A Place To Call Home pt. 2
(source: kikimood on etsy)
Where we left off at part 1, I had just received a call from my agent telling me about a 100-year-old home that had just come on the market. After my agent called, I pulled up the listing and my interest was immediately piqued. The home was small, but packed a lot of adorable victorian charm on the outside and the high ceilings and hardwood floors that I craved on the inside. We decided to see the house the very next day.
During my lunch hour the next day, I went to meet my agent in front of a small but cute cream-colored house. We spent about half an hour touring the place, during which I decided that A) I was quite interested in the property and B) the house needed a lot of work. The place had been rented out (for who knows how long) and boasted such treasures as a smashed in cooktop, crayola covered walls, and heavily stained stinky carpets in the bedrooms. Despite the amount of work I felt the home needed, I decided to move forward with my first offer.
We submitted an offer at nearly 20k below asking price because the 1000 sqft (so small!) house needed so much work just to make it livable. I signed a pile of documents and spent 2 days worrying, stressing, and building anxiety. By the end of the week the seller had countered at close to the asking price and with a bit of sadness I walked away from the deal.
Over the next couple of weeks I visited many more houses, most of which I found to be incredibly disappointing. I encountered massive amounts of poorly done home renovations and (surprise!) even more structural issues. There was one house that I thought might be the one, so I dragged my dad along to check it out with me. With his "magic dad eyes" my father quickly vetoed the property (how was I to notice crap plumbing, poor water pressure, and bad homeownership?!). On the way back to my apartment that day, my dad asked me if I would consider speaking with his family's preferred real estate agent to get further insight and I agreed.
A few days later I met with my father's agent, an incredibly nice man who had helped many people in my family find their dream homes and I agreed to let him help me. During one of my many chats with my new agent, I decided to up my house budget by about 30k in an attempt to put me in a home with far fewer problems than all of the others I had been looking at. Since I was putting myself in a new price range, I found myself beginning the hunt...yet again, this time in a new year!
Stay tuned for part 3!