A Shore home was the dream. Reality was 21 tours, bidding wars, and false starts. | How I Bought This House
By Diane Stopyra
he buyers: Nicole Renish, 32, social media manager and dance teacher, and Dan Renish, 31, HVAC worker and a PhanaVision camera operator with the Philadelphia Phillies.
The house: A two-bedroom, one-bath ranch built in 1986 spanning 768 square feet in the Villas in Cape May County.
The price: Was set to be listed for $350,000; sold for $340,000 before it hit the market
The agent: Christina Cavalier of Farrell Realty
The ask: Nicole and Dan grew up vacationing at the Jersey Shore, and the Pennsylvania natives (she’s from Scranton; he’s from Ridley) loved the idea of putting down roots in Cape May County. But their 700-square-foot apartment in Wildwood Crest came with multiple headaches: mold, leaky bathtub, a summertime parking situation that Nicole described as “insanity.”
So the couple set their sights on a starter home. They dreamed of a Shore property with three bedrooms and a garage where Dan could pursue his hobby of fixing old Jeeps. It didn’t take long for them to redraw their lines in the sand.
The search: The couple spent the next 2½ years immersed in a different kind of Jersey Shore roller coaster. Because prices in North Cape May were beyond their budget, they expanded north, searching as far as Ocean View. They toured 21 homes, including one odd space with roughly a dozen reptile enclosures. “I saw two snakes and walked out,” Nicole said.
There were many false starts. The couple put in several offers. They were outbid on three and grieved a failed inspection on the fourth. “So many days I was defeated,” Nicole said. “I would just cry because I felt like I did everything I was supposed to do: went to college, got a good job, worked a second job and then a third. It’s hard down here because it’s a vacation town; people want their second homes. But it’s like … guys, leave some for the rest of us!”
Complicating the search, the couple planned on supplementing their down payment with a loan through the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA) Down Payment Assistance Program. This shrank the pool even further because many properties within their budget wouldn’t meet the condition requirements. Even chipped paint or slightly damaged siding took houses out of the running.
On their worst days, to cheer themselves up, they did what any true-blooded Shore residents would do: “We went out for ice cream,” Dan said.
The appeal: Over the course of their prolonged search, the couple tied the knot and got pregnant, adding extra urgency.
“I texted our Realtor in a fit of pregnancy rage,” Nicole said. “Turns out, she’d just received a call from someone who wanted to sell a house quickly.”
The Renishes stopped by for a peek at the corner lot on a dead-end street, located around the bend from a sports complex and jungle gym. The modest rancher boasted new plank flooring, a recently renovated kitchen with granite countertops, storage attic, sunroom complete with floor-to-ceiling windows, fenced-in backyard, and an outdoor shower. It didn’t match the wish list — no third bedroom, no garage, only marginally larger than their rental — but it still felt meant to be.
On the wall hung a photo of a young girl, and Nicole recognized her as a dance student; turns out, the house belonged to her grandmother.
“It was kismet,” Nicole said. “The stars aligned.”
The deal: After years of suffering through bidding wars, Dan and Nicole enjoyed a clean inspection and negotiation-free settlement. The homeowner had been planning to list at $350,000, the top end of the Renishes’ budget. They offered $340,000, and it was accepted. They closed just before Memorial Day weekend, and “the day I deleted my Zillow app was the best day of my life,” Nicole said.
The money: Nicole, a former server, spent years working doubles and 12-hour days, socking away money from multiple jobs, while Dan juggled his own assortment of gigs. Wedding gifts added to their savings. The couple ultimately received $10,000 through the assistance program (forgivable if they remain in their home for at least five years), and they put another $11,200 toward deposits, closing costs and related expenses. Their mortgage rate is 5.6%, with a monthly payment of $2,502.
The move: For two weeks before moving day, Dan ferried boxes from Wildwood Crest to the new house in his car. Then, on a rainy Memorial Day weekend — a tricky time to be navigating the streets of Cape May County — he borrowed a box truck from his HVAC company and enlisted family members for the big push. With four cars joining the convoy, they hauled the remaining belongings in just two trips.
Life after close: So far, the couple has replaced the HVAC system (less daunting when you work in the business), replaced the attic stairs, put in a flower bed, repaired some fencing, and begun rehabilitating an overgrown backyard with gallons of homemade weed killer. Dan has also tackled some painting (Sherwin-Williams Romaine in the living room and Baby Blue Eyes in the nursery).
Still on the to-do list are bigger projects: transforming the backyard, planting a vegetable garden, installing a dishwasher, maybe even a large-scale renovation down the line to add a primary suite.
But for now, the couple is enjoying little signs that they’ve landed in the right place. During the darkest days of their house hunt, they went looking for ice cream. Now it comes to them: A Mister Softee truck stops on their block every Sunday.
The first time Nicole heard its jingle, she “was like a dog looking out the window.” When the driver told them he’d be back every week, she thought, “OK, yeah, we bought the right house.”
Did you recently buy a home in the Philadelphia area or South Jersey? Share the story of how you did it. Email Inquirer real estate reporters at properties@inquirer.com.
How I Bought This House