We lost the house

So we lost the house...=(. A third offer came in that was significantly higher than the asking price AND the buyers were paying cash and closing in a week. Cash?? Sounds interesting. So it was a long day of waiting around, but it seems like we never would have really had a chance.

I suppose this is why you can't get too attached to anything. I think we may take a house break for a week or so, and then start this whole process all over again.

Bad luck

Seriously, I feel like we are on a major steak of bad luck when it comes to cars.

1. We total Eric's car in the accident (12/31)
2. A week later someone does a hit and run of his mom's car that we were borrowing at the Brookhaven MARTA station (1/6)
3. We spend $700 on a bunch of brake work on my car on Friday (1/23)
4. My parent's neighbor backs into my car tonight as we were celebrating my birthday dinner (1/25)

Really??? Is it possible to damage 3 cars in less than a month, and none of them be your fault? Since bad things supposedly happen in threes, I'm hoping we have better luck going forward.

In other news, there is another offer on the house. So we increased our offer a bit and now we are waiting to hear. I hope that it's good news on my birthday! Otherwise, we will be quite dissappointed!

Offer!

We are currently in the process of drafting our offer on the house today!

Grant said there was a LOT of interest in this house and talks of other offers coming in this week. I've heard that agents can tell you there is lots of interest just to get you to move quickly, but I believe it in this case. This house is underpriced and larger than most of the houses in the area, so I can see why there's been lots of interest. Apparently, the sellers are very anxious to sell their home quickly because they have their eye on another house they want to buy.

We are hoping to submit the offer tomorrow, and then we're giving the sellers 24 hours to respond. I really hope we get the house, but I'm also trying to remind myself that there's a very likely possibility that they will accept another offer. The good news is that there are other houses we still like, so we're just trying to keep that in mind.

I'll keep you posted!

Still thinking...

So we found out some more details on the new house we like today. The house was actually built in 1997. The original home burned to the ground in a fire, so the house was leveled and the new house was built on the exisiting foundation. We're hopeful that's everything is fine, but this is something to be aware of for the home inspection. It's appealing to have a house built in 1997 instead of 1950 in terms of the repairs.

The good new is that the small plot of undeveloped land next to the house is part of the property. We're hopefully that it would be a good spot to widden the driveway or maybe built a garage later down the line.

So we have an appointment to go see the house again on Saturday. I'm hoping to spend more time there and notice all of the little details that we missed the first time around. We've already both driven by the house again this week, just to check on it. We are house stalkers!

House Hunting Day 3

Today we looked at several homes in Ashford Park (Brookhaven). We liked all of them, so we feel good that we have lots of options to consider.

The first house was very nice, but the most expensive house we've seen. We really liked the new living room addition. The bedrooms were small and closet space was lacking. There driveway was also very steep. While nice, we couldn't realistically afford this house.

House two of the day was also one of the more expensive homes we've seen. This house was so beautiful and had the exterior look that we like. The biggest pro was the awesome family room addition and large backyard. The master bathroom was very nice as well. But again, we couldn't really afford this one. It's already had one huge price reduction, so we weren't sure how much they'd come down on the price. This house is also surrounded by two "McMansions" on either side.

The next home was on the same street as the green house from the last post. The formal living room was very nice and kitchen was decent. The backyard was awesome and nicely landscaped. Eric went out to check out the outdoor fireplace and stepped in dog poop. So he then went around to the rest of the homes barefoot. I would have felt horrible if we tracked poop into these people's homes! The major pro of this house was the basement, but the steps were so steep it was quite scary. I'm not sure how I feel about all of the exposed brick. I'm sure it's great for someone, but it's not quite my style. Plus, this house is on the main road. It did have a turn around driveway though.

House 4 of the day was one I actually found online and emailed to our agent. This was the cheapest home we've seen in Brookhaven, so we weren't sure what condition it would be in. We really like this one!

It's the cheapest, and also largest, we've seen. It's about 500 square feet larger than our favorite Skyland house. The major pros are: large master bedroom (room for king sized bed and a couch or something), walk in master closet (big deal!!), huge living room, large kitchen (needs some updating though...would like granite and stainless steel!), large guest bedrooms and bathroom. The coolest pro is the new screened in porch. It's pre-wired for a flat panel tv, which is fun. Plus, it's a good place for a dog to hang out.

So this house is now one of our top choices. At $50K cheaper than the Skyland house, we can re-do the kitchen, add a carport/garage, and update some of the bathrooms. Plus, the rooms are so much larger and the taxes are lower. The listing says it was built in 1997, which makes it more appealing than the 1950's homes. I have a feeling the addition was put on in 1997, not the whole house built then. We need some more details on that.

