Tell Me Your Real Estate Story: CandysDirt Writer Discovers Cottonwood Dream Home

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Leah Shafer | Candy's Dirt

Leah Shafer at her new home.

Leah Shafer is a senior writer for CandysDirt.com, and in her time with us, she has written 454 blog posts about real estate, buying a house, trends, selling, and staging … the whole banana. But never in that time, or ever, has she herself owned a home.

In fact, Shafer has moved 20 times in her adult life, 11 of them since 2008. Settling down and buying has been a dream, but never a possibility, before now.

“I’ve loved home design and real estate since I was a girl — in my sixth-grade yearbook, I said I wanted to be an interior designer, and it’s no coincidence that I’m writing about houses for CandysDirt.com,” Shafer said. “I think all my moves have made the idea of owning and settling in one place all the more appealing. I am absolutely over the moon to finally be a homeowner.”

Shafer and her husband Greg recently bought a house for their family in the Cottonwood Heights neighborhood of Richardson. While they’re still unpacking and settling in, she’s excited to share her real estate story with us.

Full name: Leah Shafer

Occupation: Freelance writer; CandysDirt.com senior writer

City: Richardson

Price Range: $300,000-$350,000

AgentHarriet Shaw, Keller Williams Urban Dallas

What made you decide to move? We were renting and our landlord decided to move back into her house, so we had to be out by June 30. We had wanted to wait a year or two more to save up more of a down payment, so we hemmed and hawed some, wondering if we should keep renting or not. When we finally said, “Okay, let’s buy something,” we had about 50 days days until we needed to be moved out of our rental and in our new place. I still can’t believe we did it!

What were you looking for in a new home? Because of our accelerated timeframe and the pressure to find something quickly, my husband and I were pretty flexible. Our “must haves” included at least 1,800 square feet, four bedrooms, and at least two-and-a-half bathrooms. We could handle some renovations, but preferred to keep that to a minimum. Good schools were essential, too. My stepdaughter has graduated high school, but my son will be starting in a couple of years.

As for location, we were basically looking in Dallas east of Central, north of I-30, and inside the loop. A huge area! But it quickly became apparent we needed to broaden our search, because we weren’t finding what we wanted and the clock was ticking. So we included Richardson. As soon as we did, we found our home.

This place has almost 2,500 square feet, four bedrooms, three-and-a-half bathrooms, and two stories. There’s a nice-sized backyard with a covered patio and big shade trees. It’s perfect!

What shocked you about the buying process? How quickly we found a house! We fell in love with the fourth property we looked at, and made an offer the next day. We were very fortunate, indeed.

How did you pick your Realtor? I’ve known Harriet Shaw for about five years and we have become friends. As a friend, I trust her and know her incredible expertise. Also, I find her passion inspiring. This woman lives for real estate! She’s incredibly organized and detail-oriented, which are important traits in the person who is executing so many contracts for you. She worked well with our tight deadline, too.

Why did you choose to buy in Richardson? I grew up in North Dallas, about two miles from where we bought a house, so I was familiar with this area. Cottonwood Heights is a family neighborhood and we’re walking distance to Cottonwood Park. This area has a friendly feel. It’s only two miles outside the loop, so we’re close to Dallas and all the places and people we love there. The Richardson ISD schools are strong, too, which was a key consideration.

What is your décor style, and how do you plan on making your spaces unique? This house was a flip, so everything is shiny and new inside, with lots of clean, contemporary lines. (I nearly swooned when I saw the kitchen: so open and bright with white cabinets and lots of counter space. And after years of saying I hate the look of granite, this house has beautiful granite countertops, the prettiest I’ve ever seen. The universe has a sense of humor.)

1435 Lamp Post a

So with such a lovely backdrop, my husband and I feel inspired to buy some new furniture and pay more attention to décor, in general. The last two years have been a bit of a blur since we had a baby. Not a lot of time for interior inspiration, you know?

That said, our style is eclectic/transitional, with a good dose of midcentury flair. I believe everything in a home should have a story — no “prepackaged decorating.” He can tell you about his Japanese tea sets and I have stories about the white pottery I’ve been collecting for years, for example. This is coupled with family photos, paintings by his dad, and lots of art. It’s a work in progress that’s lots of fun to create.

If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently? Nothing! Everything worked out beautifully and we bought a house we love in a wonderful neighborhood for the right price at the perfect time. I’m so incredibly grateful.

 

 

Joanna England is the Executive Editor at CandysDirt.com and covers the North Texas housing market.

3 Comments

  1. dormand on July 22, 2016 at 1:10 am

    The picture reflects apparently very nice flooring.

    There are few pressures more exacting than that of being under the gun to buy a home in a seller’s market within
    a limited period of time, particularly given the current cycle time for getting a mortgage loan approval, particularly
    as the procedures in the appraisal process tend to lag substantially the prices paid by cash buyers.

  2. Leigh Ann Barrick on February 23, 2017 at 7:52 pm

    Happy for you Leah. Heartwarming story with fairytale ending.

  3. Brad Shaw on February 23, 2017 at 10:36 pm

    Good choice in realtors!

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