He knows the way that I take

“He knows the way that I take...” Job said these immortal words way back 4000 years ago. The truth is still valid today. The Psalmist in Psalm 1 said it this way, “For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous...” (Psalm 1:6). The cool part of this closeness is that God is always in every situation and circumstance. In his omniscience, there is nothing that takes him by surprise. In his omnipotence, there is nothing too big or small for him to handle.

In the last few weeks, I have been working on a real estate deal with several hoops and hurdles that needed attention. Each one came as a part of the UW process. UW means underwriter. Underwriters are what we commonly call “bean-counters.” They don't get involved emotionally in a loan situation because they just want the numbers of their part of the deal to add up. You can give them a sob story, but your tears fall on Teflon® shoulders and drop quickly to the floor.

Now, take a person who lives in Brazil and throw him into the mix, and your real estate adventure will take on a different twist. That was what happened. I found a place just a few blocks from our daughter, Abby, and Cameron’s home. It looked like it might make a good place for Dawn and me when we decide to move back to the States. If you have been following the real estate market in the past few years, you will know that this year has been crazy to the max. There are a few real estate guys that I follow on YouTube (Dion McNeeley, Michael Zuber and Matt the Lumberjack Landlord), and all have said at one time or another that this is the craziest year that they have ever seen. It is nuts.

It is what is called a seller’s market. However, this year it is a seller’s market on steroids. There is little real estate inventory, which means that, during an average year, there would be 3,000,000,000 homes for sale in the United States. This is NOT an average year and thus there are a mere 1,000,000,000 on the market. A million sounds like a ton, but it’s not a considerable number considering the entire nation. The reality here is that you will get over the asking price if you are a seller. I called on one place listed on Zillow for $139,000, and it had been on the market for two days. I sent an email to the listing agent, and he got back to me, telling me that the place had sold for $160,000! Amazing. It’s like that all over.

So, IF you are a seller, you can expect a great price on your property. However, THEN you have to buy a place to live. Unless you are downsizing, your problem will be that you can expect to pay way over the asking price for the same size house you are currently selling.

So, when I saw that place near Abby and Cameron listing for $149,900, I didn't think too much about it. That is when Dawn said, “Did you see that place on Zillow near Abby and Cameron?” Oops.

So, I contacted our realtor and she went to look at it the next day. It is not big, just three bedrooms, one bath, no basement, and a good-sized garage. It's got a nice-sized lot next to it that functions as a lawn. Its in a nice neighborhood in the small town of Center Line, Michigan.

Amie is both our property manager and our realtor and she is so very helpful in situations like we were facing. She sent me a note and said, “It needs some minor fixes but I think that it would make a good rental. I’d offer 120k on it.”

I immediately poo-pooed the idea thinking, "THIS IS A SELLER'S MARKET.” Amie didn't blink, and so I said that we'd like to make that offer.

Dawn and I were praying for God's help and direction and, we knew that nothing is impossible for him. But come on, this is a SELLER'S MARKET!

The next day Amie sent me a note stating that the seller was willing to come down 9,000 on his asking price. Wait. What? I quickly sent an email to Amie asking if she thought he’d meet halfway between our 120 initial offer and his initial asking price. Her email response quickly left me stunned. "He's willing to come down to $127,500 but, that is as far as he will go.

Can you see God's hand in this? Well, just hold on for part two tomorrow!

What Are You Worth?

What are you Worth? Have you ever thought about what you are worth? In investing circles there is a term used to gauge this exact question, it's called Net Worth. You take all of your assets, like property owned, funds in your bank account, clothes, jewelry, car, etc.. You total all of these things. You then take everything you owe, like mortgage, car loan, and credit card debt, and you subtract these items from the first total. This gives you your net worth. That number represents where you are financially. Most people never stop to think about this number because they don't understand anything about it. They never have two nickels to rub together. They live from hand to mouth and know (or at least believe) nothing will ever change so, they fall into the "daily grind" mentality. Psalm 49 should be a great encouragement to such as these. The sons of Korah write about them. These sons write about all of us. They call all people everywhere to listen to their wisdom. Bo...

The Circumcision Advantage

What a title right? I'm thinking of Romans 3:1 where Paul asks, "What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?" This was always an avoided subject in Sunday school, especially in a mixed class. We didn't use the "C" word. Too wierd. Paul is bringing up this topic for good reasons. He wants to show that the Jews definitely have had a great advantage during their history. In the next verse he tells one of them when he says, ... "First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God." The first jew talked to God in person. God chose Abram to be the father of many nations and to bring the blessing of the Messiah to the world. The Old Testament is the story of the Jewish nation. God dealt with the Jews throughout the ages of the time before Christ. They were the chosen. But in all that blessing they ended up crucifying the Messiah. With all of their advantages the Jews came short of the ideal....

Abs of Steel with Glasses

Have you ever wondered why Clark Kent always took his glasses off before he turned into Superman? I hadn’t ever thought about it either until this last Saturday when I almost got sucker-punched. Wellington, one of my spunky Juniors, wanted to wrestle. He feigned a punch to my gut and I said, “Go ahead. I have abs of steel!” I think that my gym visits might be going to my head because my abs of steel are buried under a healthy layer of blubber. I have improved my six-pack but it is far from chiseled. It looks more like a quarter of a keg. Anyway, quick as a wink and with near lightening speed Wellington said, “Yeah but up here is made of glass!” as his poke went within a hair’s breadth of my glasses! I belly-laughed. His rapid reflexes and wit had caught me by surprise. And what he said was so true and funny. It was an excellent though brief lesson. I often prepare for an oncoming fray. I get ready, set and then “BLAM”! The proverbial punch comes from a totally different direction. ...

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