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We were not in the market for a new house. We were comfortable in the house we were living in. I was bored one day and was looking at the houses that were for sale in our town and found this house-an 1865 Victorian. I couldn't believe the price they were asking-it was a foreclosure. We decided to take a look at it. We figured what the hell-it was only a block from our house. So, after calling the agent, we walked over. I walked in and just fell in love with the place but didn't know if Hubby wanted to take on the venture because it needed A LOT of work. We were standing in the upstairs hallway when Hubby said, "I can see us living here." That was basically the green light. We put in an offer-the bank countered and we took it. It was cheap enough that we could pay in cash-but how much we put into it is a different story. The rest they say, is history. And neither one of us regrets that decision. We still love this house.
We were not in the market for a new house. We were comfortable in the house we were living in. I was bored one day and was looking at the houses that were for sale in our town and found this house-an 1865 Victorian. I couldn't believe the price they were asking-it was a foreclosure. We decided to take a look at it. We figured what the hell-it was only a block from our house. So, after calling the agent, we walked over. I walked in and just fell in love with the place but didn't know if Hubby wanted to take on the venture because it needed A LOT of work. We were standing in the upstairs hallway when Hubby said, "I can see us living here." That was basically the green light. We put in an offer-the bank countered and we took it. It was cheap enough that we could pay in cash-but how much we put into it is a different story. The rest they say, is history. And neither one of us regrets that decision. We still love this house.
We were not in the market for a new house. We were comfortable in the house we were living in. I was bored one day and was looking at the houses that were for sale in our town and found this house-an 1865 Victorian. I couldn't believe the price they were asking-it was a foreclosure. We decided to take a look at it. We figured what the hell-it was only a block from our house. So, after calling the agent, we walked over. I walked in and just fell in love with the place but didn't know if Hubby wanted to take on the venture because it needed A LOT of work. We were standing in the upstairs hallway when Hubby said, "I can see us living here." That was basically the green light. We put in an offer-the bank countered and we took it. It was cheap enough that we could pay in cash-but how much we put into it is a different story. The rest they say, is history. And neither one of us regrets that decision. We still love this house.
Cat
I’d LOVE to see a picture!
I love old houses.
We were looking for a new home in the beautiful old neighborhoods of our city so we could be closer to my daughter and her family.
I had my heart set on an old house but nothing worked till we found a Bavarian craftsman that we loved.
It failed inspection abysmally.
Our realtor showed us a northwest contemporary in the same area and (though we’d never wanted a contemporary) we loved it. Light, airy, and it had good “vibes”.
Sounds so new age but I’ve found perfect houses that just didn’t feel right.
We bought it and immediately remodeled the main floor to get rid of the 80’s esthetic and put in oak floors, new kitchen, etc.
it’s perfect now.
I’d LOVE to see a picture!
I love old houses.
We were looking for a new home in the beautiful old neighborhoods of our city so we could be closer to my daughter and her family.
I had my heart set on an old house but nothing worked till we found a Bavarian craftsman that we loved.
It failed inspection abysmally.
Our realtor showed us a northwest contemporary in the same area and (though we’d never wanted a contemporary) we loved it. Light, airy, and it had good “vibesâ€.
Sounds so new age but I’ve found perfect houses that just didn’t feel right.
We bought it and immediately remodeled the main floor to get rid of the 80’s esthetic and put in oak floors, new kitchen, etc.
it’s perfect now.
Though it's not an old house (and I love old houses) that's sort of how it happened with us. We planned to move in about three years and were just out looking at open houses to keep up with ideas and the market. And we walked into a house we almost didn't go see (because everything looked brown in the pictures online) and we were absolutely blown away. We turned to each other and said "We need to make an offer on this house," and that's what we did. That was less than two months ago. We closed on it a couple of weeks ago and while my husband has been out of town I've been moving all the boxed stuff over there and movers come for the furniture TOMORROW! Super excited. I am really tired of owning two houses and both of them being torn up and terrible looking!
It's been sort of sad because 1) we love our current home and really weren't psyched up to leave it yet and 2) we also love our neighborhood and 3) we love our little suburbs right outside of Tyler, TX. But I know we will feel the same way about the new house - and it's the sort of house that honestly will last me till my kids have to move me to assisted living! LOL
We didn't plan on living in this house, we'd bought it as a rental and it wasn't nice enough to rent (more fixing and upping than we'd expected) so we ended up renting out our nice home and moving into the fixer-upper that was supposed to have been a rental. It has a nicer location, though, and bigger yard. The nice home is just outside the distance that would allow a fairly easy walk into town, the one we're in now is an easy walk. We can make this not-so-nice house nicer, it's much harder to change the location.
I fell in love with the mountain view. I didn’t realize that I would only see it about 3 months of the year (even less this year). I love all the nature...deer, bald eagles, Canadian geese, 2 kinds of hummingbirds, robins, finches, swans, garter snakes, bunnies, even the moles. My dogs love how much room they have to run.
tldr: It was a crazy bargain and I knew it would appreciate by a LOT (it did).
We toured the house when it first came on the market, and it was 200K above our price range.
Two sales fell through, and the seller was in distress and needed to get rid of it. The price dropped near our range. Then the government shut-down happened and that kicked out some of the competition.
We low-balled it, tied with another offer, got an inside scoop from our realtor, and edged out the other offer.
Truth be told, I don't like the house. The design is stupid. The layout sucks. It was listed as "needing work" which we never did. The previous owner did a bunch of dumb ****, because he thought he was a handyman, which I am forever finding and fixing.
The location is good, but not perfect. We can walk to town, but it's a longer walk than I'd like. There's no ocean view (yet, a renovation may fix that) from inside. It is on a large lot that is hard to manage (brush clearance).
However, it is the best investment we've ever made, and it works well enough for us. The design has grown on me as I've explored ways to renovate it to get all the features I want. The original layout still sucks, but it can be modified--without too much expense--to be a really great house with the ocean view and layout I want.
As the kids get older, the big lot is going to be more of an asset instead of just a hassle. So I'm extremely happy with it, even though it's ugly, run-down, and dumb.
I kinda love this whole post.
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