Househunting in Florida

I had long been scheduled to attend a training in Orlando the week of March 18th. When we learned that we got the Florida jobs and Thomas' practice area was going to change, my boss mentioned that the training might be good for him as well. It didn't all come together until about a week before the trip, but it did come together. Summer held down the fort with the kids and Thomas and I headed to Florida.

We decided to do some house hunting while we were there. We wanted to get a feel for the neighborhoods and were even open to the possibility of putting in an offer if we found the perfect property.

We flew out on Sunday morning so that we could begin the search and settle in before the training started on Monday morning. Our plane landed in Orlando at 1:30 and we drove straight to the first house. We were supposed to meet the Realtor at 3:30 and it was 30 minutes from the airport, which I thought would be plenty of time. And, our plane was early. I was trying to figure out what we were going to do with all the extra time. However, I forgot the massiveness of MCO and it took us almost 2 hours just to get our luggage and rental car. There was a snafu with the rental car shuttle and they ended up upgrading us to a Cadillac, which was pretty fun. But, it was frustrating to already be behind schedule.

The first house was nice but not what we wanted. The second house was the one we were most excited to see. It had an amazing outdoor area and was super close to work. We would definitely spend all our time on the massive patio with the luxurious pool and outdoor kitchen. However, the floorplan just wasn't going to work. It wasn't really a 5-bedroom and we really wanted to find one where everyone could have their own room.

The picture doesn't do it justice, but it would be impossible to capture all the outdoor living space offered in one picture.

The next house was also amazing. You opened the front door and were in a courtyard with a beautiful pool. It was super cool. However, as much as we loved it, it also wasn't practical. It was super spacious, but didn't have a layout that would work. There were only 3 real bedrooms in the main house. There was a fourth in the pool house, but you had to walk through the courtyard (thus, around the pool) to move between houses. What they called the fifth bedroom was a circular office with no closet. The house was truly amazing and unique; living there would be like living in a resort, but it just wasn't right.

The gorgeous courtyard. Right underneath that arch is the front door. Imagine coming home to this everyday!

We saw two more houses in a neighborhood I hated. Then saw a house that was very inexpensive and in a perfect school district, but Thomas hated it. Seven houses and 5 hours later, we ended our search feeling a little defeated.

The next day we were in class from 8-3. Right after the class, we left to see more houses. This time, we were running early, so we texted Laura, our realtor, and she told us to meet her at the house in her neighborhood. We were not excited about this house. It was only 3248 square feet and needed some updating. I had told Laura we didn't want to see any houses less than 3200 (our house here is about 4500). She thought we would like this one and we added it to the list mainly to appease her. But, as we drove up, we loved the neighborhood. The houses are neo-classical and they don't all look the same. It is a slightly older neighborhood and there are lots of mature trees. The neighborhood is dotted with "pocket parks" and other green space. We just loved it! We found the house, which was a cute yellow color with a longer driveway.

It checked off all our must-haves: 5-bedrooms, 3 full bathrooms, a pool, good school district and within 30-minutes (in rush hour) of work. And, it backs to a nice conservation area, so no rear neighbors! Because we loved the neighborhood, the house automatically was being held to a lower standard. But, we really liked it. It has a great layout. The master suite is on the first floor. The second floor has a bonus room that is flanked by 4-bedrooms. They are really small, but everybody gets their own.  The problem is it is outdated. It was top of the line in 2003, but now there are old speakers in the walls and an intercom system that only kind of works. So, lots of dollar signs ahead.

We drove through the neighborhood, which has a community YMCA attached to the elementary school--within walking distance of the house. We saw the tennis courts, community pool, YMCA, basketball courts and more green space and were sold. We saw the rest of the scheduled houses, but nothing really compared. There was a new construction house we really liked, but the neighborhood didn't seem nice. Just rows of houses, although it did have a new middle school and a great floor plan (plus, it was cheaper than the older house). After seeing all the houses of the day, we went back to the first house and put in an offer.

It took them two days to counter and in that time, we realized that the water heater and two heat pumps were both original to the house, which meant they would very likely need to be replaced soon. We were still okay with our offer, but didn't want to go much, if any, higher. They countered with 10k more than we had offered. We decided to take a look at the new construction again. We still liked the floor plan and decided we could live with the neighborhood. So, we let their offer expire, but they e-mailed our realtor asking if we had a response. We decided to counter their counter with our initial offer, giving in on the small areas where we differed (they wouldn't furnish a home warranty and wanted the home inspection within 10 days) but holding firm to our price. And, they accepted! So, we are now under contract. The inspection is tomorrow and we are hoping all goes well.

Maybe our future house?

After the others we'd seen, this pool was not very impressive, but it is big and there is lots of good outdoor space we can make our own.

Our house hits the market on Thursday. We had the pictures taken today. Fingers crossed we go under contract quickly because trying to keep it "for sale clean" is going to be a challenge!




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