Oh, but I’ve been neglecting this blog recently.
Partly because I’ve just been really busy updating the site with new products and photos, partly because I’m in the midst of researching more new products for Spring and Summer, partly because Living Gorgeously has got off to a really successful start and has been keeping me busy cooking and making things, and mostly because I’ve been spending every other waking moment househunting – either searching for properties online or visiting them.
When we first came out to Seattle our intention was to rent, but after speaking to a few people it became clear that by remortgaging in the UK and taking out a new mortgage here in the US, we would be able to buy something here. And I would be able to fulfil my dream of doing up a ‘fixer’.
Well after a lot of looking it seemed like we’d found it. The above image is of the main rooms which were loaded with beautiful original features. But the upper storey was completely clad in pine and looked like a sauna, the kitchen needed replacing, the bathrooms needed updating, the basement needed finishing and the garden needed landscaping. All in all perfectly habitable, but with the perfect amount of work I could do to turn it from something great into something spectacular. It even had a wonderful roof terrace with views out over the Sleepless in Seattle houseboat lake and the downtown area.
So we put in an offer and then hit a hitch in releasing the funds in the UK. And so our offer wasn’t accepted and they’ve now accepted an offer from someone else.
And I’m really, really gutted because I doubt very much that we’re going to be able to find something that perfect again.
Unfortunately it seems like we’re not the only people who have been househunting.
Why oh why did the Beckhams have to follow me over here? And how come there is so much hype surrounding an (admittedly handsome) bloke who plays a game that nobody here watches, a has-been popstar who can’t sing and their Scientologist friends whom nobody likes?
I can hear you are frustrated….hope you get something that suit your needs very soon
Chamara
I know it sounds incredibly trite, but did you ever think that maybe that house wasn’t for you? We moved to our current location last summer. Our offers on two other houses were outbid and I even had found a job, put an offer and lost the offer bec. the contract the hospital had fell through and they couldn’t give me the promised job! All this while pregger,s no less. We then needed to rent bec. I didn’t have a job (and good luck getting one when you actually look preggo.) but all the rentals were horrid and at least $2000/mo. Another wasted flight. So, we found a sort of fixer-upper that was much cheaper than the other houses we had been looking at, which has resulted in a new blog which chronicles what we’re doing…AND most importantly, I am getting a creative outlet which I never felt I had before. THEN, I found an unbelievable job where I am very happy. I am SO HAPPY that those offers were outbid and that I lost the first job. Believe me, at the time I saw no light at the end and I was convinced we had pissed off God or something, so chaotic was everything. So, that excellent house you lost was, simply put, not your house, but there is def. something better around the corner. Drop me a note when you figure out what it is – I’ll be so interested!
Casapinka, I’m just loving your house-fixing blog!
Yes, I’m trying to think positively and that house obviously wasn’t meant for us. I just hope the house with our name on it turns up soon as I am getting very fed up of living in a rented apartment with all our stuff in storage. And I am a total control freak so all the uncertainty is driving me BANANAS!
So glad it worked out for you – your story is very comforting.
I have a similar story about a Craftsman in Georgetown — I feel your pain. This really is supposed to be a buyer’s market though — you’ll find something. It’s just now that sucks.
Wow, was this Capitol Hill or Queen Anne? I can see why you are regretful, but I second the comments above: something else will appear and you will never look back. I truly sympathize with the possessions in storage angst, mine are mostly in storage too. Good luck, Paola.