Holding my Breath

I've fallen in love. Hard.

We've had so many disappointments and near misses when it comes to househunting that I almost feel like it's bad luck to let myself get hopeful - until I remind myself that I'm not superstitious and I need to allow myself to get cautiously excited. And that means being able to talk about it without fear of "jinxing" it, and opening myself up to having to talk about the hurt too if it doesn't work.

We've been looking for a house for about a year, as I've posted about before. Houses in Long Island are so expensive, and the taxes are even worse. It's impossible to get anything livable under $300k, which is insane to me because that could practically get you a mansion where I'm from. This has made the search all the harder; if we could afford $450k, we'd be just fine. But we have to hover between $300-$350, and it doesn't get you much. The few times we find something that seems to be getting us quite a bit for that price, it's snatched up before we can even get a glimmer in our eyes. Mortgage rates are low and it's a competitive market, and our price range isn't. People who have been casually thinking about looking for a house at some point in the future are grabbing at NOW because of the market. We are just starting out and just happen to be caught up in the rush.

We looked at a couple very promising prospects yesterday, which had me feeling more hopeful than I have in a long time. We were actually ready to make an offer on something we saw out in Merrick, when Nicole suggested we look at that one last option that this Floral Park realtor (John) had to show us. He lives in the area, has become very friendly with Nicole's dad over the past six or nine months that we've been working with him, and he said we could just call him up because the houses are empty and he has the keys. Up until now, he's mostly shown us two-family homes, which I'm really resistant to but trying to stay open to since Nicole and her parents are both okay with it (they would go in on it with us and rent out their part), unaffordable single-families, or dilapidated affordable single-families. Floral Park is just expensive. So while it's a nice area, I certainly don't NEED to be there. I've actually started to really like Merrick, and we've continued to look farther out on the island while John shares new listings as they come up.

John took us over to this house but I could tell he really thought we weren't too interested. Nicole's dad had told him we had gone back out to Merrick to look at the other house again (Nicole wasn't with me the first time), and John was pretty sure (as were we!) that we'd make an offer there. So he was informative but relaxed, not at all pushy, and we just absorbed everything.

The house sits about a block off of Jericho Turnpike, the main road. (The Merrick house was only one house away from a main road, so this was actually further off than what we'd already been willing to settle for.) It has a house on each side of it, then some sort of business building (not commercial, but I'm not sure exactly what it is) closer to Jericho. There is a small, two-story apartment complex across the street. The house to the right is on the corner, and there is a stone Verizon building across that street (an office building, not a store). Then there are houses on every other street. So THAT is part of why this house is actually in our price range. If you're looking in that neighborhood, the streets that are all residential are going to be more valued than the street that has a few houses and a smattering of other things. They aren't big commercial buildings, and the street is connected to the rest of the neighborhood where our kids can play, go to cookouts, and trick-or-treat, so it's not a big deal to me. I'm okay with that being our compromise!

It's a desirable, populated area close to the city, so the houses are narrow and long to maximize space, with the bottom floor being railroad style. The house was built in 1925 and has clearly been very well taken care of. You walk into what is either a large mudroom or a small sunroom. It has a ton of windows. Then you walk into the modest-sized living room, and then you walk through to the dining room, and then the kitchen. The stairs (which are beautiful!) go up from the dining room. All the floors and moldings are original wood and they are so gorgeous! The doors are original with these interesting looking cut glass knobs. We both love the cozy charm of the house - we wouldn't want to replace or change any of that! The woman who owns it now does something with blinds for a living, and she has brand new Anderson windows with nice blinds in them (some wooden ones downstairs!). She also replaced the front door recently. So the things that needed fixing are fixed, and the things that don't, she left alone. It's perfect. The only thing needed is a good sanding of the wood floors.

Upstairs is a long hallway with a railing to the left looking over the staircase, two small bedrooms and a GORGEOUS remodeled bathroom on the right, and then the modest-sized master bedroom at the back. There is only one small closet in each room, but again, something I'm willing to compromise for everything else that is perfect. There is room to put in a wardrobe, so I'm fine!

The kitchen could use some updating. It has old, cheap cabinets and countertops. However, they're clean and workable, so that would be a "someday" dream." The appliances are all brand new. And it has my little dream of a window over the sink! I don't know why I want that so much, but it's just always been a part of my vision of a house. Something that has always made having a house stand out from having an apartment is the idea of washing a dish at the sink and being able to look out at the yard. I don't know why it gets me so much, but I look for it in every house, even though it's obviously not a dealbreaker.

There is a half-bath off the back, a door to the basement, and a door to the backyard. The basement is finished and looks just like the other rooms - wood floor, white walls, good shape. It's a nice rectangular shape (we've seen some crazy basement layouts!) that you could easily make into a playroom, rec room, or even guest room once the upstairs rooms are occupied (omg!). The washer and dryer are down there in a little utility room where the oil tank is.

The house is run on oil, but the stove is gas. So there are gas lines in the house and you could convert to gas heat for about $5,000, which would be a much cheaper bill. This is true for the Merrick house too, but most of the houses we've looked at are either fully on oil with the option to convert for about $10,000 (because there is no gas in the house) or without the option to convert because there are no gas lines in the neighborhood. So this is a HUGE plus.

The backyard is small and a reminder that this is sort of an urban house. But it's THERE. There is grass, there are nooks where I can put my vegetable garden, there is an area for kids to play. There may not be enough room for a full swingset like I'd envisioned, but there is play space.

I'm nervous. We've made a low offer, and we know what we're willing to go up to. The realtor knew our price range and still showed us this, making it clear to us that the owner is ready to go. Apparently they already had a contract and moved out into their new home, and the sale fell through because the buyer's own home sale had fallen through, and buying this was contingent upon selling theirs. So the home is empty and they're paying hefty taxes every month while not even living in it.

I'm also hoping that there isn't a lot of activity on it because I don't know of an open house having happened recently. Usually when we make an offer, it's amidst a flurry of other interested potential buyers and we know our offer is competing with people who can probably pay closer to the asking price. I'm hoping that no one is really looking at this one, and that the owner will be so relieved to have an offer, that they will work with us a little. And I hope no one else suddenly comes forward with a better offer. We know now that we can get approved for a mortgage, so if we can just cinch a sales agreement, we might be good to go. I don't want this to slip through our fingers. It's perfect for us. It's sweet, modest, clean and move-in ready, spacious enough without being big and "too much house," and it's in a GREAT location as far as being walking distance to the railroad and so close to the city. I could take any job in Manhattan and have a normal commute, no more than what I'm doing now from Queens. That hasn't been true for anything else we've looked at, because it's difficult to find within our budget.

All prayers and positive energy are greatly appreciated. I'm so ready to build our nest together. We've been frustrated and disappointed so many times, and I'm just ready! This house is so perfectly us that getting it would make me understand why (and be grateful for!) not getting the others.