This process from start to finish has been a long one. I have always looked forward to the time I would be able to buy a house. I started looking seriously about 3 years ago. I started following properties on line and occasionally driving to the house to walk around and check it out. I was nervous and excited when I realized that I was able to finally go ahead with this process. My efforts were jump started in early January when the cutest, cheapest, fixer of a farmhouse, in a great neighborhood, popped on the market. It was such a good deal and I knew I wanted to go for it, or at least get my ducks in a row so I had the option of making an offer on it. That house lasted 2 1/2 days on the market. It became addicting at that point. Real estate was a game and I was ready to play. I had been following a handful of properties for months and watching their sale prices decrease over time. It was exciting, until I finally started looking at the inside of homes and I found one that I liked... actually I loved it. I had already envisioned all the fantastic changes I would make to the open floor plan. I had envisioned dark stained wood floors and a white and stainless steel kitchen. All this was imagined in my head before I even left the main floor. I was hooked. I made an offer on that house and literally fell in love with the life I had imagined I could have in that house. I didn't get it....and I cried. It felt like I had lost my first love. I cried and cried.... it was such a strange experience. I thought about giving up, but my real estate agent Dana (the greatest agent ever by the way) and my real estate father urged me to keep looking. I got back on the horse after some TLC from my Mom (thanks Mommy for coming to Portland!) and was looking at houses the following week.
We must have looked at 6 houses the following Saturday. I was feeling bruised and battered, but determined to continue on. In the past, I would frequently drive through my favorite neighborhoods, checking out the newest houses on the market. The house I ended up buying I had seen a month before. The first time I had seen it in person it was 20K more than it was that Saturday. They had just dropped the price 10k more, putting the adjusted price way below the original listing price. It was still a bit more than I had wanted to spend, but thought I would at least walk through. I was pleasantly surprised by the open floor plan, vintage charm, the loved condition of the home and all the little creative spaces this home had. I'm sure this blog will serve as a way to report the updates and changes I make to this home over time. First on my list of To-Dos is painting. I think it is ready for a fresh start and frankly, so am I! I can't really explain how symbolic this house feels for me. I'm ready for a new chapter and I think I've found it! Thanks for everybody's support throughout this process. There were times that I felt that buying a house was harder than my Ph.D! I think it is because you are really at the mercy of others when you go down this path. It just reinforces how easy it is to believe that we have total control of our lives. I'm convinced there is no such thing!
I will try to be better about posting. At least with pictures of the interior! I get the keys on Friday and have a wedding in Texas the following weekend, so it may be a while. Busy busy busy!!!!
2 comments:
Yay for you! It looks adorable! We are in the process of looking at houses too... it's *really* hard in Oakland, but we are soldiering on. :) Congratulations!
Yay Daphne!!! Good luck with your house search! Your perfect, cute and cozy home will find you soon! Don't fall in love though until your offer is accepted.... it hurts bad if you don't get it! Can't wait to hear about your house hunt!
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