Experience: That Time We Crushed Hard On An Old House.. and Got Ghosted.

"We wont get ahead of ourselves," we said. "Oh! We know better than to get our hopes up," we assured each other. 

Yeah. That is coming from two people who independently envisioned 60 years of life together following a very out-of-the-blue first official date. We tend to get ahead of ourselves. 

That is precisely what happened when about two months ago a charming property came on the market. Online it looked like a modest, in-need-of-repair, yet mostly move-in ready trinity style home. It was advertised as one of the most historic in Philadelphia. We - of course - were smitten.

Credit: Zillow. This is not the home we wanted. Just a neighborhood/style example. 

(For those not familiar, "Trinity" homes are a Philadelphia staple, essentially they are Tiny Homes popped on their head. Traditionally, the kitchen is below ground, a sitting room on the main floor with an additional floor or floors above for a bedroom. There are some variations to this in the case of homes not having a basement. The term apparently refers to the Holy Trinity - The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our project would include an addition for a main-floor kitchen off the back as as had no real interest in cooking in a dungeon.)

Credit: Zillow -  Again, not the exact home in question. This is an example of the narrow stairs that lead to each of the Trinity-style home floors. 

Upon further visual inspection (Alex spying through the violation notices on the window to peek inside) it came to our attention that this beautiful old property had been treated with little respect in the time since those Zillow photos were taken. What originally seemed to be a ton of "natural light" turned out to be a huge chunk of the exterior roof on the addition being ripped off and left open to the elements. Clearly someone had started demolition and according to the paperwork taped to the window, had immediately stopped. It had sat (and continues to sit) for several months in that sorry state. 

But that didn't turn us off, quite the contrary actually. Nathan's family has some heavy experience in restoring and renovating homes back in Mississippi. In fact, he was working to restore a historic family home when we first started communicating regularly. It would be a labor of love, we thought. 

Well, we would find that with labor costs included, this project would run us several hundred thousand dollars. In order to afford that, it meant we would have to place an offer far less than the (wholly ridiculous asking price). This endeavor would not only require a complete gut job as we were informed by a wonderful and very historically minded contractor, but it also meant that unlike the current owner we would actually have to obtain the proper building/demolition/historical permits. 

Still - not turned off. We mapped out our price points with my sister (a rockstar realtor) and began discussions on where we would live during the 6 months when contractors would have to take over. During our spare time we even mapped out an entire floor plan, in order to streamline the architectural design process required to restore a home with such significant history. Man, we even picked out paint colors. 

Seriously. We got obsessed with design. Obsessed. 

What had happened, we learned, is that an overseas investor, without ever stepping foot in Philadelphia had realized the investment opportunity and had purchased several properties sight unseen. She had then hired a builder who apparently doctored photos to make it seem like progress was being made. Around the time she realized that the photos she was being sent were not real, the city stopped any work, due to the fact that no permits were obtained for any of this. That is our understanding, at least. 

We truly felt sorry for this owner. For about a week. 

In that time, we continued our planning. We even talked about what kind of dog would suit the space best. We reached out to the city and the historical commission on how to proceed with the buy and right its many paperwork wrongs. Quite honestly, with all that we had learned the both of us could probably teach a course on permitting and 203k loans. No fine print went unread. 

Against Nathans good reason, I (Alex) wanted one of these. I'm not sure he would even fit through the door. 

Well - something that did go unread it seems, and that was our offer. The same day that my sister submitted it, the property was suddenly pulled from the market. For some reason that we do not understand, this seller decided to keep the property and head back to China. With harsh winter weather on its way, the hole in the back of it remains. Meaning, that the integrity of the structure will most likely... not. 

We literally mourned this sweet little place. And like an ex who lives a block away, run into it all the time. its painful, guys! Also like an ex who can't take a hint, we aren't giving up. That home is no good without us. (And I want an enormous dog... *wipes tear*) 

So if you are reading this, investor lady, give us a chance. 

Similarly heartbroken readers, if you can relate, give us a shout. We can all eat ice cream and think about all the good times we never had in the homes that we never owned. 

With (brotherly) love, 

Two slightly delusional yet loving first-time home buyers.