Corinne Real (Estate) Story-Buying Our First Home

My love of real estate was instilled in me from an early age. My parents dreamed of owning their own home. When I was 5, we moved into a modest 2 family colonial that my parents worked hard to buy. It is across the street from the beach in Long Branch. My parents loved the proximity to the ocean, as do I. My family now lives in this home, and it has gone thru many renovations and we love it.

 I became a real estate agent because I enjoy helping people find their special home. I love seeing them make the house they purchased into their own personal oasis.

This housing market is challenging today. People can get lost in the issues facing a home buyer or decide for themselves that owning a home is worth the challenges. I realized my personal experience was fraught with challenges, but we managed to get thru them and have really enjoyed our real estate experiences. So, I want to share them with you

It was no surprise, that when my husband and I married, we devoted all our assets towards buying our first apartment in Manhattan. It was small pre-war co-op, located on Park Avenue and 38th Street, in the Murray Hill section of the city.  The location was ideal, and I loved that our apartment was not a “typical” cookie cutter apartment.  It had a long entry hallway that led to the living room with a fireplace. The fireplace didn’t work, but we didn’t care, we loved it anyway with the original mantle. The kitchen was off the hallway with a window which is a special feature for Manhattan. There was no dishwasher, but we were in love and were willing to wash dishes by hand.  The bedroom was large with 2 oversized windows overlooking beautiful townhouses. The bathroom featured original subway tile with a great oversized bathtub.  The price was $150,000 in 1987 and the mortgage rate was 15% but that was normal and acceptable, so we were ready to make an offer. We wanted another opinion, so we asked my mother-in-law. She liked the apartment but felt it was too expensive, so she encouraged us to make a lower offer. We offered 135,000, but the seller rejected it. A week later we were ready to increase our offer, but someone paid full list and got it.

 Luckily for us, 2 weeks later another apartment in this building came on the market and we snapped it up for the full list price!  We ended up paying more but we were so happy that we had a home that we loved.

 I share this story because getting someone’s opinion on your real estate purchase is quite common, but you really need to do what feels right for you. Friends and family are not the best resource for this information, a real estate agent can provide you with data so you can make in informed decision.