House Hunt - Jill Buys a House

Jill has been wanting to buy a house and has been actively looking for about two months. She got an agent and really got started in April but most of what we saw was not good and was not what she wanted. She got pre-approved for a loan but kept shopping for better terms. She finally saw a little house way over on Riverside Drive that would work but was pretty small. She kept looking but was getting discouraged. One house that looked really good was sold before she could get in to see it. She was beginning to think she was just going to have to wait.....but the first time home buyer tax benefit was due to expire in December.

She had noticed that a small brick house on West Main was being renovated and when the FSBO sign went up she had the agent talk to the sellers and they were willing to work through the agent. We got in to see the house and she fell in love with it. I did too.

The house was built around 1905 and is owned by the family of the present county Assessor...it was his grandma's house. He did a really good job with the renovation and the house has been nominated for the Golden Hammer award. It has about 1,450 square feet. The basement is old looking with a stone foundation but it is pretty dry considering how old it is. They put all new electric, water and plumbing systems in....but the roof is about 15 years old.

The house has a small yard and a little free-standing garage off the back alley. The garage is cute but not very useful as a garage. It will need some work.

The inside rehab is well done...there isn't much that Jill will have to do once she moves in. All of the major systems have been replaced. It has a sun porch and a sunny rear sitting room/den with a 1/2 bath.

The kitchen is large and nice and all appliances are included. The counter top is granite tile. There is a front parlor with a pocket door and a living room.

Upstairs there are two large bedrooms and a huge bath with a claw foot tub and a walk-in shower. The choices they made in colors and light fixtures are perfect for her. She actually will have almost too much room and will have to grow into the house over time.

I think the house had Jill's name on it and I think the sellers were happy that she was interested in it because she has a good sense of history and appreciates the old house. The house is only about five blocks from the State Archives so she can walk to work in about ten minutes and come home for lunch.

We got in to see it twice and then Jill decided to make an offer. The sellers were asking for $95,000 but they lost 3% when they agreed to go through her agent. Jill had been pre-approved for about the mid $90 thousand but was still shopping for loans. She made an offer of $92,500 and we waited with our fingers crossed. It was Memorial Day weekend so it was a busy time but there were not many other people out looking for houses on the holiday.

We finally heard from the agent that the offer was accepted if she was willing to close earlier in July. She had originally wanted a late July closing but jumped at the chance to get the offer approved. Now we wait for the results of the inspection and if all goes well she will close on July 2nd. To say that she is excited is a gross understatement. I am also happy that she got this finished and seems to have a good house while I'm still in town. I'd hate to go through this if I was 1,000 miles away.