Home Sweet Home, Hopefully
I have been so torn as to whether or not to publish this post. On one hand, nothing is for sure and I don't want to keep saying "We found the house...uhhh, no we didn't". On the other hand, WE FOUND THE HOUSE!!! If this falls through, I will share my heartbreak with you and if we get to move into this house, y'all know what a highly anticipated moment it will be. OK, that said...let's move on.
A couple of weeks ago, I saw that a 150 yr. old house that was on the National Historic Registry went up for sale in Madisonville. Bruce and I both really love the character and style that old homes have in spades compared to homes built more recently. We also would like to preserve history and resources and feel that buying something already here will conserve energy, resources and land somewhere else. Often though, the problem with these homes are years of neglect and with Bruce working many hours at a new job and a baby on the way, we just didn't know how much time we would have to devote to a large project. Anyways, I e-mailed our realtor (the most AMAZING person I have met in a LONG time!) and told her we would like to see it. She e-mailed back saying we could go anytime but that she had seen the house and that there was a TON of work to be done on it. Bruce and I decided to take a little drive by to preview it and were saddened by what we saw...all the gorgeous wood work on the outside was rotting and would have to be replaced by a talented carpenter, it needed a new roof and many of the windows were broken - and that was just the front of the house. So, we decided to pass on the tour and thought that was the end of it, but fortunately that got our realtor thinking. She had seen this house with another family that lived about a mile away in a hundred year old house that they had just restored in the past 2 years and were looking for a new project. Right after she received my e-mail, they called her and said that the big house was too much of a project for them but that they would definitely be listing their house with her in the next two weeks and that they wanted to continue looking for their next project. After asking about size and price, our realtor told her she had a buyer in mind (us) and could she come preview their home the next day. Of course they said yes, thrilled at the prospect of a buyer weeks before the house went on the market. So, the next day, our realtor headed over there and just as she was pulling up to the house guess who passes her? That's right, me...Griffin and I were on the way to the playground. She said she knew then that this would be the house for us. She showed us the house last Thursday, we put in an offer on Monday and it was accepted without a counter on Tuesday.
So, like I said, it's 100 years old, 2700 sq. feet, a HUGE lot with a fenced in yard and it has been recently fully restored. It has radiated heat and window unit air so that may be something we change in the future (although, everyone tells us we are going to LOVE the radiated heat) and the garage needs a complete overhaul or to be replaced...other than that it is perfect for us. The current owners are turning a small junk room off the Master bedroom into a Master bath by the time we move in, as well as a bunch of other maintenance type improvements. They even agreed to leave the area rugs and DINING ROOM SET for us!! All this plus a 30 ft. magnolia tree in the back yard....what more could a girl ask for??
So, keep your fingers crossed for us. We have to get a lease agreement on our house in Pontiac before closing (looks like that could happen by the end of the week as there is a family that is ready to move in as soon as they pass the credit check). After that, it's looks as if it will all move pretty quickly and we will move in sometime in November. I took pictures so you can click on the flickr set below if you want to check it out.
A couple of weeks ago I was wining to my Mom on the phone about how discouraged I was and I was scared because the house in Pontiac hadn't been rented and we were running out of time in this house provided by the hospital. She said, "Maybe it hasn't rented because the right house in Kentucky hasn't come on the market yet." Looks like she was right, yet again.
A couple of weeks ago, I saw that a 150 yr. old house that was on the National Historic Registry went up for sale in Madisonville. Bruce and I both really love the character and style that old homes have in spades compared to homes built more recently. We also would like to preserve history and resources and feel that buying something already here will conserve energy, resources and land somewhere else. Often though, the problem with these homes are years of neglect and with Bruce working many hours at a new job and a baby on the way, we just didn't know how much time we would have to devote to a large project. Anyways, I e-mailed our realtor (the most AMAZING person I have met in a LONG time!) and told her we would like to see it. She e-mailed back saying we could go anytime but that she had seen the house and that there was a TON of work to be done on it. Bruce and I decided to take a little drive by to preview it and were saddened by what we saw...all the gorgeous wood work on the outside was rotting and would have to be replaced by a talented carpenter, it needed a new roof and many of the windows were broken - and that was just the front of the house. So, we decided to pass on the tour and thought that was the end of it, but fortunately that got our realtor thinking. She had seen this house with another family that lived about a mile away in a hundred year old house that they had just restored in the past 2 years and were looking for a new project. Right after she received my e-mail, they called her and said that the big house was too much of a project for them but that they would definitely be listing their house with her in the next two weeks and that they wanted to continue looking for their next project. After asking about size and price, our realtor told her she had a buyer in mind (us) and could she come preview their home the next day. Of course they said yes, thrilled at the prospect of a buyer weeks before the house went on the market. So, the next day, our realtor headed over there and just as she was pulling up to the house guess who passes her? That's right, me...Griffin and I were on the way to the playground. She said she knew then that this would be the house for us. She showed us the house last Thursday, we put in an offer on Monday and it was accepted without a counter on Tuesday.
So, like I said, it's 100 years old, 2700 sq. feet, a HUGE lot with a fenced in yard and it has been recently fully restored. It has radiated heat and window unit air so that may be something we change in the future (although, everyone tells us we are going to LOVE the radiated heat) and the garage needs a complete overhaul or to be replaced...other than that it is perfect for us. The current owners are turning a small junk room off the Master bedroom into a Master bath by the time we move in, as well as a bunch of other maintenance type improvements. They even agreed to leave the area rugs and DINING ROOM SET for us!! All this plus a 30 ft. magnolia tree in the back yard....what more could a girl ask for??
So, keep your fingers crossed for us. We have to get a lease agreement on our house in Pontiac before closing (looks like that could happen by the end of the week as there is a family that is ready to move in as soon as they pass the credit check). After that, it's looks as if it will all move pretty quickly and we will move in sometime in November. I took pictures so you can click on the flickr set below if you want to check it out.
A couple of weeks ago I was wining to my Mom on the phone about how discouraged I was and I was scared because the house in Pontiac hadn't been rented and we were running out of time in this house provided by the hospital. She said, "Maybe it hasn't rented because the right house in Kentucky hasn't come on the market yet." Looks like she was right, yet again.
| www.flickr.com |
Comments
The picture of the girl's room with Griffin on the side playing guitar is adorable.
Here's hoping it all works out!
This is a fantastic home. I love the tall windows and it looks like the owners did a great job renovating it. I can see you guys in that space. What are you going to do with 2700 sq. feet! I love, love, love the girls room, yes you are right it will be perfect if Sprout is a girl. I know you would love that.
I can also see the potential of how you will redesign some of the rooms (removing wall paper, ugh!) to make it fit your style.
We'll be sending good thoughts your way hoping that you can get your Pontaic house leased and able to buy this gem in downtown.
Love ya all,
The Webbers