People ask, “How long will it take to find a house?” The answer, like most matters in buying a home is, well, “it depends…”
The majority of home buyers start the process with a maximum budget and a minimum wish list. The reality sets in and the budget tends to inch, or sometimes bolt, up and the wish list tends to morph, bending towards the realities of the marketplace and the current supply available to meet their demand. For some folks this is a swift process as urgency propels them on a speedy learning curve enabling them to recognize and love a property enough to make a commitment to get hitched to the house. Some are lucky and they see “the one” on day one, or soon after. Others have more of a journey ahead of them before finding their match.
House twitterpated
There are a few people out there that go a whole different direction on this. There is one house that has stolen their hearts and despite not even being in the market to buy, they spring into action and move mountains to make it happen. These stories are rare and often just represent pipe dreams, but now and then the stars align and they land the coveted domicile!
One true love
Many years ago I got a message from a fellow telling me he had been referred by multiple friends who’d worked with me to buy their homes. There was a home in the Kenton neighborhood in North Portland he had his eye on that he wanted to see. I scheduled the appointment and met him at the property with a handful of similar home listings in hand. I figured we would discuss them and see which ones he might want to check out. “Nope,” he said, “it either works out with this one, or I’m not buying a house right now.” Wow – bold! Well, he bought that home and lived there happily for years.
Following the dream
Recently I had another of these experiences. I returned a message from a man who told me that his son was not in town, but was interested in a gem of a house in a semi-industrial area near Ladd’s Addition in SE Portland. I asked him whether the setting would be OK with his son, Aaron, given the commercial properties nearby and the not-too-far-away power substation in the vicinity. To my surprise, Aaron was extremely familiar with not just the area, but with the house! He had been admiring it for years, maybe even coveting it. He wasn’t looking for a new home; he had just always wanted this particular home. He was smitten with the style, yard and all of the painstaking updating he had watched evolve over several years of walks in the neighborhood.
Happy endings do come true
Aaron’s dad viewed the house on his son’s behalf and gave it his stamp of approval. I mean it is a great house – what is not to love! He fought it out in a crowded field of buyers in the heat of the summer market and scored. He had the winning bid. After closing Aaron finally got to go in and see his new home. Luckily he loved it just as much as he’d imagined. A real real estate fairy tale.