My husband and I like to drive around. A lot. Probably more than anyone else on the planet. We do it to get out of the house, to pass time at lunch and to see what's on the real estate market. I guess you might call us the eternal optmists when it comes to home shopping. We're always on the lookout for our next dream home. We currently live in what was and still mostly is our starter dream home, but as families change and needs change, different sets of criteria become more desirable for the humble abode. So, you might say we're always looking for what's next. That's not to say we're not happy where we are now, we've just kind of made a hobby out of seeing what's on the market at all times. Some people call it an obsession, we just call it a passionate hobby.
Well, about a month ago our passion paid off, in what we thought were spades. See, with as much real estate as we drive by, view pictures and listings of and dream about, you'd think we go in every house that comes on the market. We don't. We couldn't do that to our poor real estate agent. I'd say we've been in maybe 3 or 4 houses in the last as many years. We've currently lived in our home (your standard 3 bedroom ranch) for 5 years. But on a recent trip to the country for our normal drive we stumbled across a gem (to us, trust me, many wouldn't get it). It was a little gray ranch house on about 3 acres of land with a creek running through the property; my husband's dream back yard come true and one that was close enough to town that I could adapt too. We called our agent, went in it and loved it. It was just a little bigger than our house which is what we had finally agreed was all we needed. It had the separate living and family rooms that I wanted and the landscape he wanted. We couldn't ask for more. After leavning we knew we wanted to make an offer so we left and went straight to the bank. We decided we'd get the offer on the table on Monday (this was late Friday afternoon).
The offer went out on a Monday (mind you this property had been on the market less than a week and in Charleston, IL, time that's nothing. Bidding wars aren't exactly a thing here.). A few hours later we were informed there was a competing offer and to give our best and final. So we did. After a few agonizing hours we learned we had been outbid and/or outdone, we're not sure which. We put in a hefty bid but were financing a certain way and asking for closing costs so we could move forward with the purchase and hold our mortgage and the new one until ours sold. That might not have set with the sellers and the other offer might've had more cash. Who knows. But at any rate, they didn't pick us and we were pretty much crushed. So, the moral of the story is, if you want something, hurry up and get it! Or something like that...
But the sting has lessened and we've decided we will move and upgrade this year while rates are low and prospects are high. Now is the time! Plus, something great might be on the horizon. Things happen for a reason and I'm starting to see how true this can be. We're currently looking into another dream home. Fingers crossed!
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