a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-5 sm:px-4 font-medium”>The house: A 1,100-square-foot rowhouse in East Falls with three bedrooms and one bath built in 1945.
It zigzags, and I hate it.”
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-5 sm:px-4 font-medium”>Every morning, while getting ready for work, she checked her agent’s internal portal for new leads, which turned up a number of promising prospects.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-5 sm:px-4 font-medium”>“I loved the front porch right away,” she said. “Also, the street … was tree-lined, people actually sit on their porches.” Because it was on the end of a stretch of homes, it shared only one wall — a rarity with rowhouses.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-5 sm:px-4 font-medium”>Inside, it didn’t disappoint. Though some updates had been made, the home maintained some of its original features, including the wooden staircase and the archways between rooms. What’s more, it checked nearly all of her boxes: three bedrooms, a basement, a front porch, and a sizable kitchen.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-5 sm:px-4 font-medium”>Over dinner that night with her parents, Ross weighed the pros and cons, deciding that, though it was a bit overbudget, the third bedroom and basement made it worth the stretch. After dinner, she called her agent, and they submitted an offer the following morning.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-5 sm:px-4 font-medium”>A subsequent inspection turned up a few issues — most notably, the house was outfitted with knob-and-tube wiring, a potential fire hazard — and she was able to negotiate a $4,000 sellers credit that ultimately went toward closing costs.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-5 sm:px-4 font-medium”>A Philly first-time homebuyer program helped her lock in a 5.3% interest rate. She explored other grants and programs, too, but either didn’t qualify or found them inapplicable.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-5 sm:px-4 font-medium”>The move: Movers handled the big stuff, Ross’ parents helped with some fragile things, and the majority of the move was handled in a single day.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-5 sm:px-4 font-medium”>“My dad, bless him, was doing the closing walk-through with the electrician [while] me and the movers were en route to the house,” Ross said.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-5 sm:px-4 font-medium”>The inspection showed that the water heater was in need of replacing, so the plumber fixed that, along with the sink. She has plans to paint soon, and because the home is bigger than her former apartment, there’s one room still in need of furniture.
