Sometime down the line, the name of this blog is going to have to change. For the past 4-5 months, we've been looking for homes away from Baltimore.
Lately the pros of leaving the city have heavily outweighed the cons. I won't go through the pain of listing them all out here, but one of the primary reasons has to do with a strong need for change. It's time for a new chapter.
We've seen probably around 50 homes so far, maybe a little more or a little less. None of them have felt quite right. Every time we walk into a home that needs work, we usually run out the front door within the first 10 minutes.
But over the weekend, something very strange happened. On the way to the house we were going to see, we saw about 8 deer running along. One was actually galloping in front of people's front yards. Something I'm not used to seeing. We pulled up to the house (location not to be disclosed as I don't want to 1) jinx myself and 2) publicly announce where we are looking) and instantly it felt like, well, home.
As we walked in with our realtor, I could instantly tell that the place needed some attention -- floor to ceiling mirrors on one wall that should be in your living room, scratched up wooden floors, tacky wall paper duct taped in the kitchen ... the list goes on and on and on.
But as we walked from room to room, I couldn't help but see the place with new tile on the floor, new paint on the walls, and new toilets in the bathrooms. It wasn't until I was standing on the grease coated carpet in the master bedroom that I finally realized that maybe I might have just gone insane. Because in some wild, twisted universe, this place felt like it belonged to Allan and I. It was the place that I could see myself not just writing my first book, but my second, third, fourth, and fifth.
This evening, we went back to the property (which is on a sizable piece of land), and took a closer look around with a contractor. We'll find out just how much the grand total of necessary improvements will be soon.
Will we still want the house or will it be too much? We'll have to see. But if we do decide to make an offer on this house, and if the bank happens to accept it, you better believe I will do a before and after post on here of all the renovations!
People buy foreclosures and fix them up all the time. I just never saw myself ever considering it. I always thought my first or "dream" home would be brand new, or look close to it. This is definitely far from it.
Lately the pros of leaving the city have heavily outweighed the cons. I won't go through the pain of listing them all out here, but one of the primary reasons has to do with a strong need for change. It's time for a new chapter.
We've seen probably around 50 homes so far, maybe a little more or a little less. None of them have felt quite right. Every time we walk into a home that needs work, we usually run out the front door within the first 10 minutes.
But over the weekend, something very strange happened. On the way to the house we were going to see, we saw about 8 deer running along. One was actually galloping in front of people's front yards. Something I'm not used to seeing. We pulled up to the house (location not to be disclosed as I don't want to 1) jinx myself and 2) publicly announce where we are looking) and instantly it felt like, well, home.
As we walked in with our realtor, I could instantly tell that the place needed some attention -- floor to ceiling mirrors on one wall that should be in your living room, scratched up wooden floors, tacky wall paper duct taped in the kitchen ... the list goes on and on and on.
But as we walked from room to room, I couldn't help but see the place with new tile on the floor, new paint on the walls, and new toilets in the bathrooms. It wasn't until I was standing on the grease coated carpet in the master bedroom that I finally realized that maybe I might have just gone insane. Because in some wild, twisted universe, this place felt like it belonged to Allan and I. It was the place that I could see myself not just writing my first book, but my second, third, fourth, and fifth.
This evening, we went back to the property (which is on a sizable piece of land), and took a closer look around with a contractor. We'll find out just how much the grand total of necessary improvements will be soon.
Will we still want the house or will it be too much? We'll have to see. But if we do decide to make an offer on this house, and if the bank happens to accept it, you better believe I will do a before and after post on here of all the renovations!
People buy foreclosures and fix them up all the time. I just never saw myself ever considering it. I always thought my first or "dream" home would be brand new, or look close to it. This is definitely far from it.
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