By Living Room Realty, December 18, 2018
Expecting their fourth boy. J&B were feeling the constraints of their first home. They had found a listing for the perfect little slice of rural life just outside the city and gave me a call. The property was a rural farm house in Canby, OR. With over 3,000 square feet and just over an acre of land. The photos online featured a river running through the backyard, one of the biggest Oak trees I have ever seen, and the cutest little pump house covered with ivy.
It was a chilly January afternoon when we decided to check it out. As we pulled up, the sun broke through the clouds. It didn’t take long to realize that this home was perfect for them. Soon after, I went to work developing a game plan
to rush their current house to market. Then we wrote an offer! This gem of a property had been listed for sale by owner for over a year. Imagine our surprise when another offer came in the same day as ours… and it was accepted!
We were all a bit devastated. It had been so easy envisioning them making that property their home. I knew how much they wanted that house. We had laid down all of their cards with the offer. The offer was well below asking and at the top of their budget. The house had sat for so long though. So back to the drawing board we went. It was pretty clear from the get go though, that they just weren’t ready to move on. J&B were not going to just get over “the one that got away”. So, with the impending birth of a new baby, J&B decided that moving just wasn’t meant to be. They decided to stay put for the time being.
Fast forward two months later and two weeks from baby 4’s arrival…. I got a call from the owner of their dream property. Rising interest rates had caused the accepted offer to fall out of contract. The house was going back on the market. The owner wanted to know if my clients were still interested? I immediately called J&B and told them I needed to talk to them in person. They had no idea what I was about to tell them (see the reaction photo above). They were beyond excited and we resubmitted!
Being a rural property. The inspections are a little more nuanced than they tend to be in city limits. We asked for one month to list and sell their old home. We then asked for a 20 business day inspection period rather than the usual 10. The rural property was located on a flood zone. It also had a well and septic tank that we needed to understand.
With baby T due in just two weeks, we went to work preparing their house for sale. Walls and cabinets were painted. Staging was brought in and some landscaping was done to ensure that the house would sell promptly. All the efforts paid off! The house went pending! We then wrapped up the purchase of their dream home!
Fast forward 5 months. This family is now settled into the rural life! They have spent the summer swimming, catching snakes, making new friends, and enjoying river view sunsets. This purchase certainly wasn’t a short one, but it was well worth it to see this family living their dream! Just as they had envisioned on that cold January afternoon.
