A lot of things started coming together last weekend. We have been forcing ourselves to slow down and allow things to happen sequentially, but it all came to a head less than 10 days ago. Paul had a smashing 5 minute program interview for a position and was given an offer about 24 hours later. The company is Solidyn Solutions, a small defense contractor with a superior reputation. Salary and benefits were excellent, so he accepted.

At the same time - the exact same time - our realtor called us up with a strange offer to ponder. Oakwood Builders in Castle Rock knew that Paul and I liked their homes - we loved them, actually - but they were also aware that we were not going to make a move on a house until Paul had a job. Well, unlike other builders we have dealt with in our 7 years of homebuying experience, Oakwood has been unbelievably respectful and have not tried to push anything on us, which is another reason we really love them However, they approached our realtor because they were in a bind as they have not been able to move inventory homes well at all in this economy due to the price point of the houses in this collection they build. So, as a marketing ploy - at least that's how we're interpreting it - they wanted to know if we would consider making an offer on one of their houses and they would allow a contingency of the contract on Paul's employment within a flexible amount of time (2-3 weeks, potentially more). We took this as an open door to negotiate some ridiculous prices. There was little risk to us to sign this contract, thanks to the contingency allowed, but we had a feeling a job offer was on the horizon and we really liked the house.

As of Friday, we are under contract for a lovely house (ok, potentially lovely, as it's got some color issues - the interior, for one, makes me think I'm James in his Giant Peach) at an amazing price.

Paul is waiting for his clearances to cross-over, which will take a week or two, but his start date is tentatively June 8th. Oakwood has no idea that Paul has already accepted the offer and we will not divulge this information until we get a definitive start date and know that the clearance cross-over is complete. We are currently scheduled to close on June 12th.

All in all, an exciting, eventful week!