This next house we toured caught our attention right away. The sellers had just reduced the price by nearly $40,000, which suddenly made the property fall within our budget. They had already moved out, and after sitting on the market for four months they appeared motivated to sell. That motivation made us curious — could this be the one? Here’s a closer look at the house we toured.
THE STATS:
- Age: 1977
- House size: 2,772 square feet
- Lot size: 0.4 acres
- Bedrooms: 4
- Bathrooms: 2.5
THE PROS:
- Attractive price after a significant reduction
- Well-maintained exterior and thoughtful landscaping
- Refined interior details, including crown molding, custom window shutters, and exposed beams
- Upgrades and extras such as a high-end Wolf range in the kitchen, two outdoor deck heaters, a car lift in the garage, and a full yard irrigation system
- Kitchen required a lot of work—an appealing opportunity for renovation-minded buyers
THE CONS:
- The overall style felt a bit too polished and “fancy” for our personal taste
- Aside from the kitchen, the home didn’t need much work, which reduced opportunities to customize or lower the price further
- School district and neighborhood location did not match our priorities
- Even after the price drop, the listing sat at the upper end of our budget
- The house was larger and newer than what we were truly seeking; we were looking for something older and more modest in scale
Interestingly, this was one of the first houses we toured inside. The initial impression was strong enough that we actually submitted an offer — mostly as an experiment to gauge the sellers’ response. We lowered our offer by another $20,000 from our initial figure and included a contingency that required us to sell our current house first. Given the low offer and the contingency, we expected the sellers to reject it outright.
To our surprise, the sellers accepted the contingency but would not negotiate further on price. That was reasonable given their recent $40,000 reduction. Ultimately we walked away, but the experience became a useful practice run for submitting offers and handling negotiations. It also clarified our preferences.
Reflecting on the visit, we realized this house leaned toward move-in ready luxury rather than the fixer-upper character we crave. We’re drawn to homes that are older and more modest in size — places that need visible work and allow us to shape the renovation process. This house, with its polished finishes and relatively minimal required updates (besides the kitchen), didn’t offer the same hands-on potential.
We loved many things about the property: the generous square footage, the mature landscaping, and the high-end appliances. Those features are attractive to buyers who want a turnkey home with premium touches. For us, though, the charm of a “perfectly imperfect” house — one with cosmetic shortcomings and structural stories to tell — is hard to beat. We imagined peeling back layers, prioritizing projects, and slowly transforming a neglected space into something warm and personal.
In the end, walking away felt right. We learned from the experience and refined our hunt. We now know more clearly what we want: an older house with character, room for improvement, and a price that reflects its potential rather than its polish. Will we find that perfectly imperfect house? We’re still looking, and this tour reminded us why the search is worth it.