I talked to them a couple of years ago at a math party when prices were very low. They could qualify but they were not ready yet. Fast forward to December 2013. John works with my hubby.
I am in DC for my brother's 50th birthday party when John calls. They want to buy a home. We talk about what they want. I ask them a few financial questions and tell them I am out of town and I send John to my loan officer. I ask if I can share the information with the loan officer and he says sure. I always ask before I give phone numbers and emails.
I go on to enjoy the time with my family. Dona calls me the next day and tells me they qualify for $150K but they want to go lower. I consider all the factors and think it will be doable but difficult.
After I get home we start our house hunt. They tell me that Ann is pregnant. John had taken several courses with my hubby in grad school. He now works as a full time lecturer in the math department. We talk about buying a home (and all it entails). I make sure they know that we are looking for a diamond in the rough.
Like us they were just buying their first home. He had a job without a lot of opportunity to improve his salary. As state employees we have had a 2% raise once in 5 years. They are fun to work with and we clicked. We saw some houses they really liked but it was the first day. We had a nice lunch. By the time we met again the two houses they liked were gone. It was only a few days. They had both been on the market for months. I saw a house I really liked that was even walking distance to the university. They didn't like. These two definitely saw eye to eye. They both liked and disliked the same things.
Meanwhile we were becoming good friends :). We made a couple of bids that didn't work out. They seemed to need a break.
Last week I found a zillow, ,make me move home, that seemed interesting. Then the day before we were to see the home a really cute home popped up on the imls. I emailed it to them. We went and saw five homes. They really liked the cute one that just popped up. We all went to the same movie that night. I showed it to the parents on Sunday. They decided to bid.
We had a birthday party for a friends birthday an hour later. I wrote the offer and got it signed at the party. Sent it along. Our offer was good. The counter was OK. We are in contract.
One of my favorite parts of real estate is helping buyers buy their first home. This couple reminds me of my hubby and me. We have gone from being acquaintances to being good friends.I love the excitement when we found the right home. One they can stay in for a very long time.
I hope that I am part of their lives for a long time. I love the excitement when she told me they just came from the midwife and she heard the heart beating for the first time.
When my husband and I arrived in Boise we were young faculty. He was an assistant professor in Math and I was an adjunct lecturer in Chemistry. I remember feeling overwhelmed. We had two young children. I really sort of thought of them as us when we bought our first home.
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