House #1
We started with a fixer upper that Andrew and I both really liked that was a short sale. We put in an offer that would have been the seller's back-up offer if they had actually accepted it. Instead, they chose not to accept our offer, deciding that if the first offer didn't work out they would just go into foreclosure...
House #2
When the offer on house #1 wasn't accepted, we looked at several other houses and eventually found a house that we really liked in a neighborhood we really liked as well. The house was more cookie cutter than we wanted and the yard was a little smaller than we wanted, but we were willing to compromise on those things for the location, the square footage, and the fact that we wouldn't have to do much to the house other than painting. We thought the seller was asking too much for the house given the market, so we made a low offer, expecting them to give us a counteroffer so we could meet somewhere in the middle. The seller refused to counteroffer because he thinks that the house is worth the list price. (We actually found out that the seller had turned down an offer that was $2,000 below their list price last year. So we knew there was no working with this guy.)
House #3 (aka the house we actually bought!!!)
When our offer on house #2 wasn't accepted, we looked at even more houses and ended up looking at a house that is literally across the street from house #2. We knew we loved the location and the neighborhood, but thought that this house was more expensive than we wanted. We thought we'd just look at it to see what we could get if we were to go to the top end of our budget. However, once we walked into this house, we saw how much more we would be getting for our money. The house is gorgeous!!! It is literally our dream house and big enough that we will never have to move unless we choose to.
It has great curb appeal, a fenced backyard with a swing set and deck that look out on a field, a family room with a gas fireplace, a beautiful kitchen, a huge loft at the top of the stairs, a big master bedroom, a gorgeous master bathroom with two sinks and a garden tub (which is a requirement since i've gotten used to the one in my apartment), the most amazing closet i've ever seen in my life, and the excitement continues from there!
There is SO much more to tell you about our house, but you'll have to wait until i have the keys in my hand to see the pictures because i don't want anything to go wrong with this one!
