The buyer: Sam Gellerstein, 32, musician
The house: A 1,344-square-foot rowhouse with two bedrooms and 1½ baths built in 1923
The price: Listed for $335,000, purchased for $346,000
The agent: Chris Coulton, BMB Living Real Estate
The ask: Sam Gellerstein wanted space.
He’d been in South Philly for the better part of a decade, and he loved the area. But his one-bedroom off East Passyunk Avenue was starting to feel small. What’s more, after a three-year long-distance relationship, his partner, Sara Sarmiento, was moving to Philadelphia from South Florida. He needed a place big enough for both of them — and big enough to support a future family.
The one-bedroom “was cool for me as a person living by myself,” said Gellerstein, who cofounded and plays bass for Philly band Snacktime. “But wanting to have a dog and start a family, we wanted to have a nice, big house, and we wanted to be around cool stuff.”
It was important to stay in South Philly and to be able to have friends and family visit, too — so extra living spaces were a must. He and his partner also wanted something they could make their own.
“My girlfriend’s an amazing artist, and I like to think I have some style myself, so it was really important to have a place we could put our touches on,” Gellerstein said. “We didn’t want to just hang up the pictures and be like, ‘This is our place.’ We wanted to be able to put our personality into it.”
The search: Their search began last June. Gellerstein estimates that they looked at about 15 houses — pretty much all of them south of Washington Avenue. One, near 13th and West Ritner Streets, seemed promising. “It was a really beautiful house with one of the craziest backyards I’ve ever seen in Philly,” he said. “Really amazing high ceilings. It was really special.” The downside was that it didn’t have central air, and the basement was in need of significant work. So when they submitted an offer and didn’t get it, it wasn’t the end of the world. Not long after, they found The One.
The appeal: Unlike the previous house, this one had central air as well as a mostly finished basement. They liked that this house didn’t need a ton of work and that the money they’d save on renovations could be used on other things. Gellerstein loved the standalone bathtub. It also had a backyard and was next to Wharton Square Park.
The decision to make an offer was easy. “There wasn’t too much drama in selecting the house,” Gellerstein said.
The deal: The home had multiple offers, so the couple put in a bid over asking price. Ultimately, they offered $346,000, and the bid was accepted. As part of the negotiation, the couple agreed to informational inspection, and the seller offered $11,000 to help with closing costs.
The money: “I had some money that I found in a couple different accounts that I’d been saving up in, and I used some of my old retirement money from a previous job,” Gellerstein said. All told, they put $19,000 down and were able to secure a monthly mortgage payment of $2,375.
The move: Gellerstein hired movers to take his belongings from the one-bedroom to the new home, and the couple used a moving van to get his partner’s things from Florida to Philly.
Any reservations? With the exception of a dryer that needed replacing shortly after moving in, “the house has been very good to us,” Gellerstein said. “It held up through these cold winter months, nothing crazy happened, so we’re really grateful.”
He’s loving the basement, particularly. “We put a [vintage] Herman Miller cubicle down in the basement and separated it off from the den so it almost functions as another little tiny room,” he said. And after years spent working in a cramped bedroom, the added space has been revelatory.
“It’s really nice to be able to work and write music and compose and get my emailing done,” he said.
Having a fenced-in backyard has been great for the couple’s new pit bull, Mooshy, on mornings when a long walk isn’t possible. Next on their to-do list is turning an unfinished portion of the basement into an additional bathroom.
Life after close: They’ve quickly fallen in love with the neighborhood, which they’ve found incredibly welcoming. “The block is super tight,” Gellerstein said. Meanwhile, a collection of nearby restaurants and coffee shops offers plenty to do.
“We put a lot of work into getting this house that’s perfect for us,” he said. “Who knows what the future might hold? But we don’t view this as a starter house — we view this as our house.”
Did you recently buy a home? We want to hear about it. Email darnett@inquirer.com.
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