Young House Love

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The Process Of Selling Our House By Owner & Buying A New House

To the tune of Katy Perry’s “Hot N’ Cold”… WE’VE BOUGHT AND WE’VE SOLD!

Well not really, but we’re headed in that direction. As of 5:57 pm yesterday evening we got word that the the last of our negotiations with some potential buyers of our house have gone through, so the contract on our home is officially “pending.”

Contract Sale Pending Sign

Which means that the contract that we’ve got in on our sweet new house (yes, we fiiiinally found one) should move right along as well (since it was contingent on selling ours first). In fact if all goes well, in a little over a month we’ll be moving from our current house directly into our new casa. Holy bananas. We’re geeking out over here (high fives, jazz hands, the charleston, my own spin on the Elaine-from-Seinfeld dance, the whole nine).

You’ll have to excuse us for not sharing anything sooner. We just wanted to be sure this new found casa could really be ours before getting all excited-slash-attached and making a big ol’ blog-nouncement about it (it would’ve been such a buzz kill if things fell through). But now that both contracts are well underway (inspections have even been completed) and are only dependent on the lending process going smoothly – which should be fine, fingers crossed – we’re ready to shout the good news from the rooftops internet.

We’ll fill you in with all the how-we-priced-&-marketed-&-sold-our-house-by-owner details soon, but first let’s chat about our new house. We’re on the brink of obsessed. Picture us doodling our new address with hearts all over our notebook. It’s a total throwback to how can’t-sleep-excited we were about our current house back in 2006. And we’re so grateful to have that feeling again – especially because we were beginning to doubt that we’d find anything that gave us butterflies. But the moment the front door swung open and we found ourselves standing in our future entryway (complete with some amazing built-ins) we just knew. Which means I broke out my creepy permasmile and probably scared the realtor. So much for a poker face.

Speaking of the realtor, we ended up using a buyer’s agent after calling her to see one of her listings and, well, one thing lead to another and she ended up showing us this other home that she felt would be a better fit. We were skeptical at first because it was one we had already nixed during a late night realtor.com hunt. Why did it get nixed? Get this. It had a carport.

Contract No Carports

I stupidly decided that we strongly prefer an enclosed garage (for storage reasons, bug control reasons, and so-people-don’t-know-when-we’re-gone reasons). So I ruled out all homes with carports. Little did I know that odd parameter was keeping us from finding The One. So we begrudgingly agreed to see the house anyway, and the rest as they say is history. Even more amazingly, the sellers of the house were offering a credit to cover the entire cost of enclosing the carport to create a garage. Is that proof that it was meant to be or what? So the lesson here is to widen those parameters because your perfect house might be right under your nose (and hiding behind a carport).

But enough jibber jabber, let’s meet the future Casa Petersik. Admittedly, it’s not a Jeff Lewis exterior (yet) but we probably wouldn’t buy it if it was already there. And yes, it’s more than a little reminiscent of our current home at first glance, but the inside is larger, more flexible, and it runneth over with potential.

Contract House Filtered

THE STATS:

  • Age: 1960’s
  • House size: around 2,500 square feet
  • Lot size: .75 acres (almost exactly the same size as our current lot, but it’s more square and less long & narrow)
  • Bedrooms: 4
  • Bathrooms: 3

THE PROS:

  • Gave us that “this is IT” feeling the moment we walked inside
  • Open & flexible floor plan that will accommodate a growing family and a home-based business
  • Three modestly sized bedrooms just like the ones we have now PLUS a large master bedroom with an ensuite bathroom & a walk-in closet
  • Great blank slate with tons of potential (we love all the projects that we see when we look around)
  • Large centrally located kitchen- which makes it perfect for family gatherings (we can’t wait to knock out some walls)
  • Amazing neighborhood near our family with great schools (it’s actually very close to where we live now)
  • It’s a ranch, just like our first love house (we were open to all house types, but 50 yr old ranches never fail to steal our hearts)

THE CONS:

  • A bit larger than we expected we’d like (but still very much within our budget)
  • The landscaping will be more of a challenge than our current home’s (but we do love a challenge)
  • There’s a carport (but oh happy day, we get a credit to transform it into a garage)
  • The lot is less private than our current lot (but we have plans to change that)
  • We can’t think of anything else (we’re blinded by love I tell you)

Oh, and I guess we can meet this one minus the artistic photoshop filter. Ooh. Ahh. So crisp and non-blurry.

