House Hunting

Mike and I have been putting the whole house thing on hold this spring for numerous reasons. First of all, it is no surprise to anyone...the ECONOMY! Secondly, the floor plan I designed last summer is proving to cost a lot of money. No more than we expected really, but A LOT more than buying an existing home in this buyer's market. Enjoying apartment life is another reason we held off. Who wouldn't like to get out of shoveling, yard work, and constant home repairs to enjoy a pool, heated garage, community rooms and fitness center? Lastly, just because we could! There has been no pressure to do anything. We consider ourselves lucky because we are in a perfect position to just go with the flow.

About two weeks ago, Mike and I had a serious conversation about this situation. What was it we really wanted? Of course the thought of my dream home on Mike's dream land was still appealing, but after much discussion we decided it might not be the "smart" thing to do. So, we settled on keeping an open mind and scoping out houses for sale in Sartell. I warned him that I would be very picky, because I not only drew up my house plan and knew what I wanted, but because we could be. We had actually gone through about a dozen houses before moving into the apartment, just in case we could avoid apartment life all together. Obviously, we had no luck. Mike claims he could move into just about anything...and pretty much lets me choose which houses to tour.

So, on the Internet I went looking to see what was placed on the market since last November. To my amazement, I found eight in our price range that I thought would be worth our time. Mike contacted our trusty realtor about showing times. These are the houses we walked through:

This rambler sits on a nice lot with several full grown trees in the back yard. It had a lot of perks, but we didn't get the feeling we wanted when we toured it.

When we walked up to this house, I thought it was going to be the one. The yard and landscaping were beautiful. The open entry and kitchen were also very nice. A theater room, deck, and granite counter tops made it almost perfect...until, we walked upstairs. The bedrooms were extremely over decorated for my taste. A lot of remodeling would have been needed before moving in.

This house has nice curb appeal...but that is about it. Not impressed with the layout and odd paint colors. We pretty much walked in and out of this one.

This house sat on a corner lot with a pond in the backyard. It was brand new and that was something that attracted us to it. The inside had many unique touches that made it quite charming. Even though it was new, it needed more work. A lot of paint touch ups, closet hardware, washer/dryer, deck, sprinkler system and yard were some things we would have had to do prior to moving in. The location wasn't our favorite either.

This house was also brand new. It was on the Parade of Homes a while back, and I remembered it being a rambler and built by a well known builder. When we toured it, we were very disappointed. A lot of touch ups would have needed to be done. The floor plan was a little choppy and not quite what we were looking for.

This beautiful two story home over looked a pond. When you were on the deck, it almost felt like you were sitting out on a lake. The inside was also very charming. Many very unique characteristics made it appealing...unfortunately, a little impractical... at least for our family. There was evidence of a dog as the hardwood floors were very worn.

Loved the neighborhood and how clean this home was. It had a lot of space with the bonus room above the garage, but the floor plan wasn't quite what we were looking for either. Not sure the formal dining room would get used and the house sat on a lot that was so so.

http://www.wampach.com/Nav.aspx/Page=http://www.justsnooping.com/tours/2500470/

This final home is a story in itself. It actually began about five years ago...it was about five years ago, when Mike and I drove through this neighborhood looking for land to purchase. I was in love with the wooded lots, but Mike wasn't in love with the price. They were asking $160,000 for a single lot. When we came across the acreage we currently own for about the same price, it was a no brainer...in Mike's mind that is. Most guys dream about owning land, I on the other hand, am a city girl. The idea did grow on me as we started discussing an ideal floor plan and all that the country had to offer.

I felt it was in my best interest to drive by each of the eight homes we wanted to see prior to the showings... just to get the first impression part over with.

In all honesty, when I drove by this one, I got a very nervous, excited stomach. Here sat a house on one of the lots I wanted five years ago! I went straight home and called our realtor and told him that I thought I found our house. He chuckled at my intuition and sadly told me he wouldn't be able to get me in until our scheduled Wednesday showing. This was painful news, because it meant I would have to wait six days!!! So I surfed the Internet and viewed more pictures of homes. At that time, I came across a list of Open Houses for the weekend. Yes, you guessed it...this one was scheduled to be open on Sunday from 12:00-1:30.

I barely made it to the Open House, but managed to squeeze in five minutes before it was over. I did a quick walk through and thanked the realtor for his time. When he asked me what I thought, I told him the only thing I could find wrong with it was deciding which child would reside in which bedroom. I played it pretty cool with Mike when I got home, because he often thinks I rush on things and am easily excited. In three days, he would see it for himself.

This happened to be one of the last homes we toured on Wednesday. I was very anxious to see what Mike thought. The minute we walked in the front door, he was impressed with the white walls, wood work, windows, and open floor plan. The house was very clean and well taken care of. He was pleased with the bonus room, jetted whirlpool tub in the master bath, and heated floors in the basement. He was also happy to see a bar and rec. area in the basement. The icing on the cake was the screened in porch that overlooked a huge "wooded" backyard.

He could see us living there...just like I could. We both knew that this house was move in ready and could be made ours.
Another bonus: the price had just been reduced. It was $30,000 less than when I toured it during the open house just days before.

We worked with our realtor and placed an offer on it today. With only one counter offer, we came to an agreement. We even managed to get the hot-tub that sits out on their screened in porch and the beautiful pool table. We need to schedule the inspection and finish up with one financing piece before it's official. The bottle of champagne will sit in the fridge until it is all said and done.