We began renting homes in Florida for our vacations in the late 90s. After several years we decided we should look into getting a place of our own and began causally looking in 2006. When the real estate market crashed in 2008, we were ready to take advantage of the situation and actively began searching for our dream home in 2009. With the help of our realtor, we looked at over 250 homes from December 2009 through December 2010.
Pastoral Palms caught my eye on one of my real estate shopping trips in March of 2009. I knew the moment I saw it, that it was the ONE! It was everything we wanted! The neighborhood was small and quiet. The home was is great shape. It had a large pool deck with a spa and covered lanai! The floor plan was great-- exactly what we had been looking for. When I made my next 'shopping' trip, I told my husband 'if it is still on the market--we are putting in an offer'. It was then I found the home was off the market--temporarily! After seeing the home, my husband agreed--we had to have it! In July we put in the offer and waited only to find out they accepted another. Devastated, we went back to searching for a property. In October, the home came back on the market! A second chance! In November we were again told another offer had been accepted. In December we made another 'shopping' trip, ready to put down an offer on something--after all it had been a year of looking! After our first day of viewing properties, we had a couple we could settle for but nothing special. On December 23 our Realtor called and said 'Merry Christmas, the other offer fell through and yours has been accepted!' This was the best Christmas present EVER! In the end, what sold us on this home was the quiet location, the floor plan, the premium lot, and my favorite--the view from the pool deck!