Home At Last

Buying a home has been a dream for Nathan and since we were first married. It took us a while to come to a good place in our lives and careers to become comfortable and ready for such a big purchase.

We applied for pre-approval and were happy to hear when the lender said, "Everything looks great, go out and buy a house!" It was strangely simple and we set out with our Realtor to find the perfect home. 

We had some "deal breakers". We knew the neighborhood we wanted to live in, the size of the house that we wanted, and the amount of money that we were willing to spend. But there was nothing available, or worth looking at and we learned some hard lessons along the way. We started to realize that the "joy" and excitement of shopping for houses is a fabrication that comes directly from the all-American dream of owning a home! We hadn't realized how stressful and frustrating the process would be. 

We were pre-approved for our loan in February and it wasn't until the beginning of May that we found and "won" our house. This was the fourth house that we put an offer on. We were outbid by $10,000 or more over asking price in the three other houses. Trying to be patient was difficult and the mottos, "all good things come with time," and "it wasn't meant to be" were met with skepticism. We were suddenly looking in a buyers' market and we were close to giving up and renting for another year. And of course, at this time we had already given up our rental property and were living with Nathan's parents while we took our time to shop around. We weren't left with many options. 

After picking up the girls from school and daycare, I basically watched the sign go up on this home! 

We contacted our Realtor that afternoon and within hours we had the house under contract. We couldn't waste a minute in such a tough market. We only gave the seller's until 8 a.m. the following morning to accept, decline, or counter our offer. They accepted that night and we celebrated with Dan and Julie, also our new neighbors! 

After an eight week closing, we prepared for our move, which wasn't difficult because most every thing had already been packed and loaded into storage. 

We looked at more than twenty houses and the girls made a point to test the stairs in each and every one. 

We are so blessed with amazing friends and family members. Our first thank you should go to Bruce and Maggie for welcoming our family into their home. Their kind-hearts show no boundaries and we thank God for their graciousness.

Next, we should thank our Realtor who's patience and willingness to take us out in a blizzard are so very appreciated. 

Thank you Connie!

Also, thanks to Dan and Julie and Wes and Cara for allowing us to invade your home without notice on numerous occasions. Your advice and direction was so helpful when we couldn't find much guidance elsewhere. 

Thanks to everyone else for all of your support and advice throughout our home search, moving process, and for occupying some of our many "homeless" nights! 

It was surreal at first, but now we are excited to announce that we are finally home!

More posts on moving day and home improvements to come!