Hess House Update: Finding the One

So this house situation is a little complicated.

Let me run you through the ordeal. I do this not to make you feel sorry for us, or to let off steam... because I'm not really angry or frustrated at all at this point. This is more for your entertainment (I laughed a lot at the insanity) and for your information, just in case you ever chose to buy a house.

So it started out easy. We had been looking at houses online in the area since March.  We found a really neat old house online while we were still in Colorado, but then it went up for auction, and then we saw it in person, and we laughed and laughed that we ever considered it, or that any human would ever live there again without Bob Vila and Norm Abram's help...

Then there was the house that I had been eyeing since March. After looking at crazy-old-house-gone-wrong I wanted to go check out this other house. We had been watching it and the price had just dropped by $5000. Yep. So we headed over.

1. We checked out the house for ourselves, and compared it to other homes in the area. (Note, there weren't any other homes in the area that were in our price range that were even decent...)
2. We made our friend's Tam and Mike go visit the outside of the house after church one day. They approved.
3. We took along our handy friend John, his decor-savvy wife Amanda, and their kids (to determine if the house was playable, right?) to see the house again with the Realtor. And they approved.
4. Then I emailed my mom and dad and everyone at work with the link to the house to see what they thought.

And then after some prayer, some more internet searching, rechecking our finances, making sure all the bank pre-approval documents were in...we decided to buy the house!

Would I recommend this method?

Yes. Get your friend's and family's opinion; they can look a little more objectively and tell you not to jump into a horrible or ugly house just because it's a good deal and just because you're "attached." Ask your Realtor what he or she thinks. They may not be as objective because they make money if you buy the house, but they've seen a lot of houses and may have some good info. And if you have a handy friend or someone who can tell you the decorating potential of the home, bring them! We may have never known about the small and very convenient water heater under the kitchen sink if John hadn't stuck his head under the cabinet... no more running out of hot bath water when the dishwasher's running...

So we think we picked a winner. Clean, seemingly good condition, new carpet, new paint, new stove top, new microwave. And retro, but totally fixable or embraceable, lol, oh the paneling...

How's that for a sneak peak of the house? The house that still may or may not be ours. (Not just trying to tease you, we really don't know yet.)

More to come on making an offer, signing and re-signing the contract, and of course closing? maybe?