Gildavid Moments

   This day last year, we moved into our new home which we fondly call the Gildavid Manor. The “Gildavid” part obviously stands for Gilda and David and we chose “manor” because the streets of the subdivision have either British or Scottish names. 

     David saw this house listed at an internet realty website. The picture of the sun room caught his interest. We decided to drive through the subdivision to see what it looked like.

     When we entered the subdivision, I had a very good feeling about the place. I loved the meandering roads, the beautiful trees, the over all lay out, and the lovely houses. Most of the subdivisions we have previously visited to were flat. This subdivision was elevated. It had good feng shui.

     I remember telling David, “If we are going to live in a subdivision (as opposed to a house in the city), I would choose this.”.

     We found the house and David liked its outside appearance. I was pretty neutral.

     We continued to look at other houses. We browsed through over a hundred listings online, drove through several subdivisions and went to open houses. Finally, we had our sights on a house in Upper Arlington which was conveniently located near a church, a park, the library and a mall.

     We sought the services of Andy Show, a Buyer’s Agent to help us with the process. On our first meeting, he jokingly told David, “In my experience, it is the wife who buys the house, we only pay for it.”.

     Andy arranged for us to see the Upper Arlington house (and a few other houses). We were seriously considering making an offer for the Upper Arlington house when David decided that he wanted to take a look at (what is now) the Gildavid Manor.

     The moment we entered the house, we were impressed. Even Andy, who had been to thousands of homes, was very appreciative. When we saw the sun room, we were dazzled. It looked even better than the picture we had seen online.

     David and Andy said that I was beaming. Andy added that, from my reaction, he knew that this would be “it” for me.

     However, as much as we liked the house, we had some concerns. It was way more house than we needed. David was apprehensive that we may be way over our heads with the maintenance of the yard. The landscaping was profesionally designed by the former owner and it would take a lot of work to keep it looking that way. I volunteered to do the job.

     We had a few more discussions with Andy regarding the merits of the both houses. We studied the market analysis that he had prepared for us. We concluded that this house would give us the best value for our money so we decided to make an offer.

     The whole process went smoothly. The former owners were easy to deal with and our agents were very competent and professional.

     During the time when we were “in contract”, David and I would drive by the Gildavid Manor twice a day. In the morning, we would drive by to check on the house and in the evenings we would drive by to “tuck in” the house. I bet the neighbors were wondering who were and what we were doing, hahaha.

    The day before the closing, the former owners invited us for a “walk through”. They have retired to Florida and came for the final closing. I was happy to meet with them in person in a relaxed setting. I was curious to know who they were. From a feng shui perspective, I wanted to find out if they had auspicious luck while living in this house. I was pleased to learn that, indeed, they were happy and successful during their stay here.

    After a pleasant visit and walk through, we were handed the keys to the house. We were to meet again the following morning for the final closing.

     I remember how excited David and I were that day. It was an exceptionally busy day too because my father in law was inducted to the Delaware County Hall of Fame that afternoon. I had to do some cooking for the party after the induction.

     The closing took about 20 minutes. We signed papers, got some gifts from Andy, chatted with other agents and it was over. The remote control to the garage door was turned over to us and we said our good byes and well wishes to the former owners.The first thing we did was to drive to the Gildavid Manor.

     I remember how great it felt to use the remote control of the garage door for the first time. We walked around the house going from room to room. David was saying, “I can’t believe we now own this house.” I said, “You better believe it.”.

     We then rushed to my father in law’s induction ceremony which was followed by a party at the induction venue and later at his residence. After the celebration, we went back to our new home and again walked from room to room. It was a funny feeling, almost surreal.

     The following morning, we officially moved in and welcomed and our first visitors (my father in law and his two close friends Ron and Diane). We got our first house warming gifts, a potted plant from Diane and a set of fine furniture from Richard, David’s cousin.

     It doesn’t feel like we have already been here for a year. At the same time, it feels like we have been here far longer than that.

     To celebrate the first Gildavid Manor anniversary, I baked a cake for dessert and gave some to the neighbors. I offered a prayer of thanksgiving for the blessing that is the Gildavid Manor.