04_Putting First Offer

On May 15^th, we saw a new listing on Zillow. There was a house in Rollingwood Circle, Haymount for $78K! That was a very good price. We went there directly and happened to meet its realtor so we could tour into the house right away. The house was a fixer upper, meaning we had to fix it before we can live in it. But with $78K price, we had plenty in our budget to make it prettier.

Examples of Things to be Fixed.

Oil Tank

However, when we went back on May 16^th with Kristin, we found an oil tank in the backyard. Its body was submerged in the yard, only its two pipes sticking out on the ground. Oil tanks were used as heaters until early 1970s, so finding one in this 1930s house was not a surprised. The problem with having a remaining oil tank was it might be leaking and polluting the surrounding soil.

Oil Tank in the Backyard

We spend the rest of the day doing research about oil tank pollution. We found a website about oil tankremoval and soil cleanups. Apparently the oil tanks have a pretty big size; they may reach a size of a car! At the same time, Kristin contacted an expert on oil tank removal. He sent us different scenarios and their entailed costs. We learned that first, the oil tank had to be tested from leakage; and it costs $475. If it doesn’t leak, removing the oil tank would cost $2,350. However, if the oil has contaminated the soil, the removal could cost $20 – 30K!

After learning the scenarios, we went back to the oil tank at the house. We put a stick inside one of the pipes; we could feel that the oil was still there and its smell was strong. At this point, we considered the oil tank was a deal breaker. We really liked the house and the price was right, however the oil tank was risky. Even if it didn’t leak, still we had to damage the back yard if we wanted to remove it, because itneeds heavy machinery.

Our First Offer

In the end, we decided to go further with the house. We put an official offer for $73K on May 17^th. We had a good feeling that we would get the house. That house was a new listing and we were quickly put an offer; any seller would like to sell it quick, right?

However, on May 18^th Kristin contacted us. She said that the seller received multiple offers, and because of that we were asked to put our ‘best offer’. This means the seller expected us to raise our offer without telling us about the amount of the other offers. We thought this was not a fair game. We quickly withdrew our offer, thinking that it was not worth to raise the price for a house that needed to be renovated.

Later on, Kristin informed us that the seller accepted another offer. However, on May 22^nd we heard that the house was back on the market!

03_First House Hunting

On May 12^th we spend the day looking at different houses/condos/townhouses. There were 2 houses that caught our eyes. One was in Glenwood Drive, Haymount for $139K and the other was in Whitehall Drive, Cottonade for $133K.

The one in Glenwood needed a lot of works. The basement was flooded and the backyard looked like a jungle. The starting price for $139K was too much for this condition.

The one in Whitehall was an ongoing renovation, so everything would be new. However, the contractor still needed around 3 weeks to finish the work. The contractor had to change the carpets, kitchen counter tops, put new appliances, etc. We asked on the price if we bought it right away. The house’s realtor said it would cost $124.5K.  After doing some calculation, we realized that with $8.5K we couldn’t do the same tasks. The price for appliances alone could cost around $5K. So the price for $133K altogether was reasonable.

However, when we looked at the history of the house on Zillow, we realized that the house is a flipped house. The current seller bought it for $65K in May and now they doubled the price. My husband was not keen on flipped houses. He has knowledge on house constructions; he thought the whole renovation would not cost $68K. The price was too expensive.

So we decided not to put any offer on all the properties that we had seen. We kept looking on Zillow in case something new, or overlooked, came up.

02_Ground Truthing

Ground Truthing

We arrived in the USA at May 4^th 2017. After meeting my extended family for the first time in Pennsylvania, we finally reached Fayetteville, NC on May 10^th. We stayed at the Extended Stay Hotel at Owen Drive; this was not our first option, but since the other Extended StayHotel at Sycamore Road was fully booked and we were tired already, so we reluctantly stayed there.

Cottonade

We spend the evening for ground truthing, visiting the neighborhoods around the Yadkin Road, which is close to my husband’s office. Of all the neighborhood we saw, we liked an area called Cottonade instantly. Not only the houses were pretty and neat, we saw people walk the dogs or just sitting in the porch, and the cars go slowly. This area had a good vibe. We didn’t find similar vibe on the other neighborhoods. They were either dark, messy, somehow dirty, people driving fast, etc.

Yadkin Road Area.

Haymount

On May 11^th we moved to Residence Inn because we didn’t like the Extended Stay. We spend the day exploring Haymount, the downtown area. We loved it as well. The houses were cute old styles and some had modern touches. However, since it is a downtown area, the prices per square footage are more expensive than other areas in Fayetteville. So if we bought a house here, we bought a location.

Haymount Area.

After seeing the neighborhoods, we selected 8 houses/condos/townhouses to look at. We informed Kristin about it and made an appointment for the next day.

01_The Background

We met in Germany when I was studying and my husband was stationed there. After my husband finished his 3 years assignment, we decided to embark on a new adventure in a new place. I was so excited because I have lived for 5 years in total in Germany; it is time to start something new.

By the end of 2016, we knew that we would go to Fayetteville, North Carolina. We started our house hunting research on Zillow. We decided to downsize because we are only 2 people and we had been living in a 3-story 4-bedrooms house in Germany. It was too much for us; we thought living in a condo would be the best option. However, we also looked at small houses to broaden our options.

Since my husband had known the location of his office, we looked at the properties around it. He had enough commute time in Germany: 45 minutes drive to the base. Waking up very early for Monday’s morning formation or for early parachute jump was not a pleasant experience, so he would like to have much shorter commute time. If he could walk or ride a bicycle, that would be way better, he could use that as his daily workouts. Furthermore, we could contribute on reducing carbon emissions and save our expenses. 

As the second option, we looked at the properties at Haymount, the downtown area. It would take around 30 minutes commuting time for my husband, but it might worth to do because the area is nice and pretty. Museums, theatres, library are within close range; as well as public transportation such as buses and trains. I wouldn’t get bored if I still don’t have a job and have to stay mostly at home.

For budget, we decided to be a cash buyer so we would be free from any debt. If we could find $70 – 80K house and do a renovation for around $30K, that would be perfect for us. My husband’s job requires relocation. If we have a mortgage that we couldn’t settle in one place, but we have to move to another place, we would have two mortgages and that would be unwise. Of course there’s always an option for foreclosures, but we would be tangled in different commitments and attachments. The time and energy spend for those are not worth to do.

     

Mid-February 2017

In mid-February, we had a moving company to pack our stuff. We were told that the mover would keep ours stuff in a storage until July 20^th 2017. If we haven’t requested to unload it by that time, we have to pay the storage cost by ourselves.

The moving truck.

Our last night in our house in Germany, with no furniture.

Even though from February to July is a long stretch, but at that time we were still unsure about our departure to the US. I was still at my early stage on applying a Green Card, who knows how long it’s going to take. But we stayed positive because based on my husband’s last house hunting, he only needed a day to look at several properties and decided to buy one.

Since we longer had no furniture, we also terminated our housing contract in mid-February. We became officially homeless.

Second Half of February – Early May 2017

We spend all these times staying at different places, which included 3 hotels, 1 friend’s house while he went back to America, and 1 Airbnb in South of Spain. During this time, we had seen hundreds of properties online. However, we didn’t save any page. We wanted to see the neighborhood first and then pick on the potential houses.

By the second half of April, I have gotten my Green Card, so we were ready to move the US. In late April, we contacted Team Harris, a real estate agents company in Fayetteville. My husband happened to know Wendy Harris, the owner. We had Kristin Barfield as our realtor.