Well folks, this is something that I never ever thought I would write… We bought a house in St. John! Grab the Sancerre! Pop the champagne! This island blogger is a St. John homeowner! š„³
Ever since I moved to St. John nearly 10 years ago, I’ve been pretty convinced that I would be a lifelong renter. I’ve been fortunate in that I have lived in some pretty great spots over the years and had wonderful landlords, but I always longed to have a place of my own. Like many of you, I peruse the St. John real estate listings almost daily and have been quite discouraged by the prices. Home prices in St. John are typically close to a million dollars or more, which is a tad over my budget. And by a tad, I mean a lot!
But then a unicorn popped up in late May. “A charming Caribbean cottage with ample room to expand,” the listing read. “A nature lover’s dream, this partially fenced-in flat land is ideal for gardening. This is a perfect starter home for any STJ resident.” The asking price was $450,000, and as I read a bit further, I saw three magical words:
Owner financing availableĀ
Oh. My. Goodness.
Could this be real, I wondered. I immediately reached out to my friend Tammy Donnelly who owns 340 Real Estate Co. to see what she thought. She responded immediately and said we should take a look. I made the appointment for the following day at 10 a.m. I then super casually told my other half that we had an appointment to look at a house in Fish Bay.
You see, I never thought he would ever be on board with buying a house on St. John. So I sort of had to casually dance around the subject. But he agreed to go. Basically just going along with another one of my crazy ideas… š
I loved the home from the moment I pulled up. There was something about it that just seemed so calming to me. But it was tiny – 622 feet to be exact. The yard, however, was amazing. It’s a quarter acre of flat land, something that’s almost unheard of in St. John.
As many of you probably know, Mike (Mr. Other Half) and I have a five-year-old son Dalton. To say Dalton has a lot of energy is the understatement of the year. The kid simply never stops. So the idea of having a flat yard for him to run around in seemed heavenly.
At that moment, my wheels started turning. I needed to make this work, I just had no idea how. So Mike and I went to 1864 for lunch and drank more wine than we should have as I tried to figure it out. (No need to worry… Dalton was in school and his sitter who we love more than life itself brought him home afterward. Thanks Kiki! Safety first!)
Long story short: With a little help from family, we figured it out. We closed Wednesday afternoon, and I could not be happier. Let the fun begin!
More to come… š”
