WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!! Okay.... so on April 29th we bought a house, and clearly at this point everyone already knows we bought a house. But we bought a house, none the less. I'm clearly just a little behind on this whole 'blogging the purchase of the new house' thing. But, it just kind of happened!
Let me back up a bit... Dave and I really had no intentions of buying a house, nor were we really looking. Our rental house was fine, dear friends lived nearby, my morning commute was minuscule... there was really no reason to move.
But, being me... I would randomly check the local real estate listings, just to see what was out there. I knew there were two very specific neighborhoods, in our city, that I would consider moving too. Both of which are comprised of older homes and walking distance to downtown. New construction subdivisions are just NOT my jam... and neither is having to get in the car any time I want to go anywhere.
The first neighborhood's homes were a little smaller and a little more affordable; think adorable 1920s/1930s bungalows. I love me a good bungalow. But, the area is still considered to be a bit "transitional". If the right house happened to pop on the market we'd want to see it, but it wasn't the ultimate goal.
The second neighborhood was gorgeous. Beautiful stately homes... trees older than the city itself... a charming brick paved road here and there... you could walk for miles and not pass the same house twice. In other words... my dream. When we found out that Dave's income could not be counted towards our mortgage qualification, it felt like a gut punch. We would not be finding a home in this neighborhood... and I had all but given up on the whole idea of buying any time soon.
Yet, one particular early March morning, I logged on to trulia.com, as I'd done many a time before and up popped this house. I'd seen it before; it had been listed for awhile. I always browsed past it as it didn't have a garage and didn't meet Dave's required number of bathrooms. But, it was in the second neighborhood, so I decided to just click through the pictures.
And then we bought a house. Really, it was almost that fast.
I fell in love with the pictures. In love. Even though the house was old and worn and dated and in desperate need of some TLC, I saw something. The price was right. The neighborhood was more than right. The house had all the character and charm and old world details that I always dreamed my home would have.
That very night I drove to the house after work and spent probably a good hour peering in all the windows (now- I'm not THAT creepy, as based on the pictures the house was clearly vacant!).
The next day, and with Dave's reluctant blessing, I set up a showing with a realtor for the following Saturday. Not three seconds after stepping foot into this house did I know that it was ours. I'm not kidding. I know people will just say that... "love at first sight"... but I'm serious. I knew this was OUR house.
Now, there were flaws, that was for sure. The house is OLD (113 years OLD to be exact), so the floors were sloped and slanted and creaky and the windows didn't all open... you know, all those things that go along with an old house. But, I knew that was something we could work with. The bones were there.
Dave how ever... not so much. I think it's fair to say that he hated it.
Luckily, his parents were able to come and see the house the next day, and after seeing his dad's enthusiasm and excitement, he was ready to let me move forward.
We made and offer. Our offer was accepted. We passed inspection. And we bought a house. Just like that. Have I said that enough times yet, in this post?
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| OH SHIT! WE BOUGHT A HOUSE! |
The night of our closing, I registered this blog with the intent to document our road to making our new house a home... and instead completely neglected it. I figured now is as good a time as any to get the ball rolling.
So here we are... a few months in. A lot of progress has been made, but we still have a long way to go. My plan is to go back and rehash some of the things we've done, while at the same time showing off some new projects.
I hope you enjoy... and if I know you "in real life".... COME VISIT!
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