Various events and every day happenings of our quiet life in Port Orange, FL.
Includes community events, travel, home projects, food, gardening and a lot of our pup Rufus.



Wednesday, December 10, 2008

The story of how we found our house

DH and I were married August 20, 2005. We lived in an apartment at my grandparents beachfront manor for the first few months (we were actually married there overlooking the ocean - beautiful!!). Our apartment was very small, probably just over 500 sq. ft. total. When my grandparents got an offer on their house around October 2005, we thought it was time to look for our own place. We started looking around town - this was during the height of the real estate bubble. Our basic wish list was 3 bedroom, 2 bath with a yard and room for our boat. (yeah, we bought a boat together after we'd been dating for a few months. That's where he proposed to me, and that's for a another post!). Other than those items, I was also looking for a nice master suite with a whirlpool tub.

After checking out houses for several weekends, we started to realize that all of the newer homes which were built with the spacious master suite and upgraded kitchens and bathrooms were practically built on top of each other - you could probably hear your neighbors or jump roof to roof. Both of our families knew were actively looking too. We were out at Target one night doing some Christmas shopping and ran into DH's aunt and uncle. We mentioned to them that we were just about exhausted with the housing market. They said they'd keep their eyes out for something that fit our description. Just after the new year, my grandma told me that DH's aunt had called trying to get a hold of us. I called her back and she told us her neighbor had just put a For Sale by owner sign up the night before. I didn't know the exact neighborhood they lived in, but was familiar with the area and it sounded great. We went over to DH's aunt's house to check it out.

The neighborhood was perfect. Older, quiet, no through-street. It was right in town, close to Home Depot, Walmart, Super Target and all shops but set away enough that it didn't feel like you were really that close. The Port Orange City Center was within walking distance - that meant the library, YMCA, city ball fields, amphitheatre and the lake which I knew our puppy would love! The photo to the right is the lake with city hall in the background. (thanks to Grandma BJ for the photo - more of our city center on her flickr site www.flickr.com/photos/21322109@N00/sets/72057594104077648/) Some bonuses about the location - police station and fire station were right near the city hall also, so our power lines would be the last to go off in the event of an emergency! Underground power lines, reclaimed water available, the list went on and on. We saw the outside of the neighbors house. It was standard ranch style. Cute front porch with potential. I've never been a huge fan of brick, but I kept an open mind. DH's aunt's house was the same layout except reversed as the neighbor's house, so we walked through to see the space. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths -check! The house was built in 1979 so there was work to be done, but the frame and basics were there. Then we peeked through the fence to check out their back yard - SOLD! This happened to be the largest lot in the neighborhood. It had a pool, hot tub and lounge area under a screened in patio, room in the yard for our boat (even room on the side of the house to back it in) - everything we were looking for.

I called the lady and set up a time to come look at the house. We already knew that we'd likely put an offer in just based on the location and the yard, the inside could be gutted and redone. One step into the house and we were sure. Now, this lady's decorating style was not like ours at all. She was a grandma and loved to collect things. There was soo much furniture and nick knacks all over the house. I tried to over look it all. I guess had she tried to list it with a realtor, they would have told her to clean the place up. She gave us a tour and then DH and I thanked her and stepped outside. We both knew this was the place. We went back in and told her. We put a deposit down and started all of the fun paperwork. Feb. 1 the house was ours!!
It's taking some time to turn it into our own, but that's one of the joys of buying an older house - sweat equity.
We got in our chair and a half and love seat today. It looks kind of cramped in there right now with the tree. I just snapped this pic after the delivery men dropped the furniture off, so it may need some re-arraigning and definitely a table or ottoman, side table and lamp, and maybe some different art on the wall, but it's already looking great in there. I didn't want to offend Rufus by not including him in the pic.

1 comment:

  1. Ooooh, how pretty! Love your new furniture and your floor looks great too. But Rufus is the "star" of that photo.
    Terri
    http://www.islandwriter.net

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