Gouda's Cheesewheel

House-hunt culminates

So I haven't been posting much lately because the biggest thing that's been going on--our search for a house to buy--hasn't been entirely fruitful until now.

It all started with a casual viewing of a house for sale in Swansea. The list price was $100,000, which was ridiculously cheap for the size of the house and its apparent good condition. We figured we'd be stupid not to take a look, so we did, and then realized the reason for the price: despite the misleadingly immaculate pictures, this house was fairly trashed. The extra cost would have panned out in the long-term fix-up required.

From there we started scheduling more viewings to try to get an idea of what was out there at what price. It was through a viewing of a house quite close to where we live that we met Josh Spinner, who has since become our Realtor of sorts. Unlike the agent who showed us the first house, Josh was optimistic about the prospect of us owning a house near the city at a price we could afford. He even looked up similar listings for us, and helped with the majority of our subsequent viewings.

After many duds, either because of the pricey fix-up involved or an unsuitable size or layout or location, we finally found our favorite at 4430 Fillmore. It had everything we wanted--old-fashioned character, livable condition right away, plenty of potential for increased value, lots of room, a nice yard--the only thing in our way was the price, which was at the very top of our range. When Josh told us we could bargain them down a bit, it became a little more tempting. We thought it over for a few days, then arranged to look at a few more houses just to be sure. We saw a couple in Thornton, one in West Denver, and one in Park Hill. Convinced that Fillmore was still the best value for the money, we arranged to do a more through viewing on Sunday and invited our parents to take a look.

After roughly an hour picking it over with the parents, we decided Monday to make an offer. We started pretty low--$100,000 on a $125,000 house--with the expectation they would meet us somewhere halfway. After a counter-offer of $120,000, we proposed $112,000 and they agreed on $116,000, right where we wanted to be. We accepted and signed the agreement.

Now we just need to schedule an inspection, and the rest of the balls will hopefully be rolling in the meantime. After that it's just a waiting an signing things game, or so I hope. We'll see!

posted by Greta @ 12:26 PM