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Buying a House with IBC: Finding “The One”

ByMichael Wurm Jr.
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It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve shared a “Buying a House with IBC” update, so I wanted to take the time to circle back with you about my process. Today I thought it’d be good to talk about how you know when you’ve found “the one.”

Through the ups and downs of this house hunting process, many folks have told me reassuring things like, “You’ll just know when you’ve found the right place.” “It didn’t work out with that one because there’s a better one out there.” “When you find ‘the one,’ you’ll know why the other ones didn’t work out.”

I’m certain there are situations in which people have ended up in “the wrong home” for one reason or another. But the consensus seems to be that the right house will come along, and I’ve latched onto this way of thinking. It’s the kind of optimistic, forward-looking advice that I needed.

As I’ve been hinting for the past couple weeks, I have found a house!


Side note: The pictures in this post are not my new house. They are from a blogger event I attended in Texas. BUT, I did share a sneak peek over on Instagram of one of my favorite spaces in my soon-to-be new home!

Buying a House with IBC: Finding "The One"

I am ecstatic and beyond excited to share this news with you. The things involved in buying this particular house have been underway for about three weeks now, so I am at the point where I feel comfortable officially breaking the news. I have made it through the home inspection process, been officially approved for the loan, received an appraisal above my offer price, and have gotten past the threshold of possible things standing in my way. In a few weeks, barring a major disaster, I’ll have a new home.

I lost count along the way, but my guess is that I looked at close to 20 homes in person. I looked at homes in the city and outside the city. I looked at homes in areas I had targeted and in areas I wasn’t even considering.

Throughout the process, I knew within minutes (often seconds) of arriving at a house that it wasn’t “the one” for me. Sometimes it was tiny details, other times it was an overarching feeling, but I just knew in my gut it wasn’t “it”.

Surprisingly, the home I chose has been on the market since this past fall. However, I didn’t pay much attention to it because it was outside the area I was initially looking at, and it was priced a bit too high. However, in March I expanded my search, and by then, the price of the house had dropped.

I ended up visiting the house on my own during an open house. (My realtor was out of town.) After opening the door and taking one step inside, I got the feeling: “This is it.”

As I looked around the house, there were a couple things that didn’t match my required and desired list: the ceilings aren’t grand and high, and there’s no big kitchen island. However, even with those boxes not being checked, it felt like home.

The following day, I set up another showing and brought my realtor along. She’s been exceptionally helpful through this process, so getting her opinion on this property was important.

(My realtor is Stephanie English of Lifespace Pittsburgh. If anyone is looking for a home in Pittsburgh, she comes highly recommended.)

I also shared the listing with my mom and dad and asked for their feedback. With thumbs up from each of them, I moved forward with an offer, and after some drawn-out negotiations, I was able to get the house under asking price.

I decided to negotiate on the price because the house needs some immediate work, such as a new roof, wood floor refinishing, and new windows as well as extensive updating (new kitchen, new bathrooms). There were no current offers on the home so that helped my chances.

The home was previously owned by an older couple who lived there for over 30 years. While the home has been well cared for, the style and decor haven’t been updated in a long time. This was fortunate for me as parts of the house didn’t show very well. Thankfully, I could see the potential.

I’m holding off on sharing photos and other details, but I hope to give you a full tour once everything is official. After that, I’ll have plenty to share and keep you posted on. My mind is swirling with ideas.

Buying a House with IBC: Finding "The One"

One final note on Finding “The One”: Because there are millions of places in this world where we can live, I’m certain there are many homes that can be “the one” for you. However, as many people have told me over the past few months, “listen to your gut.” I also think it’s important to have patience and faith in the process. It wasn’t always smooth sailing, but the more I trusted it would work out, the better I felt.

Whether or not your home buying process (or life in general) is working out as you think it should, have a little faith and assume everything is happening according to plan.

More to come!

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38 Comments

  1. Hi Michael,

    I saw a peek of home on Instagram! So excited and how thoughtful to give a shout out to your broker! Prepping for Cinco de Mayo here in CO!

    Reply

  3. Congratulations Michael! Buying a home is such a big accomplishment. When my hubby and I were looking, I always felt like we should be able to spend a few overnight’s in the house before placing an offer. 🙂 We looked at over 50 houses before finding our match, but it was worth the wait. (This was over 25 years ago, and we still love our choice.) So happy for you. And, of course, can’t wait to see!

    Reply

  4. Congrats, Michael! Can’t wait to see more. Will you keep your apartment? We are moving across country this summer and are planning to rent before buying. I really just want to start looking for a house to buy! I feel like I’ll be miserable waiting in a rental.

    Reply

  6. Congratulations! Like everyone else, I can’t wait to see it, and more importantly, what you do with it!

    While we are waiting can you share a little about your new neighborhood? Your travel/experience posts always make me feel like I’ve been there.

    Reply

  9. How exciting!! Congrats and I know it will be awesome to follow along as you work your magic on this new space!! Can’t wait🎉

    Reply

  13. MICHAEL!! You’re a great big tease! I kept scrolling to get to the pic of the new place! So glad you found the right one and I hope closing goes smoothly for you. Excited to see your new projects!

    Reply

    1. LOL. I suppose I am. To be honest, I’ve only taken 2-3 pictures at the house. I’m still so nervous something will fall through so I’m being extra cautious. Once the papers are signed I will have lots of photos to share!

      xo Michael

      Reply

  14. That’s fantastic, Michael! I’m so happy for you. 🙂 We once rented an apartment without listening to our gut feeling. We spent several thousand dollars on renovating the place and then moved out after one night because we felt just awful in there.

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  18. Even though our place was the one, we are doing a major remodel. We too started with a new roof, and the new windows went in last week. The floor plan is now completely different. But it’s still the one. We were patient and got it for $350,000 less than its original price.

    Reply

  19. I felt the same “This is the one” when I walked into my house!! Congratulations! Cannot wait to see your pictures and maybe borrow/steal some design ideas!! Congrats again!!

    Reply