Ok. Sit down (you probably are) and take a deep breath. Paul and I did something a little crazy yesterday. Ready? We bought a house…and it’s across the street from my mom again. Well, we got our offer accepted anyway, so pretty much the same thing. What?! Why?! We know, it’s crazy, wild, unthinkable and just plain bad timing (with the baby coming), but it was an opportunity that we really couldn’t pass up.
My mom’s (and Brian and Ashley’s) neighbors and friends who work for Comair are being transfered to Alaska in 1.5 months. Their house, which everyone has always admired, was obviously going up for sale. On Friday night, Brian jokingly said to us “you should buy their house.” We all laughed it off, but after a few minutes of thinking, and realizing which house it was, we thought…what the hay, let’s walk through it to check it out. Matt, the owner, has spent the last few years gutting, remodeling, putting on new siding, and installing all new windows, and has probably dumped about $50,000 into it. We were at least curious to see what the inside looks like, because the outside is just adorable.
Paul and I walked through Saturday night and were amazed. Hardwood floors throughout (although they carpeted the upstairs), tile floor in the kitchen and bathrooms, a deck that was converted into a beautiful sun room, 4 bedrooms, a completely remodeled upstairs bathroom with pocket door and jacuzzi bathtub (oh, yes), refinished 3rd floor area that can be used as an office or additional bedroom, a basement that has about 10ft ceilings, and a completely remodeled kitchen with new solid-surface countertops, new cabinets and brand new stainless steel appliances. It also has a huge yard, brand new sidewalks and driveway, 2 car garage and a really cool storage room under the sun room where you can store outdoor equipment, Paul’s motorcycle or even make it a workroom (it’s Paul’s favorite thing!).
We liked the house and stayed up until about 1:30 in the morning actually considering putting an offer on it. We walked through the house again yesterday with the realtor. The reason we had to move quickly on it was because the house wasn’t even on the market yet (it will be as of today, Monday) and there were already 2 showings after us, a walk-up that wanted a showing, and 3 other realtors calling Holly asking for showing times for Monday. This house was going, and going fast. If you aren’t from around here, this particular street and block is highly desirable, and houses that go up for sale on it are typically sold by word of mouth before the realtor can even get the sign in the yard. So, we knew that if we wanted a chance at it, we had to put down an offer. So we did, and they accepted it. And…it was only about $6,000 more than what we paid for our house we built. Wow.
Here’s our thought process (well, combined with everyone else’s input) ;-). We did just build our house 2 years ago, and it seems silly to move out of a perfectly good house, especially with a baby due any day. But, as people say, you only live once. Also, as my aunt said, “when else in your life do you get the opportunity to live so close to family and have that type of community, AND have a great house?” We spend so much time at my mom’s and with Brian and Ashley anyway that we’ve come to miss the “community” of that street. It’s sad to think that we know every person on that street and don’t even live there, and have lived here for 2 years and know 1 neighbor…well, at least their names.
Check out pictures of the house (taken from Holly’s page, and Paul’s phone):
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