Three Years Ago: A House Hunting History
On May 25, 2006 Sherry and I officially became homeowners. Yup, it’s been three whole years since we moved into our humble abode and we can’t believe how time has flown. Despite all that’s happened (renovations, redecorations, and even a backyard wedding), it seems too soon to be celebrating our third anniversary at this address.
In honor of our milestone, we thought we’d give you guys a look back at how we ended up here. Because as much as we think time passed incredibly quickly between then and now, wait ’til you hear how speedily our house hunting weekend – yes, one single solitary weekend – went. And we’ve peppered our timeline with some photos that we took during the first few looks at our home (FYI – all of our House Tour “before” photos are from our first walk-through or they day of our inspection).
February 25, 2006: Sherry and I ditch New York City and relocate to Richmond, VA in my parents’ minivan (full of only a few essentials) in search of a slower pace. We happily move into a one-bedroom apartment to get a sense of the city before choosing a neighborhood to buy in (watch a video tour of that apartment full of free hand-me-downs). We figure we’ll spend a year renting before taking the homeowner plunge.
March 18, 2006: I propose to Sherry on the top of a mountain after a 4 mile hike (Sherry always jokes that I really made her work for her ring). She says “yes” after a bit of speechless arm flapping. Our parents feel much better about the whole living together thing.
Mid-April 2006: Friends advise us that “it’s never too soon” to start house hunting, just so we can get a sense of what’s available and what we can afford. Sherry consults our bank to learn how much of a loan we’d be approved for… just in case.
Friday, April 21- 6pm: I come home from work to learn that Sherry has arranged for us to see a nearby house that fits our budget. We decide it’ll be good house hunting practice. We hate the house, but love the agent and ask him to help us find other options (that’s his backside below).
Saturday, April 22 – 8am: It’s raining, but that doesn’t slow us down. Armed with a bunch of listings, we begin driving around checking out neighborhoods to get a sense of what our money can buy (so we’re better prepared when it comes time to “seriously” look in down the line).
11am: Don’t like most of the drive-by options, but decide we should at least go into one for the experience. Our agent first gives us a tour of a recently renovated, two-bedroom. Neighborhood and location aren’t the best for us, but the inside is nice and new. We tell our agent that we like it, but don’t want to pay for all the renovation work that we could do ourselves (although we literally have zero experience). Agent suggests we see one other house which is a bit more of a “fixer-upper.”
Noon: At other house. Had driven by it earlier, loved the location but could barely see the darn thing through all the trees. Another couple is already there touring it. First impression: very outdated, the exact antithesis of the previously renovated house we toured. Walk through the humble brick ranch, laughing/cringing at several features. Love the backyard and the price (which is over 30K lower than our budget- lots of room for renovations…). Start to realize the house has potential. But we’re not seriously looking. Right?
1:30pm: Back to the apartment. Sherry professes her love for the house we just saw. She wants to put in an offer on it. I express my hesitation – we’re just looking right? Sherry counters – it’s only been on the market for two days. What if that other couple takes it? What if we never find anything else that’s a great deal in a great location. How does paying rent for a year when we could be paying down a mortgage make sense? This continues for a while. I start to see her point.
2:30pm: We call our agent and tell him we’d like to put an offer on the house. I pace nervously.
4pm: Agent arrives. We fill out paperwork. He leaves to submit it. My pacing continues. Sherry prefers to jump around giddily saying it’s gonna be great. “We’ll love that house and it’ll love us back” she promises.
Sunday, April 23 – 10am: Agent calls. Offer is accepted. Mix of disbelief and excitement floods over us. Did we really just buy a house? On the very weekend we started “casually” looking around? Start calling family and try desperately to explain our “guess what? we got a house” news in a way that doesn’t make us sound completely out of our minds…
Saturday, April 29th- 11am: Show my parents our future home. They love it so much they suggest that we get married in the expertly manicured backyard. We had already decided on an outdoor ceremony at a gorgeous stately tudor on a big grassy lawn, but this suggestion sticks in our heads and by the time we get the keys we’re sold on a backyard wedding at our new house.
Thursday, May 25 – 4pm: House inspection goes off without a hitch. All the financial stuff checks out too. Meet attorney for the closing. Sign a bazillion pieces of paper. Get keys handed over to us. Sherry & John Petersik = homeowners. Do the (seated) happy dance in the car.
6pm: Like two crazy people, we begin shuttling whatever belongings fit in our tiny Nisaan Maxima from the apartment to our new house (we don’t have the patience to wait until morning when we’ll have a UHaul). We have officially begun “moving in.” That night is spent on an air mattress in our soon-to-be master bedroom even though we have a perfectly serviceable bed back at the apartment. Why shouldn’t we sleep in our new house?
Friday, May 26 – 9am: I leave for work. Sherry pushes all of her meetings and conference calls until next week and begins decorating (she claims she can’t sleep let alone work until she gets to repaint a few rooms). She hasn’t stopped fixing things up since (1094 days and counting)- and I’ve gotten in on the demo/reno action quite a bit since then as well.
