Raise the Titanic!

GF and have been cruising neighborhoods for the last few weeks to get an idea of where we would like to buy. We know we’re about 2 months from being ready to seriously start house shopping and we are trying to make sure we both have the same idea of what sort of house we want.

The preliminary shopping has been interesting. Two weeks ago, after returning home from a session of cruising we were both sitting in front of our computers checking on the homes we’d seen ads for and researching property transfer values. We were also looking at other current ads (of which there were 97 homes for sale in the area we are considering). Totally absorbed in what I was doing, I found an interesting house and said “Wow, look at this one.” GF was equally absorbed and without turning to view my monitor she said, “No honey – look at this one.” So we did, and I bet you can guess the rest. It was exactly the same ad. It was also about $125,000 over our original budgeted price…

We never did go see that house, but we did realize that we needed to up our original budget.

Last week, again we were cruising neighborhoods. 30 minutes into our cruise we happened across a nice, although a bit huge, home in a very nice neighborhood. It looked to be out of our price range, but there was a handy info sheet out with the sign and GF hopped out of the car to retrieve it. While she was out, I tried to guess. I though – wow it is big. So, maybe 400, perhaps 450… (WAY out of our price range, but still, maybe there was a train wreck in the neighborhood – you never know.) GF got back in the car broken hearted. $750,000 was the asking price. We could visibly see both of use deflate. We’re doomed. We’re never going to find anything we like without mortgaging the first, second and third born…

We didn’t have much enthusiasm left to cruise after that so we went home. Again, we both started surfing the ads and property transfers. And again, I began looking at ads for the area we’re looking in. When the search page returned all the houses in the area, it started with the most expensive and went down from there. And guess which house was topping the list. Yep. We stumbled across the most expensive house in the enter 100+ acre area we’ve defined. It was good for a laugh and it helped to buoy our spirits.

Then I saw a FSBO (for sale by owner) with an address that caught me off-guard. It was close to where I used to live – in a neighborhood I used to run through when I lived there. And the price… The price had to be a mistake. 6 Bedrooms. 2 full baths. Florida room. Half basement. 2400 square feet. 2 car garage on 1/3 acre. Borders parkland on 2 sides. I wanted to go drive by it right then and there.

When GF and I started this process, I said that my ideal house was to be a train-wreck. I wanted the worst house in a good neighborhood. My requirements were pretty simple. Good neighborhood. Good roof. Good, sound structure. No aluminum wires. 2 car garage. 3-4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. If it had all of that, but otherwise needed cosmetics, then, cool. I can do that. In fact, my new neighbors will probably love me if I do that. Bring on the train wreck. Fortunately for me, GF and I think alike in this regard. She wants to rip out a wall. She’s going to paint everything anyway - even if it was perfect to start with so it might as well be a wreck.

So Saturday morning I went to see what the house looked like. GF went to the gym. When I stopped in front of the house, I noticed someone sitting in a car in the driveway. He appeared to be waiting for someone. I parked and got out. He got out. I said, “I’m not who you’re waiting on, but I would like to see the house too.” He agreed and gave me a tour. The house belongs to his parents. His father has passed on and his mother recently had a stroke. No one has lived there for about 15 months. He’s been slowly cleaning it out. His father saved everything. He found income tax records dating all the way back to 1937. Like I said, he saved everything. And he could save everything because the house has more built in storage than anything you’ve ever seen before. And … It’s a train wreck. Imagine the worst, ugliest wallpaper you’ve ever seen in you life. There are 2 to 3 layers on every single wall (except the Florida room which features paneling – yuck!). Imagine the most hideous carpet you’ve ever seen. The stuff on the floors in this house is worse. But … under every one of these floors (except the bathrooms) is hardwood.

GF and I went back Sunday. She saw the same possibilities I did. I saw fear – in myself. Can I do this? Do I want to do this? Is it worth it? This house will consume every waking moment, and every spare dime for the next 2 years, probably more. Am I ready for that kind of commitment?

I haven’t renewed my surf-tag for this year ($50 – allows me to fish on the beach with my truck). I can forget about that for the next two years. No beach fishing for me. Hell, no fishing of any kind – unless it involved a fish-tape and some wire in a wall…

GF isn’t sure that the term ‘train wreck’ properly conveys how much work is in this house. She thought it was more like 5 train wrecks. Perhaps even a feat equivalent to raising the titanic. We’re convinced our families will commit us when they see this place.

We had planned to go to the gym after we saw the house. On the way to the gym we drove by an open-house. On a whim, I turned around and we toured the open house. We needed a reality check. We toured another one just down the street from the first. They were both nice houses. Very small. 3 bedrooms, 1 ½ bath each. Tiny yards. Dense neighborhood. No garages. Same money.

We went to the gym. 25 minutes into the most uninspired Precor workout of my life, I decided that I could do it. And I stopped thinking about it, bumped the level up to twelve and started to sweat in earnest for the last 10 minutes.

After we left the gym, GF turned to me and said, “22 minutes into my Precor spin I decided that we could do this, I want to do this - it would be worth it.” Funny – that thought must have struck us at the same time…

The financing is secure - I locked in on a rate this morning. The official offer should go out today. If all goes well, we’ll have a contract by Friday. Closing is less than 45 days away.

Raise the Titanic!