God stepped in when the realtor stepped out: how I found my house in Sacrament Meeting

I know, without any doubt, that God inspires people to do daring things. That sometimes those daring things don’t make sense. And that he will help us accomplish what he asks us to do.

Back in 2016, I lived in a different city and owned a business. One weekend, while visiting my sons in St George, I received a very clear impression that I needed to move there. I wanted to act on the inspiration, so that very day I called a friend and arranged to rent a business office from her so that I could start the process of moving my therapy practice to St. George. When I was back in Springville the next day, I called a realtor and listed my home for sale.

This was not going to be an easy task. And it needed to happen like clockwork. It was January, and I wanted the move to take place over the summer so that my daughter could be established in a new home in time for school to start that fall. If I just needed to quit my job and start a new one in St George, that would have been one thing. But I needed to shut down my private practice where I was currently and open up and build clientele in a private practice at the new location. All by the time summer started.

I started making as many business contacts as I could in St George and arranged to start seeing clients at that new office in just three weeks. Over the next few months, I drove to St George every weekend and saw clients all day Saturday. By the time I moved there at the end of May, I had almost enough clients to sustain myself, and my old clients had found new therapists. There were a few that would continue to see me via Skype, and that would fill in the blanks in my budget. That was a huge accomplishment. And one that God and I partnered in bringing to pass. He supplied the inspiration and helps along the way, and I provided the blood, sweat, and tears.

Housing was another matter, though. There were some unseen issues coming my way that I hadn’t anticipated. The house in Springville sold quickly, and I got a good price. But then some of the plumbing started to have problems while I was renting it back from the new owners. Problems that would have cost 10k to fix. There was a bit of a scare when the realtor accused me of trying to sell a “lemon” and that I knew about the problems and didn’t disclose them on the contract. That certainly wasn’t the case. The issue resolved in time, along with some sleepless nights, lots of prayers, and a very assertive conversation with that realtor.

With the money from my home sale sitting in the bank, I turned my attention to finding a new place in St George. I felt strongly that I wanted to live within walking distance of my sons, who lived with their dad. So they could come to visit me easily. So my daughter could hang out at their house when she wanted. For whatever reason, that felt imperative. I sensed that I needed to be as accessible as possible to my boys. I was being led by the spirit, and I tried to trust what I felt.

Finding something in my price range was tough. Everything near my boy’s house was waaaaaay more than I could afford. After a lot of looking, I finally found one home that would work. It had smoke damage, but I was willing to put in some work to remodel it. I put in an offer and after some back and forth, and some very sketchy interactions with the realtor was under contract.

This realtor confused me. He wouldn’t get back to me when he said he would. He didn’t give me straight answers to my questions sometimes. But ultimately, he did produce a contract, and that was all I needed. Meanwhile, I finalized the financing. That was a rough ride since I was moving my business, and banks are NOT impressed with that. At any rate, I had a closing date set. I started attending church in my new ward when I was there on weekends.

Just three or four days before I was to close on the loan, I hadn’t heard from the realtor for a while. He wasn’t returning my calls. I finally got him on the phone. “I’ll be seeing you on Monday at the closing?” I asked. “There’s something I have to tell you… we won’t be closing… the seller backed out” came his reply.

The realtor had not been honest with me about some of the sellers' terms. The contract had not been drawn up honestly. I investigated my legal rights. This was devastating to my timetable. I needed this house and I was really set back to the drawing board. I found out that I could sue the realtor and seller for the execution of the contract and force the issue.

For about a day I toyed with the idea. Ultimately, I chose to let it go. I couldn’t see how that would serve me in the big picture. This door had closed, and I needed to look for another. Getting my earnest money back took some legal threats, but I finally had it back in my bank.

From there, I didn’t know what to do other than look for a home much farther away from my sons. Nothing in my price range was within miles of their home. I prayed for help, looked at some homes, and made plans to put an offer on a home on a Monday morning. I attended church one more time in the ward I was no longer going to be able to move into.

At church, I bore my testimony, and at the end, stated that I would not be moving into the ward after all, but that I loved and appreciated the time I’d had there. I’d been attending for a couple of months.

After sacrament meeting, as I was preparing to exit, an older brother approached me. “I have a home I’d like to sell you. Could you come look at it today?” He said he was only in town through the evening, so I agreed to come after church.

The home was perfect. Just the right size, and exactly the right price. The condition was absolutely mint. Perfectly clean and very new. I immediately loved it. And it was only a few houses away from my boys!

The owner disclosed to me that he had not intended to sell the home yet. But when he listened to me speak in sacrament meeting, the spirit told him with no uncertainty that he was to sell his home to me. And that he needed to make sure it happened. And that he could trust me.

We talked about price and arrangements. His timetable worked perfectly with mine. Since I had just had a contract with another realtor, I was freshly aware of the process. He told me that if I drew up the contract, he’d sign it. We were going to do this without a realtor, and he’d have me do the leg work. I went home and wrote up the contract based on what I had learned from my recent negotiations.

From there, the sale couldn’t have gone smoother. The move was a breeze too. He wanted to sell me my furniture, which I agreed on. So when I moved, I only took my personal items. He emphasized several times how important it was that he sell me the home, and how he felt very powerfully that he was to make this easy on me and make sure the transaction took place.

This man gave me his total trust. He never questioned me. He was a businessman, intelligent, seasoned, and he trusted me, a woman he didn’t know, to write the contract, set the dates and terms, and follow-through. At the appointed time, he met me at the bank and we finalized the sale.

When I moved it, the home was immaculate, fully furnished, just a few houses away from my boys, and totally affordable. I knew without any doubt, that this home was meant to be mine. That God leads me to it. That God rescued me when I had done all I could do. The solutions were not something I could have forced. Grace had attended this move.

In 2 Nephi 25: 23 it states, “it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.” I think this applies to more than just judgment day. I believe we are also saved temporally, after all we can do. I had worked so hard to walk by faith and move my home and business when the Holy Spirit told me to do so. When my best efforts weren’t enough, God was there to show me mercy.

I think that we just have to trust God. When we try our best, and the answers don’t come, either he will help us adjust our expectations, or he will save the day.