OUR FOREVER HOME

When we looked at this home, we were at a difficult spot in life. Because of bipolar disorder, I hadn't worked in several years. Kathy had been working as an assistant principal for Clovis Unified. She had plans to move upwards as a principal, but the opportunity hadn't surfaced yet. We had managed a preapproval on a home loan but were limited in available cash. We had looked at more than twenty homes and made offers on many. We couldn't find the proper connection to purchase a home. Jim Christiansen, a friend at Church, had been following this process and our lack of success. He decided he would offer to sell us one of his rental homes. The neighborhood was safe, but was not one of our preferred neighborhoods. I wish we still had the pictures we took on our first tour of it. They were stolen later when our home was broken into. The front yard had no grass, and part of it was oily from a car that had been parked there. The carpet inside from the house was moved to cover the backyard. Of course, that meant there was no carpet inside. The kitchen had the original 1950s appliances in turquoise. It was completely walled in, separating the cook from the rest of the house. There was an indoor clothes washer but an outdoor dryer. Every door and many walls had holes in them. Jim was embarrassed over the unexpected condition of the house. That night, Kathy cried with the thought that this was all we would be able to buy. A day later, Jim came back with a proposal for the house. He had a handyman/contractor that he often used for repairs to his rental homes. He planned to bring him in to bring the house up to date-and safe. He gave us a price and we would add any costs related to the repairs to the price. Moreover, he would finance our purchase, points free. We agreed, and they started. To keep the price down, he used builder-grade materials. He had a son who was a cabinet maker who made custom cabinets for the kitchen.

Jim's contractor took down the walls in the kitchen to make it open-concept with a kitchen view of the dining room and family room. He created a laundry room with both washer and dryer, and a pantry. He updated the master bathroom. When he was done, the house was safe and presentable. The yards still needed our touch. It took a little over three months to get things ready to live in. We moved while Kathy was off for Winter Break at school. Forever, thank you, Jim.