We Changed Our Lives A Year Ago...

 


One year ago today we decided to buy a house in the Poconos.  We hadn't planned on it.  It just "happened."  Boy did it happen!

Backtracking a little...with my son at college, global warming and NJ getting more and more congested (at least my sliver of Jersey), hubby and I thought we should consider moving to the mountains.  We didn't know where and we figured this was something we'd do in 5 years or so.  The question was where?  We knew moving north would mean cooler temperatures (I'm not a cold weather person), but with global warming we figured that by the time we got there, the temps would be what we USED to get in NJ.  We wanted to stay in the east, so we stated in Berkshires of Massachusetts.  It was okay, but didn't blow us away.  In June we tried (not too far) upstate NY (Ullster County) as we know someone who lives in the area.  Again, it was okay, but we couldn't necessarily see ourselves there.  Finally, we headed to the Poconos.  

The Poconos is a huge area comprised of several counties.  We have frequently vacationed at Skytop which is in Monroe County.  We decided to head further north to Wayne County and check out Hawley and the Lake Wallenpaupack area.  We liked the area.  It was closer to my in-laws than the other locations we had checked out.  The only thing was that most of the homes/communities were HoA (part of a Homeowners Association), which my husband didn't want.

Then I saw a townhome on Skytop's property for sale, and even though it was part of a HoA AND it was connected to another home, I wanted to check it out.  Unfortunately, by the time I connected with a real estate agent, the property was already off the market.  Amazingly, another property went on the market, and the same thing happened.

As much as I wanted a house on Skytop property (and there are a couple of houses that I would really like which I also know will most likely NEVER go on sale), I thought why not check out places in the general area?  Skytop is part of Barrett Township which consists of 5 villages:  Buck Hill Falls (formerly a resort and how a community HOA), Canadensis, Cresco, Mountainhome and Skytop.  So for shits and giggles I started scouring websites for houses for sale in the area.

There were a couple of places that looked like possibilities and we decided to contact a real estate agent just to check them out.  The woman we worked with, Tina, was incredibly responsive and not turned off at all by the fact that we said we were just looking and that this probably wasn't going to happen for a couple of years.  We just wanted to get a feel, see costs and get her thoughts on living in the area.  She provided us with listings and we gave her our feedback and then on Saturday, June 29, 2024, we drove out to see 5 houses.  Or at least that was the plan.

By the time the 29th rolled around, one of them had been taken off the market.  The first house we saw I had flat out told Tina that it was way out of our budget and probably not at all what we wanted, but it had this incredible indoor pool and I just wanted to see it.  She wanted to see it too, even though she knew up front that we were not even going to consider it.

The house itself was on the end of a private road.  It was older, not unlike our house in Verona.  It had lots of tiny rooms and it was obvious that it had been used as an Airbnb.  The property was only so-so.  The pool, which was being cleaned when we were there, was pretty magnificent.  But the cost and the cons in our book took it out of the running.  (Note:  the house is still only the market and has been reduced in cost by $100,000.)

The second house we saw was in Buck Hill Falls, but was not part of the HoA.  (I think it was actually on the boarder of the village.)  The house was nice enough; although a bit cramped in spots.  Two out buildings were also part of the property which we weren't too fond of.  So we decided to pass on it as well.

Third house had just gone on the market that week.  I had scouted it on line and really liked what I saw.  (The photographer did a phenomenal job.)  The house was scheduled for an open house that afternoon, but we were able to see it before.  As a matter of fact, when we arrived, the homeowners were just about to go out with their dog, to give us time to explore.

The house was expertly staged.  There was no clutter and everything was laid out to maximum effect.  (The bowl of fruit on the table, the coffee cups laid out by the built in coffee maker, etc.)  The house was very open, which I liked and was really only one floor, which again I liked.  (There was a loft which had at one point been used as an office and now housed a pool table that the owner was including in the sale.)  The main bedroom was large and had its own incredible bathroom.  The yard was lush with a pond and fish.  There was a three car attached garage (which was full of furniture...which indicated how staged the house actually was) as well as a detached garage which the owner was using to restore cars.  (There was a hydraulic lift!)  That was really the only thing that we didn't like.  Everything else screamed out to us...this was it.

We passed on seeing the 4th house. (The owners were being difficult about showing it too, so...).  This was the house we wanted and so...we decided to put a bid in.  We went slightly over what they were asking and told our agent how high we would go.

As we pulled away, we could see the seller's agent setting up open house signs.

We drove home, somewhat in shock.  What had we done?

You probably know what we did...at least if you read this blog regularly.  Our bid was accepted and we bought the home.  Two month later we closed and day after that we started the move in.  It's where we spent most of our time.  (Though we are still NJ residents.)

There have been times when I've questioned whether I did the right thing.  When there were plumbing issues, when the front windows needed to be replaced...and now the central air is not working properly (which of course happened during the heat wave).  These are the times when I think I am out of my mind.  But when it's nice outside and I can sit quietly in the garden or when I hear the chatter of birds early in the morning and not trucks, then I'm so grateful for what we have.

We changed our lives a year ago...and for good or bad, we will never be the same.



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