By now, many of you know that Chris and I put an offer on a house a few weeks ago. We didn't intend to buy so soon. As we were about to depart for vacation, we were looking at new real estate listings when we came across the most un-freakin'-believable home. We dropped everything we were doing to perform a nighttime drive-by. Sufficiently stunned by the beauty of the 1930s brick abode and the quaintness of the neighborhood, we called our realtor and said "We.must.see.this.friggin'.house." Realtor DeAnna hooked us up with an appointment to see it the day we were leaving for vacay. We instantly fell in love. After a few incidents that involved losing keys and funerals, we all met up to make an offer on the crib. It took us hours to do the paperwork, making us late to get into Cleveland that evening. Totes worth the sacrifice though, we told ourselves.
This house was fab-u-licious. Even though I said I always wanted something small and manageable, I got seduced by a six-bedroom, three-bath home. It used to be a duplex and had recently been converted back to a single family home. The owners made many changes to the place, including renovating the kitchen, adding a bocci ball court and outdoor fireplace, installing built-ins in the dining room, painting, adding carpet, etc. It looked sharp and just my style. I was slightly nervous about the size of the place. That's a lot of furniture to buy and a lot of heating bill to pay. We were trying to set all our hesitations aside, knowing this could be a very long-term home with room to grow. Here are some pics of the home:
The next day, the realtor presented the offer to the sellers. They weren't feeling it. We thought this might happen and were armored with a counter-offer. On our layover in Las Vegas, Chris and I were racing to catch the second leg of our flight. I looked like such an Alpha Female brokering this deal as we were running to the terminal, afraid we'd miss our plane. Right before we boarded, I learned that the sellers still weren't budging. With great sadness, we walked on the offer. We're both pragmatic, fiscally responsible people and refused to go above a certain amount. Bottom line. There would be other houses, for sure. Still, the ride from Vegas to San Diego was rather solemn.
Arriving in San Diego, the mood lightened. How can one not be giddy and happy when going from temps in the teens to balmy weather in the 70s? Anywho, I checked my texts and saw one from my realtor urging me to call her. Long story short, the sellers reconsidered our offer. We had a sale! I have to say, we felt on top of the world as we drove our rental car through the palm-tree boulevards of Southern California, knowing we had just purchased this home. It made our vacation that much more special. Over the next couple days, before Chris and I grabbed our continental breakfast, we used the hotel's business center to print and fax documents. Doing all of this paperwork on vacation made housebuying so much less stressful. After our warm vacation was over, we'd have something to get us through the rest of the winter.
We arrived back in Pittsburgh on Monday. By Wednesday, we had our home inspection. This is where things took a turn for the worst. I won't go into details here, other than to say it wasn't the right property for us. After going back and forth on the issue, we both agreed to retract our offer and move on.
And so yesterday, we met with our realtor to terminate the contract. Our realtor is super. I thought she'd be a little peeved by our change of heart, but she was understanding and optimistic. Already she had a ton of homes in mind for us to see that very day.
She first showed us a breakthrough development project going on in one of the sketchier areas of the city. Now, keep in mind that Chris and I are open to transitional neighborhoods; we consider ourselves urban pioneers in ways. The project was really inspiring! The city purchased nearly an entire block of homes. They tore down some eyesores and constructed about a half dozen brightly-colored "concept" homes in their place. All are green buildings. Mixed in with these newbies are beautiful, but abandoned Victorian mini-mansions. The latter is what she had in mind for us. The idea is that we'd meet with the urban redevelopment authority and contractors to plan a complete, green rehab for these older homes. From start to finish, it takes six months for contractors and workers to get one of these homes in move-in ready condition. And there are many incentives for going this route, including tax abatements. Hm, it was definitely a viable option for us.
After that, we drove to Lawrenceville where I live (and l♥ve) now. If you know me, you're well aware that snagging a rowhouse in L'ville is my dream. When I first met my realtor, she told Chris, "Ya know, your wife really loves this neighborhood. She's going to have a hard time leaving." The problem is that finding suitable housing in L'ville is tricky. Everthing is either really fancy and out of our budget or really crappy and in need of some desperate TLC. So, when a few days ago we saw a Victorian rowhouse crop up in Lower Lawrenceville (or LoLa for short), we alerted our realtor and asked that she show it to us. On Sunday, that's precisely what we did. This place was gorge. And apparently everyone else thought so too. There was a steady stream of (annoyingly trendy) people there all day, including two couples while we were looking.
I wish I could show you some pictures, but the ones online don't do this place justice. I'll describe it here instead. The rowhouse is yellow, with red and blue Victorian cornices above the windows and doors. I should add that the address is prominently displayed with huge numbers above the door, which is a little detail Chris has always wanted to add to his future home. The property is narrow--we're talking one room wide. That's typical of homes from the turn-of-the-century. So, the inside of this 3 bedroom/1 bath home is naturally very cozy and small-ish. It's literally half the square footage of the aforementioned house.
The architectural details had us all geeked out. Even though the place is a total renovation, they managed to preserve some of the history and make it a good mix of old and new. There's three floor-to-ceiling exposed brick fireplaces: one in the living room, one in the master bedroom and one in the bathroom. The window trim is original (or a very convincing replica) and looks all shmaltzy. The kitchen never existed when it was built in 1890, so it's all brand spankin' new, including stainless steel appliances, dark wood cabinets and granite countertops. As for all the non-pretty stuff, the house is in mint-condition. We're talking new roof, new plumbing, new electrical work, new furnace, new hot water tank. Whew, talk about low maintenance!
So, I bet you're dying to know if we placed an offer on this place...
Are you effin' crazy? Of course we did! Even though there was some fierce competion for this house, we named our price. We counter offered and wheeled and dealed and even agreed to give up our first born. I spent an entire day running to my cell phones in hopes of it being my realtor with news, then getting sorta mad when the person on the other end was not my realtor. A communicator by nature, I was dying to tell everyone about the possibility of getting this house, but I didn't want to jinx us. We have bad house luck as it is. I'm convinced that the Gods of New Construction and the Gods of Suburbia are punishing us for loving old homes and city living. Seriously. Buying a vinyl-sided split level in Pleasantville would have been so much easier, but we were stubborn and unwilling to give up our ideals.
And ya know what? It all paid off. Today, Chris called me with the good news: the seller accepted our final offer! I have no qualms about sharing this because I know it's the ONE. What's freaky is that yesterday I was going through some of my old blog posts (from Xanga, the original home of my journaling), when I came across one dated January of 2006, which stated, "Chris and I have begun browsing real estate listings. I really want to get a Victorian rowhouse." Four years ago, people. You can't help what the heart desires.
From a financial standpoint, this will be a good investment for us. Properties in L'ville have the second higest appreciation value in the city. Where our rowhouse is located--the Sixth Ward--has become the "hottest" part of L'ville now too, as much as I hate using that term. (I'm here cuz it's home, not cuz it's hip). Many of the sweet little clothing boutiques and art galleries have set up shop in LoLa. We will be a block away from Butler Street!
Our inspection is this Thursday. I have full confidence it will pass, no problemo. I'll take pics at the inspection and share them here for you inquiring minds. We close on February 26 and begin moving that day. Since we'll only be three blocks away from the Goat Loft, we can literally walk our possessions over to the new pad.
I can't tell you how excited I am to remain in my community! To have a home with walls and doors! To live so close to
Piccolo Forno and
Coca Cafe! To nest with Chris! To decorate! Oh-em-gee, this is going to be fierce.
