The Willinks are homeowners! We have been looking at houses for what seems like eternity online, wishing and dreaming . . . never thinking that our dreams would become a reality as quickly as it has happened. Just before the holidays, we decided to go talk with a realtor just to hear what they had to say. This was probably not the best timing on our part since it was right in the middle of "finals season." For those of you who don't know, "finals season" comes at the end of every semester when I have to take an exam for every class (usually) and my performance on that one exam determines my fate in that class. Scary to think about, but as I enter my last semester, I'm fairly used to it by now.
So anyways, there we were in the middle of "finals season" and decided to meet with a realtor. Within a week of meeting with him, we went on our first set of house viewings. That day we visited four houses. House 1 was in a weird neighborhood, so immediately was out of the options. We loved House 2, but were informed via a letter inside the home that the owner had someone interested in renting the place and thus, as potential buyers, we had to let them know by 2:00pm the next day. Despite our love of the house, it was a no go due to the time constraints. House 3 was ok, but certainly not better than House 2 so we kept it on the table as an "option."
Then it was on to House 4. Back tracking slightly, after meeting with the realtor, we began receiving emails with homes that met our "criteria." House 4 was not included in any of our emails - it was one we found through our own searching. I immediately fell in love. The Mister liked it but was hesitant. I believe he was hesitant because he knew how much I loved it from just the photos, and perhaps was afraid that I was going to be let down because either it wasn't what I thought it was or something along those lines. Regardless, I informed the realtor that I absolutely HAD to view this house. The last stop on our viewing adventure was House 4 . . . what I called my "favorite house" and the Mister had to keep reminding me that I shouldn't get my hopes up. We puled in the driveway and I felt a wealth of excitement rush over me.
Eagerly we walked in and took a tour. The electricity was not on as the house was a short sale, basically meaning that the original owner could no longer make the payments, the bank essentially owned the house, and this was the last step before the home was sent into foreclosure. You can read more about short sales
here. (And yes, mom, that is a Wikipedia link.)
We went home that night, discussed and called the realtor the next day to set up a meeting to see House 4 a second time and possibly make an offer. Talk about a quick decision. This was probably the quickest decision we have ever made! Anywhoo, we visited House 4 a second time, followed the realtor to his home and signed the documents for our offer on the house. The reason I say this was maybe not the best timing is because the day after signing our offer was my first exam of 'finals season.' Talk about a major distraction! The realtor believed that we would hear back by the end of the week - what a joke. A few weeks later after going back and forth, the bank/owner had accepted our offer that we were happy with and our due diligence had begun. During that time, we had to get inspections and what not to ensure that the house was sound and had no major issues. We had a wonderful inspector and got a 'clean bill of health' from him and were relieved that our potential future house wouldn't need any major repairs.
After a few weeks, we sat down at the closing table, signed a million documents, handed over a check and walked out with keys to our new house! What a crazy two months it has been but we are so excited for this new journey in our life together! We will do our best to keep this updated with our home improvement projects and other things going on in life!
Here is a photo of the Mister opening the door to our new house for the first time! :) Let the projects begin!
