“I wasn’t necessarily looking for a house in that area. But I ended up looking in more up-and-coming neighborhoods to find the kind of house that I wanted — older with character and more square footage,” Gooch said.

“I like the Manchester area. Things are really popping around here.” She mentioned The Butterbean Market & Cafe with its live music and a brewery that’s coming to the area with a rooftop bar.

“I’ve lived in Richmond since 2006. I know the area. But this feels really new,” she said.

The house she bought was listed at $189,000. She offered $194,000 and was accepted. She offered over the asking price because she’d been outbid on another house in Fulton.

“I was devastated,” Gooch said of when she didn’t get the house in Fulton. “I had no idea it was going to be such an emotional process. I started picturing my whole life in that house. I saw myself moving in the summertime. I really started seeing my life in that house. When I found out I didn’t get it, I felt like I was going through a breakup, mourning the loss of that house.”

Gooch said she took a small break from house hunting. “Eventually, I got over it and found this house.”