Then we went back to the Skyland house from the previous post. We still really like this house too. On our second visit, I notice that the smallest bedroom doesn't have a closet, so that's a disadvantage. It's more expensive and smaller than the previous home, so we have some thinking to do.

And the last house...well, was just plain little and not so cheap. It's a no. But it did have an odd stand-up bathtub unlike anything I'd seen before!

Hopefully we'll go back to the cheaper, white house that we liked from today. If we like it on the second look, we may get serious about making an offer in the next few weeks!

House Hunting Day 2

We kept thinking about the Skyland house all day yesterday. How would we arrange our furniture? Could we add on a garage? What kind of puppy would we get for the yard? Well, that last one was just me. Golden retriever would surely fit! =)


Could anything else compare? Grant came over around 1:00 on Sunday and we drove about a mile down the road to continue in Brookhaven. We're branching out, huh?


The first house on N. Thompson is one we've had our eye on for months. I tried to get Eric to look at it back before the wedding. We knew the house would need some repairs and the yard was overgrown.


We liked how the front looked, we could tell there was an addition. The exposed brick from the original outside of the house was in the family room.


The kitchen had new countertops and appliances, an island, and enough cabinents. The built it dining booth was odd, but removable. This was the 3rd home we'd seen with a built in kitchen table. It also had a pantry, which was a bonus.



There were 2 bedrooms and 2 nice, large bathrooms upstairs. The master closet was HUGE. Not what we expected in a 60 year old home. Upstairs there was also a formal dining room, formal living room, and family room.

The best part was the newly finished basement. There's a 3rd bedroom and bathroom, as well as few extra rooms. The stacked washer and dryer are also down there, but there isn't really a laundry room. We love the basement space. We'd only need to paint over the neon lime green bedroom and bathroom.

The backyard is huge, but majorily overgrown. It needs LOTS and LOTS of work and TLC. There is a lot of bamboo and kudzu to deal with, and there isn't any grass. Eric said there were a few dead trees that need to be removed. There's also a lack of grass. But the stone walkways and stream are also cool. The deck also looks very worn, and may need replacing.



We leave liking this house a lot, but contemplating the amount of repair money we could spend. This house is the most expensive of all that we had looked at, and it about $30,000 above our price range. Could we negiotiate it down and make some repairs ourselves? We could probably make a good profit off it in the future.

House two is right around the corner.





We like the curb appeal and white picket fence. The new living room is amazing, but Eric is left wondering where the new 50 inch plasma will go. This, obviously, is a big deal.


The huge dining room was a plus, but the kitchen wasn't up to par. The tile countertops are cracked and the countertops are not granite, like we've seen in other homes in our price range.

This yellow bathroom is also an eye sore.



The master bedroom is tiny, but the bathroom is huge and features a huge closet. I suppose they stole the space from the bedroom for the amazing bathroom.




Overall, we veto this house. The kitchen is outdated, bedrooms too small, weird yellow bathroom, and oddly shaped overgrown yard. It's also at the very top of our price range.

House three of the day is also right around the corner in Ashford Park. Immediately, I think the driveway is very steep. We'll refer to this house as the cat house. Cat crap everywhere...cat doors, cat climbing ladder things, cat magazines, cat pictures, cat toys, cat food, cat bed, cat litterboxes, more cat pictures...This person was also a GT grad. Two things we hate...cats and Georgia Tech.


Anyways, we loved the open living and dining area with built in entertainment unit. The bar was cool as well. The kitchen was tiny and the appliances were a little older.





The biggest draw back was the tiny master bedroom. There wasn't even room for a regular dresser. That's the deal breaker for me.



And then we went to this house on Dresden.


We were a little leary because the house is sort of plain on the front (and green) and it's on a main street. But we decide to look..


WOW and WOW some more. The entire house has been gutted and re-done. No detail has been overlooked. There are Brazilian walnut hardwoods throughout and new tile floors.



The kitchen is to die for. Seriously, professional grade. The microwave is $800 and the fridge is a $7,000 fridge (we looked it up online). Really?? All the cabinents are custom with this cool braid pattern on them. The kitchen is also huge compared to what we've seen. The doors have mini blinds built into them that are controlled by a switch.




The dining area has a very cool decorative accent. The master bedroom was perfect. Very large with an amazing bathroom. The shower was done in stone with a bench in it. It had gorgeous high end vanities and a massive closet.

There were two other bedrooms and another bathroom as well.

Eric was impressed by the new tankless hotwater heater, new HVAC system, and new roof. There's a one room detached basement seperate from the house for storage and a storage shed out back. The yard would have to be soded.

