Be Vewy Quiet, I'm Hunting ... Weal Estate

After practically vibrating off my chair for the past two days, this morning I finally went house hunting with my friend Madeline. I had narrowed the choices down to two that were within five houses of each other in her neighborhood. Both were built in the early 1900s, both are brick with hardwood floors, and they have approximately the same size yard. I was so excited, and had a great time looking at them! Madeline brought her little girl with her, and I think the agent thought for quite awhile that we were a family, the three of us, and that cracked me up.

Anyway... drum roll please.... we picked a house and made an offer!!!! The first house I went into was The House. The One. It made me almost forget about my current house, and that takes some doing. It has kind of the same vibe as the one we have now, like the spirits of the generations that have lived there are still around. The other house had been too redone; it had a new kitchen, the floors had all been replaced, and there was gross linoleum in the bathrooms. In the owner's defense, she seemed young and I don't think had an appreciation for the intrinsic value of origin in an old home. There is no cause, ever, for there to be linoleum in an old home. That's just my personal opinion. Anyway, whatever spirit presence that had been in that place was ripped out with the floorboards. Also, there were only three bedrooms upstairs, and the smallest one had the door to the attic in it, so there wasn't really enough space to put a bed in it easily, and since the attic is finished, it seems weird to have someone's room be the entrance to it.

The House, on the other hand,is the same square footage as the one we have now, with one important distinction; both the attic and basements are finished off!! Hello, double the useable floor space!!! The thing that really sold me on it, though, was that it comes with a piano. Josie has been taking lessons for years now, and we've been wanting to find an old piano for her. Well, there it was, sitting in the dining room in front of the bay window, and from where I was standing in the living room area (in front of the fireplace!!), the glass french doors leading to the dining room framed it like a gift. I guess I just had a Moment. Anyway, there's a wraparound porch, two bathrooms, two sleeping porches off the back (one is actually enclosed and heated!) and a hot tub. And, good luck for us, although I feel bad about it, the house is near to being foreclosed due to a nasty divorce, so it's out there for a steal.

According to the Man from the County, who I have been dealing with on all issues demolition, we should have an offer from them within the month. The appraiser should be here by the end of next week, and from there it's pretty straightforward. I am so excited, and so nervous, that I can barely think straight. This will be an amazing opportunity for us, if the buyer accepts our bid. There is another offer out there, but we offered more, and a shorter time frame to close (the other party has a house to lease out first), so... cross your fingers for us!!!

I have to say, not to be too New Age-y or creepy, but I think Tavis is somehow partially to thank for this. We found out about the definite deal for our house, as well as the availability of this new house and it's new price, on the anniversary of his death. Then, there was a piano of all things being included in the bargain! Last year right this very minute I was at his viewing, actually (yes, they had an open casket, and yes, it was wrong of me to actually look, because while old people may actually look better when they've died, young people decidedly do NOT). You know, even if it sounds silly, it makes me feel happier to think that he is somehow involved, so I'm just going to keep on thinking it, regardless.