We Found Our RVA Home! (Here's the Whole Story)
Updated: May 21, 2020
We came to Richmond with a bunch of Craigslist furniture, two months of marriage experience, and the promise of a new job in the corporate world. We found an apartment--the last one we looked at that hectic day and with no washer and dryer or dishwasher--in the heart of what we found out was called The Fan.
We barely knew a thing about Richmond, but it was where the job was and it was a “big” city. We took the next step.
I remember that first week. It was as if every single thing was new. I felt untethered, but also exhilarated. Somehow, I don’t remember worrying very much, which is pretty rare for me, even in the best situations. The first week at my new job in the heart of downtown was going well and in the evenings Vin and I would go exploring. It seemed like there was something worth seeing no matter which direction we took. There was so much we could walk to! Cafes and restaurants, eclectic murals and street performers, boutiques and beautiful old row homes dotted every corner.
I don’t quite know when we both knew, but it wasn’t long into our time in RVA that Vin and I could see ourselves making it a permanent home. That first year certainly wasn’t all roses, however. We quickly realized that my salary may have seemed like a lot when we were living in a small city in southwest Virginia, but in the state’s capital, it couldn’t be stretched nearly as far. There was also the fact that Vin’s job at the time was not a good one. So many people told us that the first year of marriage would be the hardest, and throughout that first year I think we thought we were doing fine, but looking back, they were 100 percent right. Amidst the memories made and the adventures had and the new friends and even our wonderful new church, there was a trail of messy growth and dysfunction and financial stress.
But we kept pressing on and got better at making plans, smarter at managing money, better at communicating with and loving each other, and through it all, we became more endeared to this River City. Then Vin got a better job which allowed us to truly begin saving.
I can’t count how many times we walked down Grove or Floyd or Main--anywhere in the Fan, Museum District, Carytown, or Byrd Park--and admired the old row homes. It was something we had never talked about--what kind of home we wanted, when we wanted to buy one, how big it should be, etc. Seemingly without even a discussion, an historic row home in the heart of the city seemed to be what we both held up as the pinnacle of home ownership.
But the areas we loved the most and the homes we dreamed about most were some of the most expensive and coveted. Owning one still seemed like it would be a long way off.
Although I don’t think Vin ever really gave up, there were many times I resigned myself to moving farther out from the heart of the city. There were pros about this too, and I was willing to compromise because owning our own home was such a strong desire. Richmond has many other charming neighborhoods and we considered Forest Hill, Churchill, and a couple others.
But because we are both so passionate about living urban, we felt a tinge of sadness when we looked at homes where we’d have to drive everywhere. We had never lived somewhere walkable like in the heart of RVA, and we were hooked, and began to realize that this walkability and urban community had significant value for us.
I periodically scrolled through Zillow--because who can resist Zillow? The same scenario usually played out. I would find a house that looked promising, but it would end up being not in a great neighborhood, too much of a fixer-upper (did I mention we also needed a house that was pretty much move-in ready?), or out of our price range. I would then become frustrated and disappointed. There were months in which I fasted from Zillow as if it was Lent.
But in August I was back on Zillow and I found a house in the Museum district that was in our price range. Vin agreed to tour it with me so we walked over. It fit a lot of our criteria:
Row home
Within the radius of our desired area
Historic charm
Front porch
However, there was a major problem: it was a fixer-upper. It didn’t appear that way on the outside and even initially upon walking in, but as we toured it, it became clear that it hadn’t been updated likely since the 1960s or ‘70s. It was filled with dark wood, old carpeting, and mustiness.
Nevertheless, for a moment, we considered it. We are a far cry from Chip and Joanna Gaines, but we toyed with the idea of hiring contractors, installing central air, and picking out a backsplash. But something just didn’t feel right. We knew we’d be in over our heads, and more than this, there wasn’t an inch of green space. No backyard, no lawn to mow, no place to plant a garden, and no back porch.
We decided against it. But now I was hooked on Zillow again, so the next day when a brick row home popped up even less expensive than the one we had toured the day before and also within our desired radius, but in the opposite direction, I quickly sent it to Vin. He messaged me back quickly, making my heart race when he said, “Yeah, I like that,” and gave me a confident “Yes!” when I asked if he wanted to tour it.
I asked him when he’d like to see it and he replied, “ASAP. Looks like a good one. That’s exactly the type of house we should buy.”
Turns out, it wasn’t just the type of house we should buy, but it was the house we had been looking for.
We connected with an amazing realtor based on a friend’s recommendation and we hit the ground running. And while I can’t say there was little anxiety involved in the whole process, there certainly was very little to warrant that anxiety.
My wish for you, if you are house-searching right now, is that your process will be as smooth as ours. We did have to make a competitive offer, but our offer won out, and we had all the paperwork lined up, and since Vin had experience working in the mortgage industry (turns out that not-so-great job had a bright side), the money part wasn’t even overwhelming for us (well, it still was for me, but Vin was so good about managing all of this).
The next few weeks were spent finding someone to take over our lease (also easier than expected), switching utilities, looking at furniture, and frequently saying to each other, “I can’t believe we got the house!”
And now, only 35 days from the day we first learned of its existence, this lovely brick row home with the beautifully landscaped front garden and shady porch, refinished hardwood floors, the new paint on the walls, and the small but perfect rectangle of backyard grass, framed by a glorious and spacious deck, is ours!
After four years of RVA life, we are homeowners!
I think what truly makes this so exciting is not only the obvious reasons of building equity and having more space, but the canvas the house gives us to live life abundantly. We both love hospitality and welcoming people to our home, and while we have done a good bit of this even in our small one bedroom apartment, a home with more space--and beautiful spaces!--will allow us to do this even more.
My Grandma inspired me to use my writing ability to write the homeowner a letter to include with our offer.
In that letter, I wrote:
“We have lived in two apartments both in the heart of the city, and although we could buy a less expensive, more spacious house in the suburbs, we have been passionate from our first day of house searching about buying a home in the heart of this city and near its people who are so dear to us. We have been blessed with an incredible community here and know we want to be a central part of this Richmond urban revival that seems to be taking place.
We have had many conversations about how difficult it is to find a nicely renovated home with some green space in the city that is also reasonably priced, so when we came across the Grayland Ave. house last week, we were quickly all in. We currently live a matter of blocks away and took a walk over to see it that very day we first saw it listed, before we could even set up an appointment with our realtor to tour the inside, which also did not disappoint.
Houses are really just material shells, but some become true homes when people do their living, loving, and dreaming in them. We feel that your Grayland Ave.house is a true home and is where we want to make some of our dreams as a young couple come true, such as adopting a dog (I told my husband I am bringing home a dog the moment we sign our house contract ;) ), having children, cultivating a garden, and welcoming our many family members and friends to our home in the heart of the city, perhaps for barbecues on the porch, cozy evenings by the fireplace, and walks to Byrd Park to see the sunrise.
Looking down the hallways of your home, it was as if our dreams were laid out for us along with the slanting sunlight. We see so many possibilities for life, love, and hospitality in your Grayland Ave. house that we can’t help but hope you will accept our offer and choose us to be the next owners of your home.
Thank you so much for reading this letter and considering our offer.”
Here’s to many years of home ownership on Grayland Ave., and we hope to have you over soon!
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