Contract House Unfiltered

We’re so glad that we found our perfectly imperfect house. The potential is so thick you can cut it with a knife. So cross your fingers that all continues to go well for everyone’s loans and that we end up closing in mid December without any hiccups. Until then you’ll find us gushing about our future home, playing around with paint swatches, brainstorming all sorts of layout ideas, virtually shopping for every room, charging the batteries in John’s drill, organizing and paring things down, packing, and just generally being freakishly excited. We can’t wait to share the next chapter of our lives with you guys.

Comments

  1. Jo says

    So happy for you guys, I was so excited when reading all about it that I felt like I was buying the house!

    Can’t wait to see inside it and to hear all about the new projects and things going on…

    Best wished to the four of you and I hope the house wears you well!

    Reply

  2. Jane says

    Congrats on finding your “perfectly imperfect” new house! I’m looking forward to seeing how you take from a house to a home.

    Reply

  4. beth says

    Wow, congrats! It looks awesome! And don’t worry about the size… you’ll definitely grow into it and fill it up over time. We just bought a house and it was a little bigger than we wanted but the price was right (had a gorgeous view) and now that we’re in it we are super happy. We have one daughter and my husband works from home so there’s lots of room for toys and it’s nice to have space and stretch out when you’re at home all of the time. I can’t wait to see pictures of the inside!!! Your post really made my morning!

    Reply

  5. Amanda says

    *~*~*CONGRATULATIONS!!!*~*~* All crossables crossed that everything from here to closing goes smoothly! CAN.NOT.WAIT to learn more about your new love and what you have planned for it!

    Reply

  6. Jessaca says

    Congrats! Can’t wait to see the inside. I’m waiting to see what you do with a walk-in closet. I could use some on-the-cheap inspiration. California Closets are a teensy bit, well, more like a lot, out of our range.

    Oh, and btw, totally love Bumble and bumble hair products. I noticed they have an ad now. Expensive, but a little goes a long way.

    Reply

  9. Kim Early says

    I recently just found your blog and already I feel like I’ve known you three forever. Thanks for sharing and congratulations. I too have an old house, single Mother with two teenagers so you have been an inspiration to continue making my old house a home that we love. Thanks for getting those fires burning again.

    Reply

  11. Julie W. says

    I’m almost embarrassed how excited I am for you guys! I feel like i know you! Cant wait to see all the brilliant ideas you come up with now! :) Casa Petersik has served you well… now onto la maison Perersik. :p Just kidding just kidding Congrats!!

    Reply

  12. KimB says

    awesome! how exciting! i’m still renting, so living vicariously through you guys! best of luck with everything, and can’t wait to see all interior layout. and yes, i noticed your new tagline. yay!

    Reply

  13. Erin says

    OMG! That looks eerily similar to my house in NoVA! We’re seriously considering turning our single carport into a garage but I have no idea where to start (call a contractor or architect first? And how much it would cost to do?). Any tips, info you can share on that? Do you plan to have a roof line over the garage similar to the house to create storage?

    So excited for you guys!

    Reply

  14. Tanis says

    I am so excited to watch and see all that you have planned for your new house! Congrats! Thanks so much for letting us all live vicariously through you guys!

    Reply

  16. Jenny says

    What fabulous news! Congrats! I’m very excited and happy for you. Moving to a new house is a lot of fun, especially when there are a lot of projects involved!

