Location Location Location

Today, we closed on our new house! Our overwhelming excitement is muted only by the fact that we haven't sold our current house. That said, let me talk about the new house!

Back in March, we had made a list of Internet-researched homes, which we took to our realtor, who worked with us to tour a nice group of home in a mere two days. She looked at our list, and looked at the listing at the top of our list. With a big red marker she wrote, "U.C.," and said, "That one is under contract." So we proceeded to go through the list, toured A LOT of homes, then made an offer on a beautiful house on a great plot of land, although the house itself needed a lot of cosmetic work. As I had mentioned in a previous post, another couple got the house, and I grieved.

We continued to research houses via the Internet. The search engine we used allowed us to save the search criteria, as well as save any listings we were interested in. If the status of a house changed, we were notified by e-mail. For example, if the price dropped, or if a house on our list was taken off the market, we would be notified. We were not, however told why a house was taken off the market; it could have been sold, or taken off temporarily to re-list later, or whatever. To us, we had our finger on the pulse of the local real estate market.

In our next round of searches, we expanded geographically, making my potential commute 10- 15 minutes longer. Again, we made a list of Internet-researched homes, had our agent preview them for us, then came up with a final list of 6-8 that we would tour. We decided that my husband would do the actual touring, and I would stay home with the kids. After all, he knows what I like in terms of land, style, layout, and architecture; and he definitely has a more critical eye when it comes to structure and soundness. So we agreed that he would go, and perhaps make an offer on house.

The morning he met with the agent, I -for some unknown reason- decided to boot up my computer, and search the real estate listings. On my saved list of favorite houses re-appeared the house that had previously been under contract in March. Ooh, I thought. The original location that we wanted. The style house we wanted. The right size. In our price range. Back on the market? So I checked other real estate web sites to make sure it was really back on the market, and sure enough it was. I hurriedly called my husband to see if he could add this house to his tour, but there was no answer. I, then, called our agent, who also did not answer her cell phone, but this time, I left a detailed message asking if she would consider showing this to Husband while he was there. Several minutes later, Husband called me back, and let me know that our agent was on the phone with the listing agent, trying to find out more. Apparently, the couple that had made an offer backed out. We don't know why for certain, but the phrase, "Crazy Bitch," came up. Anyway, Husband was on his way to see the house. Long story shorter, the house was inspected, turned out to be very structurally sound, and passed mine and my husband's scrutiny. We made an offer, and now it is ours! Heee!

I did go see the house before we put down our deposit, and I must say, that I was right to trust my husband to pick out a wonderful house for us. It is an old house in a quiet neighborhood, with gorgeous views, and in great shape. It is in move-in condition, yet is enough of blank canvas for us to make our own statement with it. We are all thrilled to be moving back home, and look forward to having our friends and family visit us. Now if we could just sell this house . . .