If you’ve been following along, you’ll know we’re a pair of sixty-somethings uprooting our lives to move from an apartment in the densely populated suburbs of Washington, DC, a more rural area outside the area. We planned to retire in a year or two and were eager for that slower, easy-going lifestyle with less traffic. We figured it was possible since we could both work from home most of the time. In September 2024, after a great deal of research and analysis, we focused our efforts on buying an affordable home in South Central Pennsylvania.
We didn’t realize last fall that we were going to face a harrowing time crunch and might not be able to buy a home as planned after all.
We’d been renting in costly Montgomery County, Maryland since moving up for a career move in 2019. We had great credit and were selling a lot we’d (impulsively) bought in West Virginia, the proceeds of which would serve as most of the funds for a down payment on our dream home. David worked in IT in a contract position supporting a large agency of the federal government. I ran the marketing and business development activities for a commercial interior design firm.
Labor Day Monday, my brother-in-law Jeff and I drove up to tour a home for sale in Waynesboro, PA. David had to work, otherwise, he would have joined us. Before retiring, Jeff was an HVAC professional and owned and rented out homes on the side. He knew good construction. The home we toured —a mid-century rancher – was built rock solid and had incredible bones and nice enhancements, courtesy of the current decades-long owners. Unfortunately, we found it overpriced and located directly across the street from a former National Guard Armory, the future use of which was questionable.
Like Goldilocks, only with homes, not beds.
Though that home wasn’t the one, it ignited our forward momentum. The following weekend, escorted by our Realtor, Mike O’Connell, with my sister Patty and Jeff in tow, we toured several houses in York County. Throughout our home search, our patient real estate agent obliged and patiently showed us more than 65 homes in four counties in South Central PA: Adams, Cumberland, Franklin, and York. I accept the title of one of the worst real estate clients ever.
After three months of looking at homes nearly every weekend, in Mid-December, we made an offer on a really nice home, the details of which escape me now, ten months later. Unfortunately, we were outbid by another prospective buyer. The experience served as a wake-up call, though. The mortgage rates weren’t falling, as we’d hoped they might, and housing inventory was decreasing since the holidays were approaching. We thought we might be better off postponing our search to mid-January.
We’d probably toured upwards of 40 homes and were getting concerned… We didn’t want to piss off our great real estate agent. Even more worrisome, both of our employers were giving us cause for concern for different reasons. David’s federal contractor employer was nearing the end of their long-term contract and there was no chance of renewal of the contract. The commercial real estate industry in which I worked, was experiencing a slowdown and I was growing concerned about my own small employer and my role. We feared that if either of us lost our job, given our age and how close we were to retirement, we’d have a very hard time getting approval for a mortgage, regardless of how strong our credit scores were.
Important lesson: ALWAYS get a home inspection
For the reasons outlined above, we lowered the bar and found a roomy rancher in the beautiful, historic, and quaint town of Mercersburg, Pennsylvania we liked. We made a quick offer on it since homes were getting snapped up quickly, even in December. While the home wasn’t built to the best construction standards — the walls seemed thin and the single-glazed windows would need replacing soon — we rationalized that the home had a lot of pluses, so perhaps we could overlook the flaws and shore up the weaknesses. The expansive cabinetry was solid, the home had a well-constructed new addition that would make the perfect guest room, the layout was great, it came with a massive (and electrified) detached barn, and the home had a lovely deck on the back opening onto a beautiful large lot that bordered a wildlife area. We’d seen so many homes that just didn’t suit our needs, which included space for an art studio, a his and hers office, and hopefully a workshop for David. This home had boatloads of space for us to create and host and relax.
Our offer was accepted, but… remember that less-than stellar construction quality I mentioned? Home inspections are optional, but we believe it’s one of the best investments one can make when thinking about buying a home. So of course, we scheduled one by a reputable organization, and I met the inspector at the house at the appointed time to make sure he covered all the bases and could explain first-hand exactly what might be problematic.
We thought the house was a modular home — a home built at or above new home standards in a climate-controlled facility. Brother-in-law Jeff heralded the quality such homes offered when produced by a reputable manufacturer. They are constructed in a factory and transported and joined onsite. They typically hold their value as well as homes built on site. The Modular Home Builders Association provides a list of members for those interested.
