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

  2. Stephanie says

    YAY!! I am so excited & happy for you guys!! I am already drooling at all of the future blog posts about your new ‘casa’/space!! Bring on the fun & happy packing :)

    Reply

  4. Amy N. says

    Congrats!! I’m so excited to see what you guys do with the place! In the picture I noticed that the complete house view seems to be blocked by a couple of trees. Are you planning to leave those trees there, or is it just a bad angle?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Amy N,

      The trees-in-the-way is mainly just because of the photo. There are some more flattering angles, but this is the only one we had handy. Right now we have no plans to take down those trees but to be honest we haven’t really delved too deeply into planning landscaping yet.

      -John

  8. Jen K says

    Yippee! I’m so excited for you! I had a feeling that this was going to be your post today. You definitely gave us some hints. Our FSBO is not going as well. We are finding that buyers’ agents are boycotting our listing because we are giving it the good ‘ole college try on our own before turning to a seller’s agent. Not one agent has brought a potential buyer by to an open house or called for a showing. Did you find that to be the case in your market? We are in downtown Boston, maybe the city thing is hurting us here.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hi Jen K,

      That’s a bummer. We didn’t find agent boycotting to be an issue with our house. Those who have called are quick to confirm that we’re willing to work with agents and are offering the standard commission, but once we’ve done that they’ve all seemed more than willing to bring buyers buy. I recall someone else commenting before saying agent boycott FSBOs in San Francisco too, so maybe it’s a regional / big city thing? Good luck!

      -John

  9. Becky says

    Congratulations John and Sherry!!!

    Sherry, this is really random, but I am listening to my ipod at work and the song “sherry” by The Four Seasons came on…it must be fun to have a song in your honor! hehe.

    Reply

  15. Sarah says

    You should have a clause in your closing contract that the new owners of your current house, must produce pictures of their interior and exterior changes in 1 year! It would be fun to see what the new owners did… I would probably keep the layout just like you have it :)

    Reply

  18. Noelle says

    Congrats-
    Wish my husband and I were so lucky- here in MA still trying to sell and buy!
    Looks like some of us are just lucky-
    Can’t wait to read how you transform this place!!!

    Reply

  20. Jody says

    I am so excited for you guys! I read your blog every day (and sometimes spend hours checking out old posts) and have started sharing some of the really awesome posts with my husband. We are currently in the market for a new home and it is because I have been able to show him your before/after pics that he is more willing to consider an inner city home that needs a little love as compared to a new build in suburbia.
    Thank you so much for all of the posts, and I cannot wait to show him your blank canvas and all the new projects. I have a feeling your blog will help us find a house that we can craft into the home of our dreams.
    All the best in the new home!

    Reply

  22. Natalie says

    Is it wrong that I’m hoping this house is hideous on the inside? PLEASE tell me there’s a green toilet!?! The bigger the makeover the better!

    Congratulations!

    Reply

  23. Melanie Beth says

    Wow – so excited for you guys! Congratulations, and good luck with the move! Especially during the holidays… I’ve done that once, and it was rough! Of course, it was snowing… so that didn’t help.

    Reply

  24. jennifer says

    i’m sure there are millions of upcoming posts on all these topics, but did you all decide to go with a 15 year mortgage again? what all went into making the decision this time? thanks and a big CONGRATS!!!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Jennifer,

      It has yet to be determined if we can get approved for a 15 year loan (since we’re both self-employed we’re viewed as a bit more “risky” to loan to) but if the banks give us their blessing we’re definitely going for it! If not we’ll look into a 20 year before going to a 30 year one.

      xo,
      s

  25. Susan says

    CONGRATULATIONS!! I remember when my husband and I walked into out current house, we looked at each other and said ‘this is it!’ Point blank, we just knew! It’s a fabulously exciting and scary feeling.

    Can’t wait to see more of this dream house and follow you on the next chapter in your life. Thanks for sharing!!

