House Hunting

When Bo and I met with our real estate agent (whom we just adore and couldn't be happier with!) we said, "Melissa, we only have one piece of criteria for our house:  We want a good deal."

In fact we want such a good deal - we want to buy a house that has more square footage and a bigger lot than our last house.  And we want to buy it for cheaper than we sold Surrey Lane.  Our agent is so professional, she didn't even bat an eye, and so the house hunt begins.

We've seen lots of wonderful houses in our area.  We've discovered this house makes you feel like you're somewhere in the mountains and that view of the creek is amazing!  This house made us realize how much we love a tri-level floor plan.  And watching the horses graze in the pasture in this backyard was such a relaxing feature.  But for whatever reason, we ruled them all out one by one. 

We've narrowed it down to two houses.  I'll reserve sharing the neighborhoods on the blog for safety's sake.

Here's Option One:

This house is like Surrey Lane on steroids - 5 BR, 3 Baths on .8 acres with a 2 car garage.  It has over 2500 square feet, a ton of storage, and even a tree fort in the backyard.  It's in the county which means cheaper taxes and that I could raise chickens (!).  It was built in 1991 though and hasn't had any updates since then, so we'd have to renovate changing out the flooring and updating the baths and kitchen.  It's also a short sale which means that the owners have been able to keep their house from going into foreclosure by cooperating with the bank.  The bank has agreed to let the owners sell their house short of what is owed on the mortgage.  While this sounds great to a seller (especially in this market!) it can sometimes take short sales 6 months to close since the bank has to approve the negotiated price.  The house has plenty of room to grow.

Here's Option Two:

This house was built the 40s and we just love the charm - hardwoods throughout with large oaks across the .6 acre property. It is about 2500 square feet and has 4 bedrooms 2 baths.  The kitchen has been updated and there is an addition on the back perfect for a playroom.  The bathrooms look like they are in pretty rough condition though and would require a complete renovation pretty soon. The house doesn't have a garage or attic, so you'd have to be pretty creative with storage.  This property is up for auction - not your typical MLS listing.  That means that you can place a pre-auction bid or cast your bid on the steps of the house mid-June with others who'd like a chance to own it.  Sounds odd, doesnt't it?

If the house isn't foreclosed on (like Surrey Lane was prior to our purchase), a short sale, or auction, Bo and I aren't interesed!  How do we find ourselves falling for these crazy neglected properties?!

We met with our realtor today to write up an offer - we'll let you know which one soon - and if we can't reach an agreement on price, Bo and I really need to get serious about finding a rental.  We only have about 20 days left until closing!