Things change fast in the world of real estate! Charles and I did just what we said we were going to do, and walked over to Bamby lane last Saturday to speak with the neighbors, and get a better feel for the location. While we were there, we learned was that we DID NOT want to live on Bamby lane.
In addition to the fact that there is a street behavior problem that brought the police around quite frequently, there is also a building concern. Not for “our” lot, but for all of the lot’s across from us. We learned that none of the homes across the street could expand their foot print due to the flood plain restrictions. Now everything in Brookhaven is getting renovated and rebuilt, so we were willing to wait for this street to “come around” but once we learned that our neighbors houses would not be able to… we realized why no one was building on this street. At that point, we decided that we should keep looking.
We were pretty disappointed to be staring over from square one, and knew for a fact that there were literally no listings on the market that interested us in the slightest. Defeated, we went over to Ron & Kate’s to check out the work they have done on their nursery and hang out with them and Kate’s parents, who were in town. They all did wonders to cheer us up: good company always does that! On top of some shopping, chatting, and playing with the dogs, Kate’s parents introduced the idea that we should just go knock on doors of houses and ask the owners if they are interested in selling….
While we were not sold on that aggressive of a move, we were interested in the idea. We decided to check and see if someone had posted a “Make me move” property. If you are not familiar with “Make me Move”, is where owners can post the price that someone would have to pay them to move out of their house. If someone wants to pay that price, then they can reach out to the owner, but the house is not on the market. Charles and I had never considered doing this, because we figured, most people would only list their house at a price above market value. After all, why would you ask for less?!
Well, we found a listing that was on a GREAT street, and met ALL of our criteria, we decided to reach out to the seller and see if he was really interested in moving. Turns out: he was! He quickly informed Charles of the “catch”. He wants to stay in the house until July. This prevented him from being able to list the house, but he really wanted to get it off his hands because he is building another home a few blocks over. As it turns out all of the preliminary work we have to do with the builder (design, contracting, and permits) will prevent us from being able to break ground until July.
Charles put his negotiation hat on and worked with the owner to make an amazing deal that worked for both parties. We began contract discussions on Sunday and had a fully executed agreement by Tuesday. Since then, we have been ironing out the finer points of the lease agreement that will protect Charles and I from having to serve as landlords, arranged land surveys, and met with our builder. This process is 95% complete, and that is a good thing as our due diligence ends on Tuesday!
We will officially close on this property on 4/9, and could not be more excited about it! With no reservations in our hearts, we are confident this is the perfect place to build our new home.