Searching for a home is very different than searching for an investment property. After buying our second building in July 2011, Adrian and I knew our next purchase was going to be a house, and I think we were both excited and a little anxious about the time commitment this would entail. When we bought our first building in Jan 2008, we had looked at over 50 two flats before finally choosing one, and it was a solid 25 viewings before selecting our second property. Knowing that, I expected it would take us about 8-10 months before we found a house we both liked.
We decided to start with some casual searching in September 2011 and hit up Redfin (our usual source for listings). Now searching Redfin for investment properties is one thing, but looking for your own home can become quite addicting (so we discovered). We didn’t expect to buy anything until spring/summer, but figured we might as well start looking.
In November 2011, I was searching Redfin one morning and came across a house that had just been on the market for 2 days. It was in one of the areas we were interested in and it was unlike anything we had seen before. I waited until the afternoon to show Adrian, and to my surprise he actually was interested as well. Sounds great, right? Well, I forgot to mention we were in Vegas at the time. Yes, I hate to admit this, but I was checking Redfin while in Sin City (I said Redfin was addicting!). So Adrian called our real estate agent and setup a time to go take a look at the house when we returned home in a couple days.
Flash forward two days and Adrian and I are back in Chicago and ready to see this home. Now, this property was a foreclosure and the MLS listing warned us that it had been vacant for a few years and stripped of pretty much everything inside, but rather than scaring us away, I think that intrigued us more. Adrian and I seem to have this attraction towards projects for some reason. Take our first building for instance, out of the 50 buildings we looked at, the one we finally selected was, hands down, the one that needed the most work., but for some reason we both fell in love with it.
So, Adrian and I drive over to the house (its 5th day on the market) and were immediately impressed by the outside. A Queen Anne Victorian! It was unlike anything we had ever looked at or even thought we would look at. The condition of the exterior was a bit ragged, but that didn’t take away too much from the beauty of this home. Adrian and I walked inside and fell in love even more. Vandalized walls and all, we knew we wanted this project. After walking through all 3 floors and checking out each of the 6 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, we were officially hooked and decided to put an offer in immediately!
We decided to start with some casual searching in September 2011 and hit up Redfin (our usual source for listings). Now searching Redfin for investment properties is one thing, but looking for your own home can become quite addicting (so we discovered). We didn’t expect to buy anything until spring/summer, but figured we might as well start looking.
In November 2011, I was searching Redfin one morning and came across a house that had just been on the market for 2 days. It was in one of the areas we were interested in and it was unlike anything we had seen before. I waited until the afternoon to show Adrian, and to my surprise he actually was interested as well. Sounds great, right? Well, I forgot to mention we were in Vegas at the time. Yes, I hate to admit this, but I was checking Redfin while in Sin City (I said Redfin was addicting!). So Adrian called our real estate agent and setup a time to go take a look at the house when we returned home in a couple days.
Flash forward two days and Adrian and I are back in Chicago and ready to see this home. Now, this property was a foreclosure and the MLS listing warned us that it had been vacant for a few years and stripped of pretty much everything inside, but rather than scaring us away, I think that intrigued us more. Adrian and I seem to have this attraction towards projects for some reason. Take our first building for instance, out of the 50 buildings we looked at, the one we finally selected was, hands down, the one that needed the most work., but for some reason we both fell in love with it.
So, Adrian and I drive over to the house (its 5th day on the market) and were immediately impressed by the outside. A Queen Anne Victorian! It was unlike anything we had ever looked at or even thought we would look at. The condition of the exterior was a bit ragged, but that didn’t take away too much from the beauty of this home. Adrian and I walked inside and fell in love even more. Vandalized walls and all, we knew we wanted this project. After walking through all 3 floors and checking out each of the 6 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, we were officially hooked and decided to put an offer in immediately!
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