That’s my cousin in the photo above helping Sherry paint our living room (the first time around). That was taken the Sunday after our closing (the only reason it wasn’t on Saturday is because we were in New Jersey for a wedding that day, but we drove home that evening- through the night- just to get back to our new house and whip out our paint brushes the next morning).
So that’s the story of how Casa Petersik came to be. We’d love to hear how you guys found your current homes. Was it a long process? Or a whirlwind like ours? Either way, we hope you’ve enjoyed celebrating your homeownership milestones as much as we have. Happy anniversary, house!
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Comments
As a fellow Richmond resident, I’m curious as to why you picked the area to settle after NYC. We’re glad you both seem to love it as much as we do!
We just wanted to escape the rat race and the fast pace of the city and longed for a better work/life balance and a place where we could afford a house with a yard (we dreamed about getting a dog, settling in, and starting a family). John’s sister lived here in Richmond and when we came down to visit we were smitten. We really liked the balance of city activities (galleries, good restaurants, events) and quaint living with charming neighborhoods with privacy and space to spread out (we love that we have a spacious lot that’s just ten minutes from downtown). And the milder winters and longer springs and falls don’t hurt either!
xo,
s
my boyfriend,Peter and i have been dating for over 2 years were living in LA, california when we went. We also went for a hike and decided that it was best to move somewhere different. Our first choice was chicago. In exactly a month we packed up out 1974 Plymonth scamp and over packed trailer and drove across most of the US. We were living in his mom’s and step dads apartment/condo and found an apartment for relatively cheap. A couple days after we moved into our apartment Peter went to Florida which was the only place he could find work. So we were 1000 miles away– not so much. We than moved to Champaign-urbana [which is 2.5 hours south of chicago] and moved into peter step-moms house for free. Well we wanted our own place and the $8000 tax credit helped as well. We found our perfect house it was a cottage with hard wood floors and had everything we wanted. We put in a offer with very stubborn home owners and were set to close 30 days later. Had all kinds of inspections and appraisers. Well, a week before we were suppose to close the appraiser appraised the house for 6000 dollars less than what they wanted which did work for the VA. So we pulled out. At this time is when the realtor because a B***h and stopped doing her job and showing us houses. It had become my full time job to look at what had come on the market which as we know changes day to day. Well Peters dad found this for sale by owner and everything went well except the realtor screwed us. Well we closed on October 1st 2009 and have been working on it since.
Just found your blog. I’m lovin it already! Nice to meet you:) I’m from Delaware, so not too far from ya’ll. I really like what you have done with your house and the compost post has got the cogs in my brain turning. Thanks so much for sharing.
Cheryl M.
Our home was found over a weekend visit. My hubby is in the Airforce, so we had just a long weekend to search for a home and put in an offer. What a nightmare! lol. Mind you, this all was in Jan. when most homes are not on the market. Then, we decided on our current home as the one we wanted and got caught in a bidding war. So then we started thinking may be building a new home and staying with my parents, in their newly bought home lol. We went looking for a place to build and while we were almost 100% on board with building, we got a phone call from our realtor that we had been chosen by the home owners. However, my brain was already wrapped around the idea of building. We could see the pros and cons of each and we had to stand there in the model home and make a very quick decision. Take the home we already bid on or build. Man talk about sweating it out. But, in the end we ended up choosing the ranch that we put a bid on. We figured we could build later on if we wanted.
My experiece went pretty much the same way. I was 21, and still living at home. Our lease was up and my family decided it was time to move somewhere with more room. I didn’t care for the new place, and was itching to get out on my own. My manager is also a part time real estate appraiser and offered to come with me to look at houses. I did a search online at forclosures, and set up an appointment for the next day to tour one. I find myself looking at a 53 year old ranch house needing a little TLC. I put in an offer that day. Due to it being a forclosure it took about a week to hear the good news that I was approved. I was able to buy the house for 40K less than what it had appraised for. I went through the same crazy looks when trying to figure out how to explain to everyone that I was now a homeowner. I have been here a 1 1/2 yrs now and ready to start making it my dream home. I’m so thankful I have you as a guide to come to for help :)
I’m simply awestruck, looking at the incredible transformation of your home from ordinary to exceptional. Why don’t the two of you have your own show on HGTV? : )
Hi there! I am SO jealous of your whirlwind house hunt! My husband and I started looking in January and put in an offer on Valentine’s Day, still haven’t heard a peep. It’s a short sale of course… we like to make things complicated. (NOT) But we love it, so we will continue to wait. Likely won’t be able to take advantage of the New Homebuyer’s tax credit though :(
Anyway, just wanted to say I LOVE your blog and just cannot wait until we get our house so that we can start some projects! I am a graphic artist, so it’s in my blood, and this apartment living just aint cuttin it.