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We bought the duplex

January 29th, 2010 at 03:41 pm



We got the place. I cant believe it. We found out late last night.

We submitted our offer (7% off list price)first thing in the morning- and I guess they countered in the afternoon sometime- but our realtor never checked his email until 7pm when the other realtor called him and asked when he was going to respond! They countered back at 5% off list price which we accepted. They must have been nervous when they heard nothing from us all day- but we were nervous because we thought we heard nothing from them all day! Before our realtor told us about the counter offer I checked realtor.com and all the listings for all the units had been pulled from the site. I was sure we had lost the place.

The property is one of 3 attached Federal rowhouses all for sale. All started out listed over a year ago for $150k over the final sale price. This past weekend the reduced price was reduced further causing a flurry of activity. BB and I didnt know all this of course. We knew that when we were house hunting last year this property was way out of our budget- but we didnt know about all the recent price reductions. We just looked online and noticed that it was now listed reasonably- so reasonably it was the cheapest place in the city!

So we requested to see the place and learned there were 3 offers that all came in the day before or that day. Our realtor explained to the selling realtor that he was showing it to an interested couple (us) and our offer was likely to come in. We wrote an offer that night.

The next morning we learned that 2 full priced offers were in on 2 of the properties. Another offer was on the table not full priced and we didnt know what unit it was for. We had already submitted our 7% off list- price offer but our realtor told us to go in full price. We didnt- because we thought we were competitive enough to at least be given a "final and best" chance. I still and likely never will know what the other offer was for but the seller chose to counter with us which we accepted. We saved ourselves enough money to buy all new kitchen and laundry appliances when the time comes-so we were happy with that. The other 2 units were sold for full price to a single buyer who I believe wants to convert 1 unit to a SFH like us- and rent out the other unit.

After over 350 days on the market all 3 units sold the same day! That seller must be doing a happy -happy dance.

So I am in shock. BB is stepping up to the plate- he scheduled a meeting with a bank for a mortgage for this afternoon. He is handling it all himself. Thankfully- because I have still not recovered from the mortgage hell I went through last year.

I am excited because it is 1 block from a favorite bar I like to go to. $1 drink night on Thursdays!

Anyways- it's bittersweet because I am in LOVE with my current home. Far more in love than this new place. But the new place has renters in place so it will be another 6 months or so till we figure out if we want to move into it or not. The only reason we would want to is because of the KILLER location. And it's resale value will hold up whether it is converted into a SFH or not. My current property is worth more as a duplex right now because we are in a low income/high renters neighborhood.

Without further ado:


Pocket doors!


Floor to ceiling windows!


Primo neighborhood

18 Responses to “We bought the duplex”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1264779873

    Congrats! I'm glad to hear it is working out like you wanted.

  2. all4money Says:
    1264781010

    Great news! Best of luck with the rest of the process. Sounds like you got a great deal!

  3. NJDebbie Says:
    1264781601

    I absolutely love the hardwood floors. Congrats!

  4. Personal Finance Student Says:
    1264782117

    It's beautiful! Congratulations!

  5. scottish girl Says:
    1264785433

    Congrats!

  6. dmontngrey Says:
    1264785808

    Wow, what a surprise! The place does look beautiful!

  7. janH Says:
    1264789493

    Congratulations!

  8. all4money Says:
    1264790122

    You are turning into a real estate tycoon! Smile

  9. gamecock43 Says:
    1264790994

    Real estate tycoon OR overleveraged soon to be in forclosure person. I am not sure which at this point. I am concerned about being so deep into real estate because it did not work out for so many people. But it did work out for so many other people! So its a gamble- we will see how it unfolds.

  10. Ima saver Says:
    1264795953

    It is a beautiful place! Good neighborhoods are very, very important for resale. Location, location, location!

  11. fern Says:
    1264796153

    very exciting.

  12. homebody Says:
    1264803127

    Is this in Savannah?? It is beautiful.

  13. whitestripe Says:
    1264806630

    i think you're in a time where now, if you CAN comfortably invest in real estate, it's the best time to do so. a lot of people who made money this way do so when it's at a drop and because they had funds available to do so. and those who lost money (not all - but a lot) seem to be the ones who over-stretch themselves because they think it's the thing to do.

  14. gamecock43 Says:
    1264811560

    Yes Savannah is a beautiful city.

  15. frugaltexan75 Says:
    1264816147

    Beautiful gamecock! Congrats!

  16. Purple Flower's Says:
    1264820542

    Congrats! What a beautiful house!

  17. debtfreeme Says:
    1264831732

    Gorgeous!!

  18. homebody Says:
    1264870869

    SIL, YD and granddaughter live in Beaufort, SC, 30 minutes away. DH has got to visit, but I am not sure when I will be able to. YD and granddaughter will be back here in California the end of June or first of July for 5 weeks! The kids love it back there (both grew up here in Northern Coastal California).

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