House Hunt Week

What an experience this past week has been for Amy and me. Knowing that our house was sold and that we needed to find another place to live by the end of September, we set out to find our new home this week. Over a span of 10 days, we looked at 40+ houses in person and dozens more online. Our days have run together as have so many of the houses we have seen. During our search we had one lady call 911 on us and another lady drag her reluctant teenagers out to the front porch while we toured their house. At the beginning of the week we were ready to make an offer on a house only to be talked out of it by our realtor because of potential structural problems. By Wednesday Amy and I had rebounded and found another house that we liked. After shaking it off and finding a second house we liked, we prepared to write up an offer. On Thursday morning just before we submitted the offer though we learned that the seller had just accepted an offer from another buyer. By Thursday evening we were back on our horse after finding house #3 that we were prepared to make an offer on. Unfortunately we were crushed again to learn that night that another offer was pending on the house.

Bound and determined, bumped and bruised, Amy and I piled into the car with our realtor and set off on Friday morning to look at 18 houses over the course of six hours. By Friday night we had decided we liked only two -- a four-bedroom house in Cary that was the first house we had seen that day and an unknown house in Apex that just showed up on the computer as we were returning home.

After walking through both houses on Saturday, Amy and I made the decision to go with a six-year old spacious house in a good neighborhood in Apex. It is a house that has really been neglected cosmetically -- all the rooms are painted white, the carpet is blue and worn, and the landscaping leaves much to be desired. Still, it is a house we undoubtedly feel we can grow into and one that will serve us and the boys well over the long haul. So we made the first offer this afternoon, played the counter game a few times this evening, and verbally agreed to a deal tonight. It will be a big commitment for us, just as all houses are for any of us to invest in. But what a relief -- to find something that your gut tells you is right after a long, long search is very gratifying.

So we have sold our house and have now agreed on a price for our new house. We still have some unfinished negotiation to take care of with our buyers and a little thing called moving. Nevertheless there is a feeling of relief in our house tonight.

During the whole process this week, we were truly fortunate to have GJ and Pappy here to take care of the boys while Amy & I jettisoned off to search for the new home. We owe the grandparents a debt of gratitude and then some for all their help this week. It is much easier to look at a crawl space and size up a floor plan of a house without juggling two 16-month olds in your arms. ;-) Amy and I owe our dear friends Chad & Claudia for all their support. We are definitely appreciative of all the calls from friends and family with offers to watch boys, suggestions of MLS listings to see, and simple pick-me-ups as we dealt with the highs and lows of this process.

You only buy a few houses in a lifetime. This was a big ordeal for us. We are glad to have cleared another big hurdle and thrilled to have a good house to raise the boys in. We look forward to having so many of the readers of this blog into our new house very soon.

Although we don't have a signed contract yet, 105 Chilcott Lane should be our next address. Cheers!