When last we spoke, we were in the midst of making an offer on a smallish acreage in Charlottesville. There were a lot of great things about that place, and a lot of not-so-great things. Long story short, it was a foreclosure that has a….curious….history. There had been a fire in the basement, which was ruled an accident, but was rumored to have been set intentionally. We thought we could handle the repairs for under $20,000 but we had a home restoration specialist out for a walkthrough and when he estimated the cost of restoration in the $50-$100,000 range, we decided it wasn’t such a great deal after all and decided to walk away. Truth be told, I wasn’t “feeling it” at that place, so I wasn’t disappointed at all. More like relieved.
Timing is everything, folks, because that night I found a place on Zillow that had been listed earlier that same day, a place just 15 minutes from where I would be driving the very next day. A place with everything on our wish list and inside our price range. I emailed immediately and set up a visit for the following morning. I was in like before I got there, and I was in full on crush-mode within 5 minutes of being there. House, land, views, location, outbuildings…everything. I was ready to make an offer that afternoon, but I waited for Tripp to see it 2 days later, and we made an offer the following day. After a very brief negotiation our offer was accepted. We went back a forth for a week or two over some details of the contract, and then we all signed. And just like that, we were under contract.
We went out last week with the home inspector and everything is in great shape. The only “big” issue is the plumbing that was installed (according to code) in the 1980s has a very bad reputation, and must be replaced. It is habitable, safe and even insurable as is, but “it’s not a question of if the plumbing will fail, more like when.” So, a plumber was sent out to make an estimate, and we’re hoping to hear from him tomorrow. I joked with a friend that we’re just waiting to hear how many kidneys we’ll have to sell to pay for it, but really, we’ll figure out a way to make it work.
I can’t wait to share the very happy news of farm ownership with you very soon. But until then, here’s a little taste:
