Agent Lady team member Brittany Loeffler writes about the reality of buying a home in Philadelphia through a series of short stories.
Nothing Is Impossible
The streets in Philadelphia were bustling on a surprisingly warm and sunny late Sunday morning. Paul Keller and his fiancé, Alicia, were making there way to brunch when they passed an Open House sign with an arrow pointing down a narrow street with blossoming flowers and colorful doors. Alicia tugged on Paul’s arm and made he face she always did when she wanted to do something. Her doe-like eyes pleaded to go into the house and take a look around.
Since their engagement a year ago, the two had been talking about whether they wanted to stay in Philadelphia or move to the suburbs. Both having attended Temple University, they had become accustomed to the city and knew every crack and corner of it. Still paying off their student loans and trying to save for their wedding, they never put much thought into buying a home.
Paul gave in and they walked down the narrow street. It could almost be considered an alley since a normal sized car could barely fit down it. Alicia opened the door to a brick two-story house with a planter filled with lavender hanging on the front windowsill. The house was empty save for a few people inside the house already, looking around and opening closet and cabinet doors.
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Scanning the room, they saw a well dressed woman with a clipboard, the real estate agent working the open house, talking to a couple and handing them her business card. Paul picked up one of the handouts with the price and information about the house printed on it. When the number caught his eye, he wanted to run out of the house as fast as he could. There was no way he could ever live in something so expensive. He immediately felt uncomfortable and wanted to avoid talking to the agent to save the embarrassment of explaining they couldn’t afford it and would be on their way.
Of course, Alicia walked right over to the woman struck up a conversation. It bothered Paul that they weren’t the kind of couple who could read each other’s minds. Paul followed but tried not to make eye contact with the agent, knowing that she could smell his bargain-priced clothes on him. “Hi, I’m Cherise Wynne,” the agent said holding her hand out to Paul.
“Paul,” he said under his breath. Alicia gave him a little nudge.
“Alicia tells me you two are engaged, congratulations!” Cherise said with a big, friendly smile. Paul nodded and glared at Alicia. “Have you two thought about buying a home after you get married?”
Alicia cut in, “We haven’t really thought about buying just yet, only renting. Buying a house just seems impossible at this time in our lives.”
“Well, nothing is impossible,” Cherise said with a little laugh. Paul rolled his eyes, he just wanted to go to brunch and sip on a Bloody Mary and munch on some eggs Benedict.
Cherise handed Alicia a handout and a pen. “Would you mind filling out this contact information sheet for me? Just so I know how many people came today.” Alicia took the paper and started scribbling down their contact information. Paul tried to will her to stop by staring hard at her. Don’t give her our contact information, she’s going to call us and try to get us to buy a house, he thought over and over again. The message failed to go through as Alicia handed Cherise the completely filled out form. At least she didn’t give our social security numbers, he thought as he saw his phone number, address, and email on the paper. “Thank you so much! Feel free to look around and let me know if you have any questions!”
Alicia pulled Paul by the hand into the beautifully updated kitchen with stainless steel appliances and smooth granite countertops. “Pull yourself together,” Alicia hissed when they were out of earshot. So she did know what I was thinking, Paul realized. Paul knew better than to make a scene and to start an argument here. He would wait until brunch.
After walking through every room and climbing the spiral staircase to the rooftop deck, they made their way to Old City for a nice brunch on Market Street. “You don’t actually want to buy a house, do you?” Paul asked his fiancé sitting across from him.
“Eventually, yes. You don’t expect us to rent from someone forever, do you?” Paul shook his head.
“I just don’t think right now is the best time to buy a house. We are both still paying back our student loans and trying to save up for the wedding!” Paul started to get red in his cheeks as he thought about all of the money they would be spending over the next five years.
“I know, I know. It would just be nice to have our own place where we can do whatever we want to it and have some privacy. I hate when the landlord comes in. He stays too long and tries to chat with us and it just feels invasive!” Paul understood what Alicia meant. Of course he wanted a house of his own, but he just couldn’t see it happening any time soon.
Later that week, Alicia received a phone call from Cherise. She was on her lunch break, sitting in Dilworth Park watching people rushing around Center City. “Hi Cherise, how are you?” Alicia began preparing herself to tell Cherise to stop calling and they weren’t interested.
“I’m doing well, how are you and Paul?”
“We’re good, but listen Cherise, I don’t want to waste your time-“
“You’re not waste of time!” Cherise cut her off. “Listen, I know you and Paul are not ready to buy a house right now because you don’t think you can afford it, but I want you to talk to some of my mortgage lenders to see how realistic buying a house can be. We can meet for a buyer consultation and I can go over the different types of loans and grants available to you and Paul.” Alicia paused for a moment.
“I guess a meeting can’t hurt.” Alicia looked through her calendar and set a date and time to meet with Cherise. Paul was going to come and listen whether he liked it or not.
As expected, Paul was a grouch the whole way to Cherise’s office. Walking to the subway he listed the things he could be doing instead. On the subway he huffed and puffed and gave reasons why they cannot buy a house right now. The ride in the elevator up to the eighth floor of the office he became silent. “Now be nice and act like an adult,” Alicia demanded. Cherise meet them in the lobby and took the couple into a small conference room. She explained the different financial options Alicia and Paul had available to them. She showed them some homes on the market that they may be interested in based off of her conversations with Alicia. Lastly, she gave them the phone number to a lender she liked to refer first time home buyers to. Overall, it was a calm and successful meeting.
Later that night, after dealing with a very quiet and closed off Paul, he finally opened up and said something about the meeting to Alicia. “She made some good points.” Alicia put her book down and looked over at her fiancé. Was he actually, seriously thinking about buying a house? “I’m not saying I want to buy a house now, but we can start saving up.” Alicia didn’t say anything. She wanted to hear what else Paul would come out with. “Let’s talk to the lender and see what kinds of numbers he comes up with. Just so we have an idea of what we need to save and what kind of house we can afford.” Alicia smiled and gave her fiancé a kiss. She knew that they would do well together as life partners as long as they were able to listen to each other and compromise.
About Brittany: Brittany is the super organized (and awesome) office and marketing assistant that helps home buying and selling clients have the best experience possible. She also shares her creative side by writing compelling short stories about the home buying process that are loosely based on actual client situations. Expect to receive emails and phone calls from Brittany if you decide to work with the Agent Lady team to buy or sell a home!