The major drawbacks are: lack of curb appeal, green color, Marta bus stop right in front of house, on a main street, and no street for visitors to park on.

But it looks like a brand new house. And since we can't afford a brand new home in Brookhaven, this is the best we've seen. And it's also comfortably in our price range. It's been on the market for quite awhile, so maybe we could get a deal on it.

We leave thinking that this house and the Skyland house from yesterday are our top choices. We'd also still consider the fixer-uper on North Thompson

We've also decided that we want to live in Brookhaven instead of Dunwoody. We'd always preferred Brookhaven anyways. The area is the most reasonable compromise for us commute wise, we love our neighbors, the park is close, close access to Marta, close to Atlanta and our friends, and it's an "up and coming" neighborhood with lots of people our age.

Stay tuned!

House Hunting Day 1

I've been bugging Eric to look at houses for about 8 months, and now we are finally ready. Armed with our pre-qualification from the bank for more than we hoped to spend and the down payment money ready, we were ready to shop. After looking nightly on the internet, it was time to actually look in person. I was ready and armed with my notepad, digital camera, and hours of research!

Grant (our agent) picked us up at 11 on Saturday, and we went to Dunwoody. Our first stop was Rochelle Drive.

At first glance, this was a no. I don't like split level. And then we went inside and saw the kitchen.

Major "no!" It looks much worse in person. And this master bath won't cut it either...

We had high hopes for the next house in Dunwoody.

This house was HUGE, but needed lots of work. The floors were different in each room of the house and the color of the hardwoods was inconsistent throughout. The fence was falling apart, ceilings were stained, and roof was buckled up. The house needed all new bath room vanities and a new master bath. Shell shaped sinks anyone? This one was badly stuck in 1984.

The only pros were the nice neighborhood, large backyard, and new kitchen appliances. Oh, and the massive closet. My clothes would be very happy in this home. Still, we estimate the house needs at least $50,000 in repairs to make it tolerable.

You can't see the broken windows either...

New applicances, but the cabinents were still quite old.

At this, we are starting to get disappointed.

Our agent swore we'd love house three, still in Dunwoody. It's a newer house (1990), as compared to the others.

When we arrived we learned that the bank had come and removed the lockbox because the house was going up on the auction block soon as a foreclosure. Grant will keep his eye out in case we can look again at it. We did notice that the houses are very close together on this street.

The next stop was right across the street in Dunwoody. We loved the way it looked on the outside. We apparently like "traditional" homes!

The kitchen was decent, but the appliances were ancient would need replacing. There was also an attached table, which was an extension of the tile countertops.


The open dining room is nice. The attached family room also has a nice fire going in to add to "saleability" of the home.

The master bedroom is huge and has a nice fireplace. The paint will match our new bedding!

The backyard was a weird shape. I also didn't like that the house was the corner lot and the first house in the neighborhood. It was also on a main street, and the traffic was a little nosiy. The front yard is also small.

Eric likes this house and fusses at me for being too picky when we leave. I didn't like that it was right off the road, so I veto this option.

So then we drive through Grant's neighborhood, Sexton Woods, and stop in this house. This house is near Murphy Candler Park and Marist. The location would be great. But we didn't like the looks of it from our initial observation.

Although small, it was very cute. We couldn't handle only 2 bathrooms and the kitchen was tiny. The driveway was very steep as well. This house was priced at the dead bottom of our price range, so we were willing to spend more for something larger.

Discouraged again, we headed to Brookhaven (where we live now). We'd always wanted to live here, but had convinced ourselves to check out the larger homes in Dunwoody. Brookhaven tends to be a pricier area, and small houses are now surrounded by million dollas "McMansions."

We couldn't get inside most of the homes in Brookhaven...and then we drove by this house on Skyland.

We loved it from the outside and I really wanted to get inside. It had lots of curb appeal. The owners were home, so they took their dog on a walk so we could look. The owners were UGA grads that are about our age, so at least the house had a good vibes (no gators here!)

When we opened the door...wow. Our faces lit up.

I don't think the pictures do it justice.

The house is all hardwoods with plantation shutters and recessed lighting. The best feature is the brand new front porch with stone columns. It has a formal living room, dining room, new family room addition. The kitchen was decent size with new granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. There's a huge laundry room with plenty of storage. The master bedroom has two closets, crown moulding, and cool wood beam accents. The master bath also has the double vanity we are looking for. And backyard was HUGE and fenced it. There's also a large empty lot next door.

So we leave day one in love with the Skyland house. Although slightly outside of our price range, this house is move-in ready and wouldn't require any type of repairs.

This one is on our short list!