My back yard. Taken right before a brief hail storm. (Technically my backyard ends at the fence. I think the cow patties add a nice ambiance to the picture, don't you? We never even smell them.)
When we moved here, we were ready to end our renting days and buy a house. I looked at a bajillion houses, online and with a realtor. Online, I kept coming across the house we ended up buying, but it said there was a contract pending, so I never even bothered looking into it. Most of the houses and subdivisions I looked at were about 20-30 minutes away from where we ended up buying. But, for some reason I was drawn to this area, and kept dragging my elderly realtor (who didn't like driving on the interstate, so would take me the waaaay long way to see houses) out here.
I had taken her to see a house John and I were really interested in, and we were headed back home, when we passed the subdivision that our home is in. I asked her if she didn't mind turning around so we could just drive through it. We did.
We turned down the street and there was a house for sale. I went and got the flier and it met all the specifications that we wanted (4 br's, 2.5 baths, dining room, in our price range), she made a call, and we looked in the house. (SIDE STORY: I was positive that there had been a dog in the house, I could totally smell it every time we went to look at the house. No one else could, and they thought I was crazy. After talking with neighbors, we found out I was right. This nose does not lie.) As I looked through the house, I made mental check marks, and the kitchen and the view basically sold it for me.
Driving home, I knew that was the house for us. It wasn't my dream house, but it had the basics we were looking for. No bells and whistles, but we couldn't afford any bells or whistles anyway.
That night my realtor called with bad news that there was a contract pending on the house already. (Then, I remembered I had seen that house online.) I was bummed for less than an hour, because she called back and said we can go for it, because the buyers were waiting until their house sold.
There was another house we were interested in as well. John really wanted that house (30 min. away from here) because it would have been a great investment, and I really wanted to want that house too; but I wanted a home, not an investment. Besides, I already knew that this was the house for us.
Long story short - we bought this house.
Sometimes when I'm driving home, I think of how things have worked out for us here; good neighbors, good friends, perfect area for us; cows in the backyard with shopping five minutes away. Feels rural, but it's really not. I know this was the house for us. Even though, I'm ready to sell it and buy a house with more space, I know this was where we were supposed to be. It may sound silly, but it's true. I love sitting at my kitchen table and staring outside at pretty sunsets, or dark blue skies.
I always tell people when they are looking for houses that when it's the right one, they'll just know. Well, that's how it was for me anyway.
3 comments:
it's so true. when we walked in our house, i just KNEW it was the house for us. and i remember standing in the living room thinking, i love this house, what is wrong with it? there has to be something wrong with it. but there wasn't. so we bought it.
You are right on. That is how it worked with us too. We even had an offer on a home about a mile north of us, even though we LOVED this neighborhood, we really didn't want to rent for 6 months while they built our house. But after we signed the offer, I felt sick and kept driving back to this neighborhood and just sat in front of the lot we ended up building on. Even though renting sucked big time, I am so glad we built our perfect home. I LOVE IT!!!
note: do no live with your parents for a summer and buy a house out of desperation.... or buy it because of the cool tree in the back yard.... oops " I forgot I live in Va with millions of trees"
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