Home Buying

I was inspired a little bit by Burgh Baby to write a little bit about my house. (I'll have to add the pictures later) We started looking for a home early in 2009. I think i looked at 20 houses. Maybe more. My price range wasn't very high, and i didn't mind a fixer-upper. But the houses i was seeing were terrible. There was one i really loved, and there happened to be no exit from the basement, so if you were trapped by a fire, you would die. Grr. The second one, my dad came to see with me. The pictures were beautiful. The actual house was beautiful. Newly remodeled, nice layout, a spacious 2 bedroom ranch. Huge deck, small backyard, nice finished basement, 2 baths, laundry room, garage. AWESOME! There was a bidding war, and i couldn't offer more than asking price, so i lost the house. Bummer. There were other houses in between, and my dad assured me that when i found the perfect one i would know it and it would happen. I looked at houses where things were falling apart, where fake brick facades were drooping but hidden by plants, i looked at homes where there were shrines to a dead wife built in the living room. Houses on flat land, houses on hills, houses with a distinct smell of dog or cat, houses that as soon as you walked in you wanted to walk right back out, houses that were beautiful but there were crack houses next door. My real estate agent was a woman i worked with at my regular job. She was amazing and knew those terrible houses and carried hand sanitizer in her car, and upon opening the front door, if it was bad, immediately read my face and whispered "we can just leave if you want". She was great. And i never would have kept looking if it weren't for her. I was ready to quit. To throw in the towel and wait a few months before i found anything else that was terrible, or found something i would love but then lose. Then there was the last day of looking at houses. Two new houses on the market. Both looked promising. But i quit getting my hopes up, and became more and more picky. This day i took my brother with me. He's my go to fix it guy, and would be the one doing any potential repairs. We looked at the first house and it was ok. Not perfect, but workable. But it was on a hill. One thing i didn't want, because when it snows i'd be stuck. The second house was it. THE HOUSE. The original pictures didn't do it justice at all. I walked in and was in love before i even made it across the living room. There was beautiful original woodwork, large spacious rooms, a gas fireplace. And that was just the beginning. It was BEYOND AMAZING! My brother said to me, buy this house right now Karyn! We looked at the rest of the house and i immediately called my dad (he has the final go ahead because he knows what he is talking about). Two days later my dad went with me to look at the house again. A two car detached garage, two large bedrooms, a small room with access to the attic, an attic you could walk up into, two and a half baths, large dining room, the house sat on 3 lots! THREE LOTS! My dad told everyone he talked to about this house THREE LOTS! (in Liberty Boro this is very rare. Houses are usually so close to one another you can see into your neighbors bathroom from your house- ok thats a little bit of an exaggeration). So we put in an offer. A little lower than asking, because the kitchen was HIDEOUS and yellow. But i was in love. The seller came back and said they had another offer and wanted our best and final offer. There was no second offer, straight to the final? OH NO! But looking at this house was already stretching my budget, we raised the looking price once, what now? I talked to my dad, the real estate agent, everyone. I made my co workers sick hearing about this everyday. So we put in an offer and on a previous house my realator had me write a note to the seller. I asked if i could do that again. OF COURSE! she said. So i did. IT WORKED! The final offers were identical! IDENTICAL!! What did it was the letter. Pearl was an older woman, 96, who was going to live with her son in Maryland. The neighbors took care of her and helped her out. I met them when i looked at the house. She was a school nurse where i went to highschool. I remembered her from when i was in 7th grade. She retired the next year. I wrote to her how i grew up in Liberty Boro, not 4 or 5 blocks away. How i really loved the little town, wanted to be close to family. I was napping the day i got the call. I was being impatient and figured if i fell asleep, time would go faster, and when i woke up i'd know if i had this house. If i lost it i wasn't looking anymore. She called, it was Saturday afternoon. The real estate agent sounded sad, she said "Karyn, i got a call about the house" I'm not sure what else she said, except it ended in "because you own a home now!" And i think i screamed right in her ear! So now i have this house. The day of closing my car was loaded with necessities: paint, cleaning supplies, plates and napkins. My brother and i started right away painting, replacing light fixtures and outlets, and my entire family and group of friends came over for a painting party. We finished that in one night! WOW! We took up the carpets and exposed gorgeous hard wood floors in the whole house the second day, and on the third day we moved in. It went way too smoothly. The only casualty was a tear in the semi-new couch. (and my mom yelling about my house keeping skills in the old apartment) I'm a home owner now. I love it. Its a rollercoaster when the toilet leaks and ruins the kitchen. Or when there is water in the basement. But i have a home. I have an amazing man to share it with. It's perfect. And definately worth every penny. This is what it looked like before the owners remodeled the outside.