The buyers: Mercedes Murphy, 33, healthcare worker
The house: a 1,710-square-foot townhome in Port Richmond with three bedrooms and two baths, built in 1925.
The price: listed for $289,000; purchased for $291,000
The agent: Emily Terpak, Compass
The ask: Murphy had a strategy for maximizing her savings: never pay more than $850 in rent. If it went above that, she would simply move, which she did several times over five years. But eventually, what started as a strategy began to feel like a trap. “The quality of the places I was willing to pay for kept dropping,” Murphy said. When her small, rat-infested apartment in Point Breeze flooded — the second place she’d lived in that had flooding issues — she decided she’d had enough and set out to find a two-bedroom house with an updated kitchen for $350,000 or less.
The search: Murphy looked across the city, including in Mt. Airy, Fishtown, and South Philly. Some houses looked good in photos, but looked worse once she saw the surroundings. A Northwest Philly rowhouse made a great impression inside, thanks to its sparkling wood floors, but not outside. “It was just parking lots, and nobody was around,” Murphy said. “It wasn’t very safe.”
She saw a promising place in Fishtown — a beautiful house with updated appliances, right by Girard Avenue. But it was small and had only one bathroom. Murphy debated the pros and cons with her then-fiancé (now husband), Stefan Walrond, for a few days, then made an offer. Almost immediately, she regretted it. She pulled her offer less than 24 hours later. “They had so many offers already,” Murphy said, “I didn’t feel like fighting for it.”
The appeal: A week after she pulled her offer, Murphy got COVID and couldn’t attend showings. Her fiancé went to see a house in Port Richmond without her. “He did the tour,” she said. “He sent me photos and did a little video walk-through.”
Murphy could tell that this might be the one. It had everything she wanted, including lots of space, two full bathrooms, and an updated kitchen. It even had a backyard with a cherry tree and enough room for their dog. What ultimately sold her, though, were the finishes in the kitchen and upstairs bathroom: the gold faucets, the marble countertops, the built-in bench in the shower. “I loved the modern aesthetic,” Murphy said.
The deal: Murphy wanted to avoid a bidding war, so she offered $291,000, $2,000 over the asking price.
The inspection was straightforward. The only major issue was the roof. It would need to be replaced in a few years. A few of the appliances looked like they wouldn’t last very long either. Murphy didn’t ask for any concessions or credits. She just made sure she had enough money saved to pay for replacements down the line. Sure enough, the fridge broke one week after she moved in, and the roof started leaking within the year.
The money: Murphy, a self-described “huge saver,” started aggressively saving money in 2015, the year she got her first “major job.” When she went to buy a house seven years later, she had just over $100,000 in savings. “I always lived really below my means,” Murphy said. She drove an old used car, lived with roommates, and didn’t have any “crazy expenses, like video games or makeup.”
“I’m just not a big spender,” she said. Not having student loans helped too.
Murphy used $70,000 for a 20% down payment. She tapped into her remaining $30,000 to pay for the new roof, which cost $6,000, and a new washing machine, which cost $1,700. Her parents bought her a new fridge for $2,000.
The move: Murphy’s landlord allowed her to break the lease she shared with her fiancé due to the flooding. She hired movers for the first time ever. “I moved so much in Philly before that I knew this time I definitely wanted movers,” Murphy said. It only cost $400. “We didn’t have that much stuff,” she said, “and we weren’t going very far.”
Any reservations? Murphy and Walrond love their neighborhood and their neighbors, but they wish they lived on a quieter street. “Aramingo is a main thoroughfare,” Murphy said. “So we have a lot of emergency vehicles come by.”
Other than that, Murphy wishes she negotiated more. If she could do it all over again, she wouldn’t offer $2,000 over the asking price. She would also ask for more concessions from the seller to address the aging appliances. “I didn’t even think to do it,” Murphy said. “I was just so happy to get a house.”
Life after close: Murphy hasn’t changed anything since moving in, just repaired things. The leak in the roof damaged the bedroom drywall, which she is now in the process of fixing. And she had to replace a leaky window in the office. Despite the minor inconveniences, she’s happy with her purchase. Now she’s focused on rebuilding her savings. She wants to get back to $100,000. “Let’s see if I can do it again,” she said.
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