Outbid in Mount Airy, they sprung for a historic twin in West Philly | How I Bought My House

The buyers: Kate Sheppard, 41, editor; Deen Freelon, 44, communications professor.

The house: A 2,800-square-foot twin in West Philly with four bedrooms and 3½ baths built in 1898.

The price: Listed for $720,000; purchased for $760,000

The agent: Scheryl W. Glanton, BHHS Fox & Roach

The ask: Kate Sheppard told her husband, Deen Freelon, that the only place she was willing to live other than Durham, N.C., was Philadelphia, so he decided to call her bluff. In October 2023, he got a job at the University of Pennsylvania. True to her word, Sheppard agreed to move but not right away.

They set a goal of moving to Philadelphia by summer 2024. Until then, Freelon spent part of the week in the city for work. On Wednesdays, he met with their agent, Scheryl Glanton, and toured houses chosen by Sheppard, a self-described “Redfin troll.”

“We would drive all over the place, checking various places out,” Freelon said.

The search: With two kids and one parent occasionally working from home, they wanted at least four bedrooms and 3½ bathrooms, with the half bath on the first floor. They also wanted a “kitchen that is actually made for cooking,” Sheppard said, and a basement with ceilings high enough to accommodate Freelon’s 6-foot-4 frame.

They were fine with a home that needed work, as long as they could still live there in the meantime. What they weren’t fine with was a pool, which they saw at several homes in Mount Airy. “We did not want to be responsible for a pool — absolutely not,” Sheppard said.

Finding a house with a basement that had high enough ceilings for Freelon turned out to be a challenge in the couple’s preferred neighborhood of Mount Airy. Sheppard is only 5-foot-4 and nearly hit her head on the ceiling of one of the homes. “It was weird,” she said. “They were made for colonial munchkins or something.”

Eventually, the couple found a few homes they liked, but they sold before the couple could put in an offer. “The stock was really not abundant at the time,” Freelon said.

They put an offer on a home near the border of Chestnut Hill but were outbid by $200,000. After that, they decided to expand their search to West Philly so they could be near Freelon’s work at the University of Pennsylvania.

The appeal: The house that stole their hearts is a historic home, part of the West Philadelphia Streetcar Suburb Historic District.

Parts of the inside had a “very tasteful remodeling,” Sheppard said, while the outside retained elements of its historic charm, like a giant stained-glass window near the front door. The house also had its original doors and hardwood staircase.

Another perk? All the natural light. “I like the Philly twin-style because you get windows on three sides,” Sheppard said.

The deal: The couple continued to look at houses in West Philly, but most homes they saw required gut renovations. Only the one with the stained-glass window was move-in ready.

After an issue-free inspection, they decided to put in an offer. The house was listed at $720,000, but after being outbid in Mount Airy, they offered $10,000 over the asking price. The house had multiple offers, so the seller asked if they could go any higher. “We went back and forth a little bit,” Freelon said. Eventually, both parties agreed to $760,000.

The money: The couple had a variety of funds for a down payment. One was a $120,000 forgivable loan from the University of Pennsylvania that Freelon received as part of his compensation package. As long as they stay in the house for a decade, they don’t have to repay it.

They also had savings from the sale of their former house, along with saved work bonuses, and money that Freelon inherited after his father died.

All in, they put $242,000 down — more than 30% of the total home price — and secured a 30-year fixed mortgage at 6.875%. The total loan amount after the down payment was $518,000.

The move: Although they purchased the house in April, the couple waited until summer to move because both buyers and sellers wanted their kids to finish the school year. Sheppard and Freelon also wanted their kids to attend camp in North Carolina, so they moved over two days in mid-July, three months after they closed on the West Philly house.

Any reservations? Sheppard and Freelon haven’t had any issues since moving in, only minor inconveniences. The previous owners “baby-proofed literally everything,” Sheppard said, “and we’ve been too lazy to take it down.”

Life after close: It wasn’t until after they moved in that the couple realized how nice their neighbors are. In their first two weeks, more people stopped by with cookies and pastries than in seven years at their old house.

“Everybody says the big city is so impersonal and everybody is so rude,” Freelon said. “But we’ve had the exact opposite experience. The social capital aspect is really, really nice.”

Did you recently buy a home? We want to hear about it. Email acovington@inquirer.com.