Well....Flux.

These folded paper walruses were a fun exercise for the kids in hand agility, coordination, and following directions.

Sorry for the innuendo up there in the title, but sometimes life can throw a curve ball at you that sits you back onto your haunches for a moment in chagrin. 

****Please be advised that this update 

is about LIFE rather than homeschooling****.

So, our home purchase that we'd been under contract with since November has fallen through. It's no one's fault, really, and probably OURS. and our mortgage broker's,  if anyone needs to point a finger.

 You see, we were trying for a Rural Development loan for this home. Our mortgage broker (let's call him C.) had (of course) taken all of our financial info. He got us pre-approved for a mortgage through his company (not a hole-in-the-wall one, one that's regionally well known). He had been counselling us about our credit score, because an error on our report caused the number to drop below the RD required number, and he was helping us to get that number 

back up.

Well, finally in early December, the number came back up above the required number, with a bit of room to spare, even. He had pulled the score and actually was the one to inform US that "Hey, good news! I pulled the score and you're finally eligible for RD, so full steam ahead!". My husband asked what else was needed from us now, and C. said: 

"We've got all we need now. The inspection's been done, the title searched, the appraisal done, and now Underwriting just needs to pull it all together and then you'll sign your life away."

Great!  .....Only...C. hadn't actually submitted our loan into the RD online system for actual final approval from the actual RD folks. So, a week later we get a phone call from C., saying that "For some reason that NO ONE in our office can figure out, RD is denying you."

What?!

Well, I'll skip to the spoiler here: Because of the government shut-down, many RD loans are stuck in limbo right now. It's a government program, so it makes sense that there might be delays in approving the release of housing funds when the govt. can't agree on their budget right now. OK, fine.

We were a little irritated that C. had just assumed All Was Well and gave us false hopes before actually submitting things, but we swallowed our irritation and moved forward.

Then, he told us our next option was an FHA loan. That system was still working fine, and we already qualified for it with our lower credit score earlier on. My husband asked what the difference was, and C. answered "Well, you will need to put 3% down, bringing the principal amount of the loan down, and the interest rate is a half point better than the RD loan, saving you money over the course of the loan! Oh, and you'll likely want to get the seller to pay the closing costs for you so you can afford the 3% down"

OK, fine. OUR ASSUMPTION (please heed the lesson here, folks, and learn from OUR MISTAKES!) is that when he pushed for the FHA loan being a money saver, is that because we're putting 3% down (bringing down the principal), and because we were going to get a half point interest rate "deal", that meant our monthly payments should have been more affordable, right?!

We'd been sorta biting our nails on the monthly payment as it is. It was going to be about $100/mo more than we were super comfortable with. It was going to be a stretch, but we figured we could cut back in other areas and make it work (but we weren't THRILLED with the figure).

Well, it had been nagging at me. I'd wake up in a cold sweat, feeling that something was wrong here. I had said to my husband a couple of times "Hey, did you ask C. what the actual new monthly payment was going to be?".  His reply "No, it didn't occur to me to ask, but I just assume it's going to be lower, so kudos for that."

So, we moved forward, excited that this was going to be more affordable. I mean, to be honest with you, for a moment there...the second we heard the RD thing wasn't going to work, we were both ready to pull the plug. The second we agreed to do the FHA loan once the RD loan fell through, I had heart palpitations and high anxiety every day and was really beginning to regret it - 

although I just couldn't put my finger on WHY.

Well, getting to the point of the story here after bringing you 

all around the mulberry bush (ha!):

My husband finally heeded my request to call and ask C. about the new payments, and here is what he was told:

The payments were actually going to be nearly $100 MORE a month than with the RD loan!

WHAT?!

So, apparently, even though the PRINCIPAL would be lowered (by completely wiping out our savings to put 3% down), and even though the INTEREST RATE was a half point lower, FHA charges a monthly fee of $250 for the honor of loaning you the money.

So, any benefit of lowering your principal and getting a better rate is completely negated by this $250/mo charge.

Well, that was just too much. It was the last straw on our financial backs, and we had to pull the plug on the whole thing.

I will say, however, that we both feel SUPREMELY relieved to be out from under the weight of this little project. It was getting heavier and heavier, and more and more expensive as we went along. It's taken an emotional toll on our family to be up and down every other week about this house, especially after the months of looking for homes. 

We're taking it fairly easy this week in the homeschooling department as we recover emotionally, but we're getting back into the groove next week - in great part because I feel the return to the rhythm of homeschooling is our comfort zone and our rock. It reminds us that we're still US, that our lives are still OK and will go on in a steady way as it always has. 

We're seriously considering just renting for another year and trying again NEXT fall/spring. 

The Universe has been loud and clear on this one, 

and as such...we'd be wise to listen.