Yesterday afternoon, Brian suggested that we at least ASK our real estate agent to send us other potential listings. We needed a back up plan. About 45 seconds after asking, we had a slew of houses to look at. We decided to look at another townhome, identical to ours, on the same street, priced $20,000 higher because it was not a short sale. For comparison, we also decided to look at a different town home on the other side of town. We went to that one first. We didn't make it to the first one because we were too busy putting in an offer on the town home on the other side of town. LESS than 24 hours later, we got a phone call... AND
OUR OFFER WAS ACCEPTED
Brian and I are 30 (almost 29) days from being home owners.
I know you are anxious, so I will save the boring for the bottom and get to the juicy stuff.
The Specs
The list price was $75,000. We offered $77,500 and the seller pays $2500 closing. We only went over because there was another offer on the house.
It is a three bedroom, three bathroom town home. It is a duplex and has a small backyard.
Sq Footage: 1338
It was built in 2005, so it is pretty recent construction.
Pictures? Gladly.
This is the front view of our little home. <3
Foyer
Living Room/Dining Room Combo
From the other side, there is adorable column detailing
Kitchen view one
Kitchen view two
Entry way to third bedroom and access to outside
Alternative skylight
Vaulted Ceilings
Second Bedroom
Master Bedroom
Pros and Cons
I will start with the positive, because it far outweighs the negative.
I love the amount of windows and natural light that comes into our new home. It is fantastic and makes the space feel bigger. The vaulted ceilings heighten (I am so witty) this affect and are a great feature. I love the tall baseboards and that the place lends itself to student living. We plan to use the third bedroom as storage because it is small and is the only access to the backyard from inside. With our entrepreneurial enterprises, this is important, however, we always have the option to rent out this third bedroom for extra income, which is nice. There is a little nook, not pictured, that will be a great place for a custom built in desk. I also adore the three bedrooms and three bathrooms, as it lends itself to our uses as an investment property.
Now to nitpick. I am so happy that Brian and I will be leaving this small apartment in the dust- truly. BUT, this is NOT my ideal home. Luckily, it does not have to be. This place screams student rental. Which is perfect, we want it to be a student rental. It is a little out of the way, but close to the highway. It is pretty much sitting on some train tracks, which could prove to be a nuisance, but we will see how often the trains run. The cost of this place is much higher, but the return is a sure thing, both with location and the home itself. These originally sold for 150,000 a piece when they were built. I am a little sad to let Pontiac go, only because I had all these visions of how I would DO things to it. With this place, we will need to--at some point-- put in new flooring and to paint, and put up a fence out back-- but that is pretty much it. I am a DYI-er and I love projects. That is why I was in love with Pontiac Dr. HOWEVER, as Brian wisely pointed out to me, this is much more suited to our more immediate goals of rental properties, the project houses can come down the road. He grounds me. =)
The Important Stuff
Immediately following the news that our offer on this house had been accepted, I was ecstatic. Months of house hoping, and we finally have one- albeit, a different one than planned. Immediately afterwords, I was overwhelmed. Brian and I were suddenly like...OMG...we need $5000 dollars in 30 days... Granted, we KNOW we can meet this obligation. We went to the bank this afternoon to sign all of our paperwork and ask questions. I think we both felt less side-armed after the fact. Between now and closing, we need to figure out who we want to use for insurance, and have a home inspection. Oh, and pack. =)
We also asked questions about future endeavors. She seems to think that we will not have any problem obtaining financing within the next couple years for our next house. Which is perfect. Because, optimally, Brian and I will be buying our next house (probably a short sale- but this time, a six month to 10 year wait period will be expected) within the next two years. We also got some awesome news... We will be able to do taxes to make it appear as a no-gain investment... We can write off any additional income from that property as maintenance expenses...How cool is that. We locked in an interest rate of 3.75%.
All in all, I am incredibly excited. For all intents and purposes, I am a homeowner in the making before I turn 22. Brian and I will be successful in our ventures because we do them smartly. We did not want to initially spend this much money...however, in the long run, we would have spent the same money at Pontiac to get it up to par. This will be a much easier investment to turn around and rent out while we plow ahead in the real estate market.
On a cheesy last note, Brian and I are perfect for one another....
God Blessed the broken road, that led me straight to you.
Truly.
