Meeting our Realtor

Last April, we scheduled another trip to Colorado Springs.  We rented a beautiful house in the neighborhood where we hoped to call home one day.  The main purpose of the trip was to meet with our potential Realtor.  Being my normal, methodical self, I had been looking for a specific set of criteria: someone who specialized in buying and selling old homes--"old" defined as something approaching or greater than 100 years old.  If they lived in the area, that would be ideal.  This was important since we knew there was a high likelihood we would be making a purchase decision from out-of state.  We needed someone with a high level of knowledge and expertise for the market of old houses.

Thankfully, the criteria were not only met, but exceeded.  Not only did he focus most of his real estate transactions in the area, he lived in the area, too--in a 100+ year old house that he renovated! The bonus was that he, also, had worked with his Father for many years in residential renovations, many on the type of house we were looking for.  His passion was old houses

We walked from our rental house to the local coffee shop where we had a quick lunch before meeting with our potential Realtor.  Unknown to us, it was a mere three minute walk to the coffee shop from his house.  The meeting went very well and my Wife and I knew very quickly that he would be our Realtor.

We had given our Realtor a wish list:  Craftsman style, at least two bedrooms, one bath, original wood floors, original windows, garage (two car preferred, but realized it was a long shot), and a full-sized lot with alley access.  I didn't have high confidence all these items could be found in one house, but I was still hopeful.

During the remaining time left on our trip we spent time walking and driving around the neighborhood, fantasizing about living there one day.  It was starting to feel real after all these years, but still just a conceptual thought in my mind.  The next several months were difficult as I spent more time than I'd like to admit perusing online real estate websites looking at listings.