“Why did you sell your a dream home?” is a question we are asked regularly, and I’ll try to keep this part brief. We bought our previous home in March of 2007, after a multi-year search for our first move up home. The economy was softening, which was putting downward pressure on listing prices across San Diego County. We knew we would start a family in this property, and sought to maximize our purchasing power. We began our search in earnest in the summer of 2006, exploring Escondido, San Marcos, and Valley Center. My only inside need was room for an eight foot billiard table, but outside I wanted a yard with privacy. We were limited by budget, and those rules of real estate rear up every time: location, condition, and price.
During our search, we agreed that a home that needed work was OK, we know how to develop sweat equity. We were in escrow on a property in Escondido, a four bedroom, two and one half bath two story that was 2,098 square feet on just over 1/4 acre. It had a three car oversized garage with plenty of driveway parking. It also needed work, as in remediation as opposed to upgrades. As we tell our clients now, it is better to invest a few thousand now than get the wrong home. After inspections and appraisal, we let it all hang out in our negotiations. The seller wouldn’t budge, and called our bluff. We walked. This was not an easy decision, but we couldn’t pay top dollar and inherit things we felt weren’t our problems. (Funny bit of serendipity: we helped clients of ours buy this exact home in 2021!)
The day I signed paperwork cancelling escrow and returning my deposit, an affiliate stopped by Carol’s office in San Marcos and relayed that their neighborhood had a few homes available at amazing prices. This was new construction in a master planned community, and we had excluded this area based on price alone. Carol went to the sales office that afternoon, and we went first thing Saturday morning. We walked the four models, and I was blown away. Our favorite floor plan was one of three available homes for sale, and at a price we couldn’t pass up despite it being at the top of our affordability range at the time.
We wrote up an offer and opened escrow as fast as we could. It was move in ready, as it had been built for another family that ended up not being able to close on this home. The finishes weren’t what we would have chosen, such as almond tile in all of the bathrooms; but it was easily overlooked as time went on. We ended up in a beautiful four bedroom, four and one half bath home that was 3,007 square feet. Our major compromise was the lot was only 5,176 square feet, and it shared a backyard fence with four other homes.
It was before Christmas 2017, and both of us had checked in with each other about our schedules; it was serendipity that we both needed to talk. It turns out we were both fermenting on the same idea- what would it look like if we sold our home and moved? We loved our house, and had thoughtfully upgraded it over the eleven plus years we lived there. The same features that drew me immediately to buy it still tickled those same fancies. BUT… we help families buy and sell day in and day out, and I will admit 2017 lit a fire in my imagination. More outdoor room was looking very attractive, as well as a project to tackle.
Once we rung in the new year in 2018, our search intensified. The nets were cast, and we began trolling for property. Our search field narrowed over the coming weeks, especially as we monitored market activity for active, pending and sold. We began making appointments to view vacant homes in our areas, to get a feel if this was really the move we wanted to make. After a dozen home tours, we weren’t finding inspirado…
One particular home was populating in almost all of our searches, but the pictures didn’t make it look attractive. It didn’t rank high enough on our list to see, until one Sunday. I thought “what do we have to lose by scheduling a time to see it?” So we did, and the rest is history.
I felt a strong pull to this home before we pulled in the driveway, it felt like the one. As soon as Carol opened the front doors, it was obvious that this home could work, with the caveat we did work to it. And by work, and full interior remodel. We penciled some numbers out on our purchase and potential sale that made us smile. We had the keys a month later.
This is where our story begins!
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