Like I mentioned on Friday, the past couple of months have really just been a whirlwind. What started as a casual, “looking into things” quickly evolved into an “oh, we’re really doing this” and that’s when the craziness began.
So we started looking into a couple of different houses and home scenarios towards the end of February and went to meet with a realtor a couple of times. Assuming that nothing was really going to come of it (because we didn’t ever think it could all work out at the time), Jay and I were both pretty nonchalant about the whole thing.
After meeting with the realtor the second time, we started to realize, okay…maybe this IS doable? So we started going over all sorts of things, crunching numbers, writing out spreadsheets…the whole nine. And every time we listed out a pros/cons list, it always came back to the same thing. Eventually we realized, okay, I guess it’s time to put our home on the market! Our original plan was probably to start listing it sometime between now and the middle of May so we could try to get our pool open and ready to show. But the timing worked out a bit differently than we first thought and our house was listed around mid-March.
I swear, I don’t think I’ve EVER seen my house so clean!
Within a couple of days being on the market, we had about a dozen showings which got a little interesting. You may remember (although, probably not) that we were spending a little extra time with family over one particular weekend, and that’s because we basically had to be out of our house the entire time.
Lo and behold, two days after our house was listed, we had two offers on the table…and never in my wildest dreams would I have thought anything was going to happen that soon! We negotiated a bit back and forth and soon after that, we had a contract and a buyer. Crazy.
So I’m sure you’re probably waiting for me to answer the big question…where are we moving to??
Well, in terms of location, we’re really only moving about 15 minutes away from where we are now so there won’t be too many changes in that regard. But we’ll be closer to our jobs and both sets of parents (to say the grandparents are thrilled would be an understatement) and we’re going to be in a good school district, which was very important to both of us.
And the most exciting part of it all is the fact that we’re building our new home!
This was the aspect that Jay and I were really unsure of and weren’t positive whether or not it’d be possible – or if it was the right thing for us, for that matter. But in the end, when we kept going back to those pros and cons, we always came back to building and we made the decision that that’s ultimately what we should do.
The process has been…interesting. It had its ups and downs, plenty of frustrations, but also a lot of excitement as well. We’ve been to a number of meetings and appointments where we’ve had the opportunity to pick out basically every little detail of our home… kitchen cabinets, floors, carpets, lights, siding, toilets, appliances (<—that was actually this night)…you name it! And as someone who is as indecisive as me, it’s certainly come with its challenges. BUT, we are very fortunate for the fact that Jay and I tend to agree on just about everything (and when we don’t, he usually lets me make the decision, smart man) so in terms of us butting heads in the process, it really just hasn’t happened. We’ve had so much fun making all of our selections!
So they actually started clearing our lot and digging the hole for our foundation this week, which really struck us both with one of those “umm, ok it’s really happening” moments.
And since our closing date is scheduled for the end of May, we finally realized that we needed to get a move on with the packing…
Unfortunately, as I’m sure you can assume, our new home is definitely not going to be ready by the time we need to be out of our current home, so things are going to be a little hectic for a couple of months. Luckily, we have some amazing friends and family who have generously offered to let us stay with them during our couple months of transition, so we’re working on finalizing some details on all of that. Regardless, it’s all going to work out in the end, but it’s still giving me a bit of anxiety thinking about it all!
The whole process has been pretty emotional for me. Some of you probably already know that the home we currently live in is my grandparents’ old home, and one that I’ve been coming to since, well, I was born. I have SO many wonderful memories of being here as a little girl, swimming in the pool, watching old home movies in the basement, having sleepovers with grandma, grandpa, and my brother…but then there’s also the 6+ years of memories that Jay and I have built here as a family, too. And all of the home projects we’ve done and are SO proud of…like a brand new kitchen, a remodeled bathroom, replacing all of the doors and trim, and a new back deck, to name a few.
I’ve always had a hard time with change and big transitions, and I know this won’t be easy. But we knew that this wasn’t a home that we’d stay in forever (we’re very quickly running out of space!) and we both know that this is the best decision for our family. We are absolutely thrilled for our next big step, and I’m sure I’ll be sharing many more details and house updates along the way!
Comments