I guess I never really told you how it happened that I became a homeowner. Perhaps I got a little ahead of myself by jumping straight to the fun stuff. I should have told you how I made it to the point of owning a house to renovate in the first place. So, let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.
I’ve lived in the Fountain Apartments for right at two years with my wonderful cousin Malone. This has been the perfect situation for me as my apartment is exactly two blocks from City Hall, my place of business. Each weekday morning I commute to work on my two feet in less than two minutes. In fact, my morning commute is arguably my favorite part of the day. There’s just something peaceful about an empty downtown street early in the morning.
Nevertheless, as I’ve gotten settled in Greenwood and warmed up to the idea of sticking around for the long term, I began to get the itch to buy a house. Now, I’ve already told you how and why I decided to buy. What I didn’t tell you was how I landed at 402.
House Hunting
I started looking pretty seriously at houses in March of this year with my realtor, Tish Goodman of Bowie Realty. The first house I became interested in was actually a house my dad lived in years ago. It was small at 1,200 square feet, but was big enough for me. It needed some work to both bathrooms, along with a general overall freshening up. With that in mind, I made what I thought was a reasonable offer, which was quickly rejected. Although I felt a bit defeated, I didn’t let it get me down.
From the get-go, I decided that I wasn’t going to get desperate and buy something that wasn’t right for me. And with my sweet setup downtown, I had no incentive to settle. I kept telling myself that the right house would come along at the right price at the right time for me.
The next house I really liked was owned by friends of mine. It was an older home with all the charm in the world. Three bedrooms, two baths, an updated kitchen, a beautiful back yard, and a front porch to die for. I knew that I was looking at it alongside others, so I tried to make my decision quick and put my offer together, but in the end I was too slow moving. It turns out that the other party made an offer and it was accepted before I could pull the trigger. This also turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The house was really too big for just me, and as it turns out, it is the perfect size for the couple that bought it. In fact, I am happy that the couple that bought the house are friends of mine, so I can go and sit on their awesome porch!
The third house I really liked was also owned by friends of mine. It was really a great house for me, with three bedrooms, 1.5 baths, a nice kitchen, a double carport, and a huge back yard. It just happened to be slightly out of my price range and we weren’t able to reach a price point that worked for them and for me. No hard feelings. They ended up selling it a week or so after I first made my offer.
The Road Home
Finally, feeling a little worn out from the stress of looking and thinking and offering and starting the process over and over again, I got a glimpse of hope.
One afternoon, I was texting my friend Brett, who had talked to our friend Patrick, who had told him I had been looking at houses. I told him about the tough time I’d had finding something and then, out of the blue, mentioned that if his family ever got to the point of selling his grandmother Lucy’s home to let me know. As it turns out, Brett’s mom was in the process of finding a place for Lucy to live closer to them in Florida and was considering putting the house on the market.
A few days later, I spoke with Mrs. Person on the phone, met her over at the house, and made an offer, all before she ever listed the house with a realtor. After looking at every home in my price range in Greenwood, I knew the moment I walked in that it was perfect for me. With two large bedrooms, two baths, a large living room and dining room with a den and a kitchen, all it needed was an update. Before she left town that day, we signed a contract on a coffee table in the lobby of The Alluvian Hotel.
It was then that I knew that I would be the proud owner of 402 East Monroe.
Tags: Bowie Realty, Ramblings, Tish
Four Zero Two 