    Reply

  28. Neyir says

    So pleased for you guys – I love the image of you spending Clara’s first Christmas in the house that she will most likely spend much of her early childhood (I will hold off saying ‘childhood’ because that might be too limiting for the Petersik creativity!). Will be praying that everything goes very smoothly!

    Reply

  31. Lauren C says

    Congrats! My boyfriend is going to hate this because now I will be spending even MORE time on your blog! Whoopie!

    Reply

  32. Robyn in Chicago says

    Ooo – you guys, this is so exciting! Congrats and thanks for sharing with us!

    I feel like I’m going to be very nostalgic when you post pictures of your boxes packed and current house cleared out. I know that’s weird since we don’t know each other and all…but still – you guys are my blog friends nonetheless and that will be a sad day! And then also an exciting day too when you move to your new place. We’ll just focus on that – Yay!

    Reply

  35. Kristen says

    Congratulations! I’m so happy that you guys found “the one”. Isn’t exciting to think about the potential and possibilities of this new house? It sounds like there is lots of room to grow too!

    Looking forward to reading about all your new DIY projects!

    Reply

  36. amyks says

    Congratulations all around. We all knew that your house would be a fast sell, awesome, that you found one to buy just as quickly! Happy Moving Day!

    Reply

  37. Elle says

    Found your blog just recently but I tell you, I’ve read quite far too many of your archive! :)
    Congratulations to your new found love. Can’t wait to see all the projects you got for this one.

    Reply

  38. bungalowbliss says

    After yesterday, I had a strong feeling this post was coming today! Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw! Let’s get this show on the road! :)

    Reply

  39. Katharine says

    Congratulations! I can’t wait to see inside! I’m not a fan of ranches generally, but I think it’s cool that you are and that you’re not ashamed to say so. Have you ever written about what draws you to ranches? I’m curious.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Katharine,

      I think we like the open and expansive feeling that they provide (sometimes two-story houses feel smaller and more “divided” if that makes sense). We love that casual and easy vibe of one-story living.

      xo,
      s

  40. amanda says

    I’m so excited, you’d think I’m buying the house! I just can’t wait to see all the projects you have in store! Especially opening up & remodeling the kitchen! I hope everything goes well and that we can look forward to those new projects soon!

    Reply

  43. Candace says

    Oh my gosh! I’m so happy for you guys! I’ve been reading your blog for a little over 2 years now and I was waiting on pins and needles for y’all to find “The One”! My husband and I are currently remodeling our modestly sized Texas ranch so you guys are a constant source of inspiration! I can’t wait to see pics of the interior of your new abode!

    P.S. Is it nerdy that I almost squealed out loud when I read the news?!

    Reply

  44. Lauren C says

    Sorry to post again… but here’s a question I’ve been meaning to ask for a while!

    You mentioned that you lived in NYC for a while before moving to Virginia. I love the beauty of VA and have always wanted to live near friends there. How would you describe the “pace” of VA compared to NYC? I’d like to one day get away from the rat-race in Dallas (not near as crazy in Dallas as NYC I’m sure!) and settle into a quiet pace (Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls anyone?!)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Lauren C,

      We would describe our neighborhood as a woodsy and casual place that feels eons away from the rat race that is NYC, but thanks to being right outside of the city of Richmond, it’s still just 15 minutes for us to get to the downtown area to enjoy good eats, great shopping/art galleries and all the other city perks.

      xo,
      s

  45. Amanda says

    Congrats to both of you! I love love LOVE the new “tagline” (if that’s what it’s called)! Don’t forget to also change it in the title bar as well! :)

    Reply

  47. Stephanie Phillips says

    There has been an overwhelming response to this announcement! So, from the Phillips of Greenville, NC, CONGRATS! Sounds like another wonderful adventure is beginning!

    Reply

  49. Kim says

    Congrats! I cannot wait to see the inside and see all the amazing ideas you guys have! I’m also excited about seeing what you have to say about the whole FSBO process…we plan on going this route in a few weeks and we’re clueless!

    Reply

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