[Elspode]

Good vibes sometimes work in ways you don't really expect, but they do indeed work. Witness the new La Casa de Elspode, a short acre slice of heaven located in a mature (original plat in the 1930's) Raytown, Missouri neighborhood two blocks from 350 Highway.

As the Greenwood owners balked at our contingency offer, we continued to pack and begin painting on our current abode. At the same time, we kept on looking for appropriate residences to meet our needs.

Last week, I picked up a FSBO publication on a local grocery store rack. I brought it home to Mrs Elspode, who quickly focused on the below property, as I had while looking it over in the store parking lot as I waited for my son to come out of the video store.

Monday, we went to an open house. Tuesday, we called the owner and arranged for a meeting this morning so we could make an offer. Minimal wrangling was conducted, and our offer of $165k with owner paying closing costs was accepted!

I will, of course, get some site photos to share with you all later on, but I wanted you to see the Google Earth shot of this magnificent property. The lady who lives there has been a big time gardener for many years, with the result that the place comes with pecan and walnut trees, a large grape arbor, blueberry bushes inside of a wire birdproofing construct, a pair of apple trees, and gooseberry and blackberry bushes to boot. An enormous, blooming, heavily perfumed Mimosa tree joins pine, maple and other deciduous trees to provide copious shade around the yard perimeter. The front yard is small, shaded, and entirely "naturalized", planted heavily with Columbine and gladiolus.

The original house was built in 1939, with a large addition built on top of it in 1972. There is an attached two car garage with central stairs leading up to a dormer loft above, which is in turn accessible through the Master Bedroom. Two full baths, a woodburning fireplace, nearly innumerable closets and another complete unfinished dormer space are also upstairs. There is a covered front porch with porch swing, a small concrete back patio, and the large asphalt turnaround that used to be for getting your car into the original basement garage.

The clincher, of course, was the separate huge barn/garage...with a full studio apartment as its upstairs, ready for my son to move into.

There is still a chance that someone will come in within the next five days and top our offer, but we think that we're in. This means that, in about a week, I will be asking for your prayerful and energetic assistance in selling our current house, which will need to happen quickly once we've moved out.

Time and again, my experiences with all of you here on The Cellar have proven beyond doubt that the power of Group Will and positive thoughts reap mighty dividends. I thank you all for your contributions in our efforts to change not only our home, but our entire lives in the process.