The Parks Family

Well, as you all know we have begun house hunting. Last Saturday was our first real day of looking. We viewed about 7 or 8 houses and around lunchtime we began to get discouraged. We have a price range that we want to stay within so that once we purchase a home we will be able to update it and add characteristics to make it our own.We began our hunt by going to see a house that sounded promising with 4 bedrooms and 2 baths. The pictures we saw showed a claw foot tub and the original glass doorknobs. A house with charm and room is what we expected to see. Once we arrived we realized that what was advertised as a 4 bedroom really meant a home that had been split into a duplex that required an exterior stairway to reach the upper story. That was a no-go.

The next house was just around the corner and had been completely remodeled and we were even more excited to see it. Once we arrived we didn’t know which house we were there to see. There were 2 homes at the end of a dead end street facing one another with a shared front lawn that allowed for about 4.5 feet of front yard per house before you begin encroaching onto your neighbors territory. We didn’t even go into the house because we value our privacy a little more than that house would have allowed.

House number 3 was in Tullahoma, which is a quit family friendly town central to everything that we need. The house looked decent from the outside and okay upon first entering. We knew the property needed some work so we were excited to see that a couple cans of paint and new carpet in one room would make in move-in ready. We inspected the inside of the home and loved the big laundry room with lots of cabinet space, the 4 bedrooms and the fireplace. We decided to check out the backyard and to our surprise we learned there wasn’t one. Upon exiting the backdoor we were faced with a giant hill that would take a week of serious hiking to summit. We could however walk 3 feet up into the yard and retrieve any stray balls or Frisbees that might have found their way to the roof. We didn’t like knowing that Colton could easily one day leap from the yard onto the roof and possibly break a bone or 2 so we moved on.

Next door to the yard of death was the “handyman special”. Jonathan considers himself to be quit handy so this seemed like a great possibility and the price would allow for some upgrading. We arrived at the house just as soon as the current owners were leaving and after we walked in, we realized we should have hitched a ride with them. Handyman special was a severe understatement to this home. “Complete Gut Job” would have been more fitting. The owners had 2 children and we only know this because the Spider man themed room next to the Barbie room was totally trashed with crayon marks on every wall and door and the marker stains in the floor made it appear as an artist’s studio. We walked into the kitchen and discovered an even more horrible scene. Aside from the peeling linoleum and awful cabinets that needed to be redone we did notice a nice little cozy spot for a washer and dryer……..right next to the refrigerator. We ran and we ran fast.

The next house was lacking on square footage but with the nice price tag we would room to add on if we needed to do so. We arrived at the house and were unsure where to park since there were 2 cars in the driveway. Our agent rang the doorbell and we heard scurrying about inside. We waited for a good 5 minutes before our agent rang the bell again and we were told to come in. We entered the home and looked to find a family of 4 eating lunch in the middle of the kitchen. After we squeezed past their table and went into the hallway a woman came out and acted startled to see us there. We were checking out the linen closet and someone rudely came by and pushed past Jonathan acting as if we had put her out because we might be interested in taking her home off her hands. As our agent was trying to discuss the details of the home over the woman on her cell phone that was about 5 feet away from us who almost caught me in the eye with the end of the comb sticking out of her head. We tried to find the charm. It’s pretty rude to be in a home when it is showing but then to act put out that we want to see it makes it even worse so we left.

By this time we are beginning to get discouraged but we still have a glimmer of hope that we might happen upon our diamond in the rough. We go to the next home and are surprised when we turn onto a very well kept street lined with manicured lawns and get waves from the neighbors. So far so good. We pull into the driveway of a well kept brick home and are surprised by how well maintained it looks from the outside. We enter the home onto a hardwood floor and see the fireplace with the built-in bookshelves that surround it. I am surprised to see carpet and mention to Jonathan that there are probably hardwood floors throughout. We lift the carpet and are ecstatic to see under the red and blue shag pristine, solid hardwood floors. We are getting happy now but know at any moment our bubble will be burst. We go to the kitchen and find a huge, walk-in pantry that will allow plenty of space for our growing family and a garage with shelves already built-in off of that. We exit the back door and find a yard perfect for a swing set and barbecues. We check out the wiring and the roof and the central heat and air. All seem to be in good in working order and we learn they are all new.

We love the house but since everyone told us, “Don’t buy a house your first day of looking”, we were scared. We ate lunch and viewed 3 more homes and we still couldn’t quit thinking about the perfect house we had seen. One of these three was a pretty nice home with a very large yard and a nice screened in “Florida room” in the back. The downside was the house looked sort of like a manufactured home and was kind of in the middle of nowhere in Estill Springs, half way between Winchester and Tullahoma.

We decided to put in an offer on the brick home in Tullahoma. We learned the house had been on the market for 7 months and the owner had rejected several offers but we figured that had to have been getting tired of it sitting vacant so we would try to lowball and then accept their counter if it came down to it. We established a price that we wanted to stick to and put in an offer for $2k less. After we had filled out the 10 pages of papers we learned there was another offer on the table. We figured the sellers agent was trying to bully us into making a higher offer so we stuck to our guns. We got a phone call later that evening that the house had been sold to the highest bidder

We had our first real taste of disappointment in the real estate market and we’re trying to think positive. Maybe there is another “perfect home” out there for us and hopefully we’ll find it soon!