Looking for a house with land

Our house hunting lasted over a year. ….not just because we were picky, but every house we made an offer on had complications on the seller’s side. We wanted a house with land, but it also had to be in an area with good schools and not too far from Chicago. It also had to have a reasonable price.

As a result, most of my favorite houses were distressed properties. People who owned the types of houses with land we liked tend to live in them for long periods of time or until they passed away. The result is many properties were estate sales and the heirs could not agree on how to proceed.

Here is a brief synopsis of our favorite houses:

The Reaper House

The first house I really wanted. It was huge and had 10 acres. It had gone under contract and then re-listed about the time we started looking. Our house wasn’t even on the market yet and this house was a bit over budget. We visited several times, had contacted the listing agent, and were about to make an offer when it went under contract again. In hindsight, it was much more house than we really needed. But it was the beginning of the trouble and it was the first house we named. (My step-son found a scythe (reaper) lying next to the barn and it just seemed to fit).

Reaper 2

A white single story farmhouse, but with a full attic and basement. I loved this house. Seemed to good to be true….10 acres! The price was a bit outrageous but I finally convinced the hubby to just look. He loved it too. We hemmed and hawed for weeks. Then they dropped the price and we made an offer. We waited….and waited. Two weeks! The owner (it was an estate sale and the heir lived out of town) traveled and just hadn’t had time yet to look at the offer. Then finally….a no. The offer was too low. So we made another offer and we got a verbal acceptance!! Happy dance! And then we waited…..and waited. No this wasn’t normal the realtor assured us, but sometimes it happens. Finally, we received the written contract! Except….the owner made changes to the contract so it was not yet valid. Plus, there was a delay in the closing of our house. While we waited, on day we decided to do a drive by. There were other people going into our house!!

Real Estate Lesson: If you make an offer with a contingency (like the sale of your house), the seller may add a clause stating the house will still be shown until closing.

The next day we were told the owner accepted another offer. I cried. I cried a lot. We tried to figure out something we could have done different. It didn’t matter. The house was gone and the heartbreak began.

Personal lesson: Let it go!! Don’t do a drive by once its sold and have to deal with seeing toddler toys in the yard that are not yours. And cry again.

The Dead Toad/Dead Bug house

It took months to find another house with promise. Again, over priced but come on, it had 5 acres and a pond! Plus, it was on a quiet street and not far from the Reaper #2. Excellent schools! It had been vacant for months….hence the dead toad drying out on the living room floor. The house had a horrible layout and would need to be a total gut rehab. My son did not want to even go in the house due to all the dead bugs. But that view…that pond!

Once again, the price came down and I finally convinced the hubby to make an offer….this time full price. We waited…and waited again!!! Was there something wrong with us? Turns out it was an estate and the family couldn’t agree. The person who listed the house was ready to sell to us but another family member was holding out. We waited and waited some more…..and then after weeks of waiting… sorry they were selling to a developer who was in no hurry to proceed and could wait for the family to hash out the details.

Real estate lesson: Estate sales are hard! You never know what the stipulations are to actually selling the house. Patience is a must.

The White House

Too good to be true. I had been watching this “contingent” house for a year because I just had to know what it sold for. Then suddenly, it was back on the market at a reasonable price! We went to see the house within hours. It was only an acre, but it had an in-law suite for my mother in law and was close to the little ones current school. We were ready to make an offer and the price almost doubled!. The first sign of trouble. Now what to do?? We finally were told the house was a short sale and needed bank approval.

Real estate lesson: The only thing worse than an estate sale? An estate sale plus short sale.

We made an offer and waited. Not two weeks this time, but we waited. The seller’s realtor was ready to be done with this house after all this time and did his best to help us. Finally, a verbal yes! The signed papers were on their way so we scheduled our inspection…we just needed those signed papers. Any day, go ahead they said and do the inspection.

Real Estate lesson: Unless you have money to lose, do not schedule an inspection without an accepted written contract.

The day before the inspection we still had no signed papers so we had to cancel the inspection. Finally, an answer… The occupants decided to let the bank foreclose instead of selling. Bye bye big beautiful white house with amazing woodwork.

I know what you are thinking…stop looking at overpriced estate short sale foreclosures!! I couldn’t help it…we looked at every kind of house. I just felt like I was settling for Suburbia. I almost felt guilty that I couldn’t just pick a nice house in a cute neighborhood. They just didn’t speak to me.

I wanted the dream.

The Skeleton House

Similar to the Dead Toad, it was almost five acres with a pond. It only had 2 bedrooms and 1 bath and the price seemed very high…reminiscent of the Dead Toad! This house was a beautiful brick house with brick garage and large barn. Beautiful land to boot. However, it was on a major highway and not unincorporated. The listing sheet also had the wrong schools listed, but a quick check of the tax bill showed it was a school district I liked.

Months went by and we would always refer back to the skeleton house (a cool old skeleton key was in the basement door and my son was fascinated). The price dropped and we still kept thinking about this house.

When the White House fell through and school was nearing, we went back to the Skeleton House. We discussed pros and cons for weeks. The highway offered easy access and was always plowed in winter. The road noise..non-existent in the house and someone suggested to get guinea fowl to drown out the noise outside! Two bedrooms…the little ones were going to share anyways and room for an addition in the future. One bathroom…not ideal, but again room for another in the basement. The schools…triple checked and not the ones on the listing sheet.

We even met the owner which helped sell us on the house. We made an offer….and waited. Why or why do we always have to wait? Finally, after a few weeks (owner was out of town…), we had a yes! Then we had a contract in a reasonable amount of time. Had a great attorney and minus a small issue with the tax bill, it was an amazing simple and fast closing.

We were home in our house with land.

Dreams do come true!