falling in love again

...part deux...
We pulled up to Wanda and I instantly loved the neighborhood.  My initial favorite thing about the home was that it was dual brick and stucco on the outside, and looked very different than your traditional Arizona home.

Wanda was a 1400 square foot home with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths.  She had a gigantic great room that led right into the kitchen--which had wrap-around counters!  The master bedroom was a good size and the walk-in closet was massive.  The back yard was big enough to fit a pool, and there were no homes behind me.

Now, those were the positives of Wanda, but she needed some serious work.  Wanda needed new flooring/carpet in the entire house; she needed new appliances in the kitchen and laundry room; she needed new toilets and possibly a new shower in the master bathroom; and she had a few cracks in her that were concerning...BUT, it was the perfect house and it had so much potential to be exactly what I wanted it to be.

As I stood inside Wanda with Jim and my father, I debated out loud with them if I would be offering on Wanda or Jasper.  Both homes were asking the same price, but Wanda needed way more work.  I told Jim I didn't think Wanda was worth $119,000 or even $110,000 with the repairs and updating she needed.  I thought about Jasper and its benefits, but I just couldn't pick it over Wanda.  Wanda had a lower HOA fee, was less than 15 minutes from my office and could truly become my home.

Jim and I decided to ultimately offer $105,000 on the property, knowing full well that it would be counter-offered.  He submitted the offer on April 26, 2010, and we prayed he would get a signed purchase contract by the end of the month, since the homebuyer tax credit was coming to an end...it was going to be an interesting week.