The house That Could Have Been

I have to say this makes me a little sad to blog about. I was hoping when I posted these pictures it would have more words like "we're moving", "we bought our first home", "can't wait to start painting". Unfortunately we are trying to be adults and make good decisions so this post will be about how we are not moving and we could have just bought our first home but changed our minds.

Let me give some short background. We moved to Downtown Puyallup about 3.5 years ago. There were 2 houses that I fell in love with. One was on the market awhile ago and they were asking $550,000 for a three bedroom. It was gorgeous and updated but that was ridiculous and my heart wasn't set on it like this other one. House #2 is closer to where we are now. Corner lot away from the busy street. One block away from the train station. 2,750 sq ft of beauty.

I really felt for the past 3 years that this house was meant to be ours. I know it sounds silly. It's not that I just WANT this to be ours but I can totally see us living here forever. Kids in the yard, us on the huge wrap around porch with lemonade. Every time we walk by it we can't help but slow our pace and talk about what color we would paint it, which windows we thought belonged to which rooms and how wonderful it would be to live there.

The house is currently a 4-plex. So there are 4 bathrooms, 4 kitchens, 4 living rooms and 2 bedrooms (2 of the units are studios). This would have complicated the remolding process but would have also given us more possibilities.

Back in September/October I noticed that some of the tenants appeared to have moved out. I was excited because I could tell no one was really taking care of the place and it looked like a place that could be going into foreclosure. By November there was just one tenant left and one say she too was gone. So we started searching online. The county assessors website said it had foreclosed in June but I couldn't find out anything else about an auction or when it would be on the market. One day while walking with Johnny, Daniel saw a man there taking pictures. He asked the guy if he could take a look inside. So while trying to hide his phone that he was using to video the tour and hold a squirmy 2 year old, Daniel took a quick walk through the house. I was so bummed that I had not gone with him on that walk to see it too! We still didn't see anything online about listing dates. By this point we were driving by it frequently waiting for a for sale sign to appear. On one such drive by I saw the appraiser outside. We talked for about 5 minutes about some of the things she saw that would need to be repaired and she guessed it would be on the market in about 2 weeks. So we went to a mortgage broker and got pre approved. We found a realtor. Even with her help we couldn't get any more info. on when it was going to be listed. One morning I drove by and I saw the sign! I was super excited to find out how much they wanted for it.

Fast forward a week. We had looked at it twice and the bidding was only open for 8 days and all bids had to be in by Sunday night. Saturday the mortgage lady called and said there was an issue with the financing because it was a multi family unit, we needed to have more money in the bank, blah blah blah. Sunday evening around 5pm, the realtor had another mortgage broker call us and we got pre approved over the phone. Our bid was submitted and the wait began. Monday morning at 8:30 the realtor called and said our bid was accepted! Whoo hoo! We were really going to be getting our dream house! Then came paperwork and cashiers checks that were wrong and more complicated online paperwork. Then the feelings of doubt. I think I was doubting it first but Daniel was still hard core about buying it. We both really wanted it, but was it a smart thing for our family? Could we afford it? Yes. Would we be able to take any trips or do anything fun for the next 5 years? Probably not. I was ready to back out. The idea stressed me out. I came up with a calculation on our budget sheet that figured if we stay where we are we can be out of debt in about 2 years. If we bought the house (and nothing major went wrong) it would take us about 9 to pay off that same debt. And the house would be unfinished for awhile until we could afford to fix it all up. We were planning on getting a $50,000 renovation loan on it to cover the necessary improvements (paint, windows, tearing down walls). Daniel had his painter come look at it and he quoted Daniel $15,000 just to paint the outside. And that was if Daniel helped him. We knew that $50k was not going to go very far.

One night while listening to the Dave Ramsey show, Daniel finally got his answer to what we should do. The caller was telling Dave that they were about half way through their debt (like us) and his wife was house hungry. Should they stop wasting money on rent and buy or keep paying things off. Dave told the guy to stick it out for 2 more years, get out of debt and buy a house the right way. He also said don't let your emotions make decisions for you. Like how our WANT and our love for the house was driving us to make this huge investment. It was like Dave Ramsey was talking to us. So first thing Friday morning I called the realtor and told her we were backing out. She had to cancel the home inspection that was to be that day and start the paperwork saying we declined. We are both bummed but relieved. They say a happy mom makes a happy baby and moms who are super stressed while pregnant tend to have kids who have temper issues. I could tell this was all going to get very stressful and for the sake of this baby and my 2 little ones it's probably a good idea we didn't go through with it. But it really is and could be a gorgeous home. I hope who ever buys it treats it nice and keeps it in good condition for us to buy in a few years. :)

I love all of the huge windows.

Arched doorways and decorative windows.

Unique built-ins.

Dark hardwoods and sitting areas.

And the decorative stairway. You can't get these things in a new home. These old homes (this one is 1905) have sooo much character. I wish the walls could talk and tell me about the people that lived there long ago.

There were endless possibilities. Like this kitchen. Craft room or nursery? Leave the arched doorway that leads into the bedroom next to it and have a joint master/nursery? Or joint craft room nursery? Master upstairs or down? Leave all 4 bathrooms or tear out 2 and make a Jack and Jill type one for the kids? So many ideas!

Have I mentioned Daniel's favorite part? The 4 car garage with a work space in the back and a finished 'man cave' above? I'm pretty sure that's what sold him. It definitely was not the hours and hours of painting and repairing that was needed.

I didn't post a picture of the other side of the house but there is a small back yard. The porch overlooks it and would have been perfect for those summer days. Sigh. Addie was kind of bummed when we told her we were not buying it. Sometimes she still tells me she wants to live in that house. I do too. And maybe one day we will.