They kept saying, “when you find the house, you’ll know”. We put a bid on a house and immediately questioned ourselves after we did it. We found a house that should have been the one, and easily would have been if it weren’t for the requirements for a rehab loan. Though later on we forgot about it as we realized the elementary school was less than desirable. We were being naïve home buyers that were desperate for the one to hurry up and fall in our laps. We are watching our choices dwindling down in our ideal city.

Then we saw a picture of a shabby looking home. The kitchen looked like a closet and the only real other pictures were of the yard. With choices becoming more limited, we wanted to see the options. We went in with little hope. As we were heading to the house,  we were re-evaluating what we were ideally trying to find in a house: a nice yard for the children and dogs; a picturesque neighborhood; in a district with great schools. Everything else was negotiable: a nice kitchen, finished basement, decent sized bedrooms.

As we pulled up to the house, we were immediately impressed. The neighborhood was very picturesque, with flowering and other large trees and seeing children playing. We noticed that along the chain link fence on the side was a gate and walking path. As we followed the path on the property line, we noticed it was a path up to my oldest son’s current elementary school. Already a huge plus. The back and side yards were a decent size.

We walked into the house and the kitchen was larger than the pictures, though it was small, and had an opening to see into the dining area. The rooms were all nicely sized and it had a large finished basement. It was an awesome feeling. For the first time, I felt like I was home walking around. We didn’t want to rush into it this time. We wanted to sleep on it and re-assess  everything on Monday and have other family members see what we might have missed. Only when we went to reschedule, another bid had been placed. We rushed to get our advisors in to get a bid in. They loved it as much as we did.

So a bidding war has begun. We’re waiting to see if we were the top bidder. This time I’m anxious to see if we get it, unlike past time when I was anxious if I made the right call. Maybe we should have jumped on the house right away. We were trying to do the right thing and it may have backfired. The house was perfect in every way. The schools were top-notch, the neighborhood is amazing.  The house was a quaint perfect starter home. We’ll see how this goes and I should hope for the best.