    Reply

  18. Lesley says

    Woot Woot Congrats guys!! This house is similar (on the outside) to our ranch style home. Cannot wait to see transformations!!! So, I can get some ideas!! haha

    Reply

  19. Leah O says

    I love your new house!! Congratulations!! We too ended up buying a house with a huge carport attached and had plans of enclosing it as a garage, but after moving into the house and spending a full summer WITH our carport we now love it!! We are amazed at how much use we get out of it. We made it more of a cozy porch/patio with furniture, etc. rather than a place to park our car :) Can’t wait to see what great ideas you guys come up with!!

    Reply

  21. Jamie says

    WOW! That seems like it happened so fast. Very excited for y’all! Can’t wait to see the whole process as it moves along. Hoping everything goes very smoothly.

    Reply

  22. Julia says

    I must admit I’m gonna miss your current home…but, I can’t wait to see what transformations you make to the new place!

    Reply

  24. Barbara says

    It’s official: you made me love ranches!
    Too bad there aren’t many ranches in Italy…
    Congratulations!
    Celebrate…good times! Come on!

    Reply

  25. Katie J. says

    Awesome sauce!!! I am so happy for you guys. I can’t wait to see everything you have in store for your new casa!!

    Reply

  29. Roshni says

    CONGRATULATIONSS!!!! So happy for you! How wonderful that everything went so smoothly! Please please do give us all your tips of how to sell a house without having to rope in an agent! You guys pulled that off so well!!

    Reply

  30. Elle Sees says

    I’m so excited! As always, you guys make us feel like we’re taking the journey with you! I can’t wait for y’all to roll up your sleeves and get started!

    Reply

  31. Pamela says

    I literally found myself slooooooowly scrolling down the page because I just knew there would be a photo down there and wanted to absorb all the info first! Congrats!

    Reply

  34. L says

    Congratulations! I’m so excited to see what you do–we’re 7 months into renovations on our 1950s ranch, and we have a _long_ way yet to go.

    Guessing from the one picture–is some of the square footage in the basement?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey L,

      It’s actually an unfinished low-ceiling’d basement that’s only accessible from outside (private entry), so that doesn’t count as square footage. But it’s a great place to store stuff like old baby clothes in tupperware until we need them for the next bean.

      xo,
      s

  35. Lindy says

    I am so excited that this is the house your guys chose. It looks so much like my house! I bought my grandparents house after they passed away and have been bringing it from the 1960’s to the current century. I have been struggling with the exterior, so I am so excited to see what you guys are going to do!

    Congrats!

    Reply

  37. Caitlin says

    If I didn’t know any better, this is your current(soon to be old) house’s mistaken-for-a-twin-all-the-time brother (sister?)!!
    Congrats guys, I hope everything from here on out goes smoothly for you!

    Reply

  39. Amber says

    Happy Dance Happy Dance! Woo Hoo guys! Congratulations. I’m so happy that you found a new dream home. It looks very inviting! I can’t wait to see some new projects.

    Reply

  46. Emmely says

    Love reading your blog every day and cannot wait to see what you do with this house!! Fingers crossed that the deal goes through :)

    I just moved myself, to not just a house but into the tallest building in the world! I wonder if you have many readers in the UAE? Follow me on http://www.hearthomelife.com

    Reply

  47. Carolyn says

    Congratulations! Very exciting! But you’re moving in mid December, does this mean we won’t be seeing any Christmas decorating posts this year? That would be very sad :( I love what you’ve done in previous years!

    Reply

  48. Linda says

    Congrats, I love when a plan works out so well! :) And the house is adorable, and it’s amazing how similar it looks to your current house. Since you’ll probably be moving mid-December, will you still have time for Christmas decor this year?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Linda & Carolyn,

      Yup, we plan to decorate things around here a bit for the holidays and tackle the major Christmas decor in the new place once we get there since we’ll still have a few weeks before Santa arrives!

      xo,
      s

  50. jeanne says

    Very Cool S & J! I am chanting “paint! Sand paper! Moulding!” as I type! Happy Happy for you.
    Enjoy the buzz. Now can we fast forward in time so you can get your hands on it?!

    Reply

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