Ed and I bought this our cottage spontaneously. We weren’t really looking to buy a place at the time. We made the rounds and went to some open houses on weekends, sure, but that was more just Sunday recreation for married yuppies than it was an actual endeavor.

Also, saying “we” bought the cottage spontaneously may have been a bit misleading. Ed was in Europe when I went to go see the cottage. He found it on Redfin and sent me the listing, and I said I’d stop by the open house while I was out running errands. It was a (relatively) inexpensive fixer-upper, it was a free-standing house, and it was perfect. So I called him and announced that I wanted to buy it. He was still in Europe when we made an offer a few days later. In fact, he didn’t return until 6 days before closing. Yes, my husband bought a house sight unseen. He’s awesome.