A Prelude

We never imagined we'd still be in the Mid-Atlantic four years after moving here, so didn't consider buying a house when we first relocated to the area. We rented a home in a beautiful neighborhood and were happy there. We made a lot of friends in the community, through church and our children's groups and activities. Strangely, we didn't really know the neighbors after 18 months on a cul-de-sac. After our first year, we renewed our lease, expecting another job move was on the horizon after that. Two months later, the owners announced they were returning that summer and we had to find a new place.
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It worked out okay because by then, we knew we wanted to live in the next little town over and we found out through some mutual friends that someone was looking to rent their home during a three-year overseas work assignment. They knew of our potential need to move out of state during their assignment, but they were willing to take the risk. The house happened to be in our desired town and we've been incredibly happy here. Interestingly enough, 5 miles can put you into a different world - it's very neighborly here!
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Last spring, we started regularly checking out homes for sale in the area, anticipating the end of our three-year stay in this lovely old home. We knew we had a year to go, but we wanted to be aware of what the market was doing. As you may or may not know, the Mid-Atlantic has not been as hard hit with the housing crash and continues to be one of the more expensive real estate markets in the country.
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Thanksgiving weekend, we began researching more earnestly, thinking ahead to what would surely be a quick seven months. There was a cute little house around the corner that we thought might be fantastic if we were willing to do a ton of work. I went to see it and was encouraged to realize it really did have good potential, if it could be had for the right price. A day later, our realtor called to say we should see another house just a block away.
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And thus began the rollercoaster.