It turned out this was a manufactured home instead. Those built before 1976 were technically called Mobile Homes. I’m open-minded about mobile homes and spent a great deal of time in my youth in one that served as a second home on a lake for friends we joined for weekend waterskiing adventures. It impressed the heck out of me with its spacious layout, bathroom with whirlpool, and fabulous kitchen and dining room, but this manufactured home we put an earnest deposit on was more than 40 years old, and there were two serious problems.
First, mortgage companies don’t issue conventional mortgages on older manufactured homes. And second, during the home inspection, we discovered there were leaks under the kitchen sink and dishwasher, and below the master bath. We immediately withdrew the offer.
Third time’s a charm.
The first week of January came, and while our lot was not yet sold, there was serious interest and possibly an offer forthcoming. We kept up our home search with a short respite during the Christmas holidays. Mike, our real estate agent, was an absolute gem and willing to schedule any homes I thought worth looking at.
On January 7, I sent an email to my sister with a link to a home I’d discovered on Trulia with the message:
“This too. Nice brick that wouldn’t bust the budget.”
She checked it out and replied:
“Not bad. Right on the highway, but in decent shape.”
The highway she was referring to was Route 30, an east-west state highway that runs from Cherry Hill, New Jersey to Chicago, Illinois. That could be a cause for concern, but we’d cross that bridge when we came to it if the house was worth considering.
The home was literally just up the street from a massive 300-acre municipal park David and I visited the previous summer when we were first entertaining the idea of selling the lot and considering a ready-built home. We’d heard good things about the Chambersburg, PA area and bought sandwiches, and, with Kona in tow, enjoyed a picnic in a gazebo in the park. We immediately fell in love with it and the entire area.
David and I drove up to view the home that backed up to the busy road that cold January Sunday. It was the second home we toured among a total of five homes we were scheduled to see that day. At lunch, we told Mike we’d seen enough and would consider putting in an offer. There were no competing offers, and Mike had some back and forth about the ages of the roof, HVAC, Water Heaters, and any warranties that might come with each of those high-ticket items. We also had a question about the basement’s acoustic ceiling tile system. The grids were installed, but the ceiling tiles were missing. We wanted to make sure they weren’t ruined by leaking from above, either the kitchen or one of the two bathrooms, which could have been a big concern. Turns out, the previously installed ceiling tiles were just dirty, so the owner removed them owner, intending to replace them before listing the home. She never got around to it and when we viewed the home, the basement room was dark and scary looking. But we saw potential.
Since there were no other interested parties yet, we placed an offer $10,000 lower than the listed price. The owner accepted our offer and, barring any disturbing issues that might turn up during the home inspection, we were set to close in mid-February.
At almost the same time, we had an offer to sell the lot that we accepted. Though, in retrospect, the purchase was ill-advised, the offer was just enough to cover the initial purchase price and recoup our selling costs. Two weeks before our home purchase, we closed on the sale of the West Virginia lot.
Approaching the finish line
We knew that even if the lot sale didn’t go through, we could piece together the funds to close. Things were falling into place. Now it was a matter of getting the final clear-to-close letter from the mortgage approval and the funds to close.
Those other concerns we’d had, though, were growing by the day. David’s federal contractor employer was approaching the termination date of their contract, which could mean David would be out of a job if he wasn’t hired on by the next Contractor before we closed on the purchase. Also, my small company let a couple of colleagues go a few months prior. My sister who had not long before retired from the mortgage banking industry, reminded us that, even though we’d received pre-approval and the mortgage loan was conditionally approved, there would be final confirmations of our employment, of funds available, and more.
The proceeds of the lot were deposited into our accounts immediately and our Pennsylvania home closing date was set for 11 days later. The appraisal came in above our offer amount, and we tendered our lease termination letter, vacating at the end of April, six years after moving there, intending to live there only a year.
All systems were go. For the most part. But given our intent to work remotely for employers based in the DC area, there might be questions. Especially since DOGE had come into the Federal Government taking a wrecking ball to the status quo. David’s job was tenuous, and the Agency he worked for was calling remote workers back to the office. My retired-mortgage-banker-sister reminded me that the rather than in Southeastern Pennsylvania, the mortgage approval wasn’t locked in.
There’s a whole other component to this race against the clock, too, but you’ll have to stay tuned to my next post to see what that is.