Tag: stucco house

I met Jillian and Nick in early November when they began their house hunting adventure. As mid-century enthusiasts, they knew exactly what kind of house they wanted- open floor plan, huge picture windows, fireplace and preferably a vintage style kitchen. The only problem with having a love for that style is they are far from the only buyers out there looking for that perfect little mid-century in East Portland. About a week after we met they found what they thought was their dream home- as much as they tried not to fall in love, they did anyway and all 8 of their combined heart valves collapsed when the sellers selected another higher offer. They felt they would never get over losing that house, yet they managed to find a couple more homes that they liked enough to put offers in on. Considering all of the homes they liked were priced at or  near the very top of their budget, they didn’t have a lot of wiggle room to go up in price when the multiple offer situations would kick in, so after they lost two more houses, they were heartbroken, but only in a 2-valve way each as opposed to the first house which was a 4-valve heartbreak.

Throughout the journey, I kept promising them that the reason they lost out on the other houses was because they hadn’t found the right house yet. I think they sort of believed me, but after losing out on 3 houses to buyers offering more, I could understand their skepticism. And then the perfect little ranchalow in Hazelwood popped up on the market. Built by a master-plasterer in 1951, the home’s gorgeous stucco siding looks as fresh and new today as it probably did when it was built 68 years ago. It’s like it never grew up and occupies a spot in Neverland where houses don’t age.  The layout is classic mid-century with the public spaces- the living room, formal dining room and kitchen spanning the front of the house and the bedrooms and bathroom spanning the rear of the house. With huge windows, original tile in the kitchen and bathroom and a large roman brick fireplace in the living room, the house feels homey and familiar. The home went on the market on a Tuesday, we saw it that night, and Jillian and Nick were head over heels- even more so than the first house that had broken their hearts. We wrote an offer the next day and by Friday there were multiple offers. During that whole time Jillian and Nick held their breaths. We submitted an escalation clause with the offer because we knew that if they liked the house so much, so would others and they really didn’t want this one to fall through their tender grasps. On Friday, the seller reviewed all of the offers and since they knew how much Nick and Jillian wanted the house- and being the first offer in definitely helped, the seller chose their offer, and they only had to escalate up a small amount.

While the home was in escrow, my buyers did some research on the house’s history, and they learned that the original owners who had built it never had kids, but they were the first house on the block to get color tv. And the first movie the neighbors all gathered around together to watch? Peter Pan of course.