I had butterflies in my stomach and my heart was pounding as we stood on the lawn of the property we were about to bid on. I couldn’t even tell you the amount of times I looked at my husband and said, "I think I'm going to throw up." I was so nervous. This was a huge deal for us. We weren't like most of the people at this auction who were investors or home flippers. We were buying this house to be our forever home to raise our family there and grow our farming business. Not only were we in love with the property and had already mentally moved in, but we had also sold our current home. Well, we were under contract and had a 30 day closing...which is fast if you know anything about home sales.
My husband and I laughed when we would tell people that we were playing a fun game called house or homeless. We were either going to be the highest bidder at auction or we were going to be homeless in about 30 days. We would joke about it, but it was pretty much a reality. I mean..we wouldn't be living on the streets by any means but we would need to move in with family. So telling you all that I was stressed was an understatement!
On the day of the auction we decided that we wanted to get there a little early. They were auctioning off household items first so we thought that it might be fun to get there early, scope things out, register for our number and take in the competition.
When it came time for the auction of the home to begin, I was really a wreck. I honestly didn't know if I was going to be sick or pass out. But, I just stood there listening to the auctioneer read off all the information about the property and how the auction was going to work. I had my sunglasses on and I couldn't even make eye contact with my husband. I was so nervous that I just stood next to him silent, blocking everyone out around me. All I could think about were all the boxes of our possessions sitting back at our under contract home. How if we were the highest bidder we would be leaving here with our tail between our legs and basically needed to figure out where we would move our little family in 30 short days. Once the auctioneer started rambling off numbers I took in a huge breath and held it.
No one said a word as the auctioneer kept throwing out numbers, going lower and lower from the number that he started with. When he finally reached the lowest number he could go he told everyone that he wasn't going any lower than that number. There was a long pause, which felt like forever before my husband shouted the first bid. All bets were on! There were about 4 people bidding at the beginning then it quickly came down to us and one other man. At this point I was still not looking at anyone around me. I was still just staring straight in front of me at the auctioneer. The bids went back and forth many times before the other man went out. We had called the last bid!
At this point it was still not over. The auctioneer stopped and walked over to the owners to discuss with them about if they were willing accept the amount that it was at. They all whispered back and forth for a minute, which felt like the longest minute of my life. If I wasn't anxious before I sure was now. I continued to hold my breath.
The auctioneer stepped back up on his stand and informed everyone that the owners will accept the amount for the house that the bid was currently at. He asked if there was anyone else wanting to put their bid in.
If I wasn’t holding my breath before, I surely was now as I was waiting to hear if anyone was going to jump back into the bidding war. Then when no one made a peep the auctioneer started shouting "GOING ONCE, (biggest pause ever) GOING TWICE, (another huge pause) SOLD!”
When he shouted “sold” and pointed at us, I had huge tears in my eyes. Talk about a rollercoaster of emotions! I couldn't believe it. It was one of the most surreal moments of my life. The rest of the day was a whirlwind as we filled out paperwork and walked through the house with a whole new perspective...we were the owners officially! It was a crazy, amazing experience and a story that one day we can share with our children and generations to come. We believe in God’s perfect timing and deeply feel like this is God’s purpose for us
Comments