I think it is safe to say that this year we bought ourselves our largest (and most pricey) Anniversary gift to date!
After a long and grueling house hunting journey that felt absolutely epic and all-consuming... we finally made an offer on a house on December 27th. After a stressful counter and a rush to accept it (before another individual's offer was able to be officially submitted) - we received word at approximately 6 pm on December 28th that we were officially under contract!! Yay!
The house hunt began (this time) in August and lasted for a full 5 months. In the process we saw approximately 78 homes (a handful of those homes we saw multiple times) and we also made 2 offers on other homes (and came close on several others). Thankfully we had the BEST REALTOR ever. I am not sure that we could have survived this learning experience without her!
During this process Jeremy and I had the opportunity to explore what really WAS important to us and what wasn't. We expanded and expanded our search criteria on our personal journey to discover what it was that we were truly looking for. We didn't want to make any assumptions, we wanted to see it all for ourselves and make a deliberate choice. We considered a lot of different areas - subdivisions - neighborhoods, a lot of different price points, small houses - big houses, brand new constructions - and historic older homes. We considered our financial goals, future dreams, family dynamics and needs. We pondered a lot about what it is that we really want out of life. We analyzed the real estate market trends and appreciation/resale value of the homes. We considered the schools, the commute, costs to maintain the home, neighborhood environment, etc...
I guess the house hunt to us was a lot more than just looking for a home - it was deciding what our priorities were and what we wanted to experience from this chapter of our lives.
In other words: We over complicated the process ENTIRELY!!!! :)
Here is the list that we kept coming back to over and over again throughout the process. It is titled "What are we looking for in a home?"
We are looking for a home that will ADD (not subtract) from our life and family. The home should:
- add safety and security (we're not moving again anytime soon!, safe neighborhood and location)
- add convenience (a short commute, close to the shopping areas we frequent)
- add peace (a backyard and a playroom to play in)
- add comfort (a garage, a master bathroom)
- add order (space for storage, ample closets and kitchen cupboards)
- add friendships (good neighbors and church congregation)
- add financial freedom (a good investment, a low monthly payment to maintain flexibility)
- add low maintenance (not a lot of time or $ in maintenance, not too much space to clean!)
- add self reliance (it is sufficient for our needs, NOT over extending ourselves)
*** Above all we want the house to work FOR us not AGAINST us. ***
With that ambiguous list, no WONDER it took us a long time to hone in on what we were actually looking for! Our "actual" list evolved as we decided that during this phase of our life what we most needed was this:
1. A great backyard space to play and live in
2. LOW maintenance (not too big to clean either)
3. A "good" investment (there we go with ambiguous again!)
4. At least 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms
5. A big playroom
6. A good size kitchen
7. A nice cul-de-sac lot in a good neighborhood
And... drum roll please.... that is EXACTLY what we got!
With 5 days to spare (before we needed to be in contract to close on the house in time to move out of our current sub-let situation) we made an offer on a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom, 3 car garage, 2200 square foot home with a good size kitchen, huge playroom, quiet cul-de-sac lot, and one of the BEST backyards that we had seen!! It also boasts a shorter commute for Jeremy, closer to shopping, in a great neighborhood, and we get to stay in our same ward with wonderful friends close by! After all of the turmoil, angst, and worry of the house hunting process it was a profound experience to feel the peace of the decision to buy this home. The timing of everything has been incredible. And we are so happy with the house hunting process, for what we learned along the way, and for the decision that it brought us to. No regrets. No buyer's remorse (that is amazing for me!).
This is OUR home. Our FIRST home. The right spot for our family, right now. It's not perfect, of course. But we love it and are so excited!! We close in the middle of February.
