gruelling. Thing is if we had found this place for this price 18 months ago, I would have been posting pics of my new home. It's crazy how things have changed in that little of time.

Hope everything works out for the best, and just remember if it's meant to be it will be!!!

I agree. We feel like it just fell in our lap.



!

 

[leamom2princesses]

Thanks again everyone! This has been a tough weekend for sleeping I tell ya! We are going to the bank today to talk to our loan officer. Joe and I feel like this is one of those once in a lifetime moments so we have to go after it. We took Joe's parents to see it and walk through yesterday afternoon. On Friday, they told us we were crazy to go look because of the economy. Yesterday they told Joe make an offer. You don't know how much it helps to have them tell us it would be the right thing to do.

I will keep you posted! Have a great Monday everyone

 

[Leleluvsdis]

Thanks again everyone! This has been a tough weekend for sleeping I tell ya! We are going to the bank today to talk to our loan officer. Joe and I feel like this is one of those once in a lifetime moments so we have to go after it. We took Joe's parents to see it and walk through yesterday afternoon. On Friday, they told us we were crazy to go look because of the economy. Yesterday they told Joe make an offer. You don't know how much it helps to have them tell us it would be the right thing to do.

I will keep you posted! Have a great Monday everyone

Hope you get the answer you are looking for!!!

​

 

[wlwilliams9]

I hope everything works out with the bank today! You've got a lot going on, a new house, Disney, possibly a new job...WOW!! Hope you know hoe to juggle!!

I can't wait to see what you picked up on your shopping trip!

 

[leamom2princesses]

Hope you get the answer you are looking for!!!

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Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! We are meeting the loan officer at 12:00 CST. I hope I have good news for you this evening!

I hope everything works out with the bank today! You've got a lot going on, a new house, Disney, possibly a new job...WOW!! Hope you know hoe to juggle!!

I can't wait to see what you picked up on your shopping trip!

Thanks Wendy! I do have a lot going on. I do my best work under pressure I will post our purchases tonight. I can't wait to post pics of what Josie picked out. My 8 year old could care less about what she wears but the 3 year old is completely different. She is all about picking out her clothes. If she doesn't like what you lay/pick out for her, she says "Dat is ugwy momma". She's a hoot. Pics to come tonight!

 

[kaysmommie]

I've got my fingers crossed that everything works out with the house and the loan officer. That does stink about the realtor though. Maybe you should just make the original offer of $150. You can always go up right but not back down? your hubby is right you don't need 4 vehicles but a house you love and a nice vacation to Disney will be great family time . I'm hoping you still get to go and I'm looking forward to meeting you all. Waiting to see your Disney store finds.