Today marks one year of us being in our new home. I know time flies, but it does not seem like it has been a whole year. Some days I still cannot believe that we built a house in the middle of a pandemic, but then I remember, God is always good. During the process there were lots of ups and downs, moments of joy and moments of frustration, and lots of anxiousness. The process was fun, but I do not think it felt real until we signed our names 183 times during closing.
We put our previous house on the market on May 8, 2020. We started showings the very next day! The showings continued but we did not receive an offer. We began to feel discouraged. So many showings, yet we did not have an offer. In the meantime we went ahead and put in a contingent offer on a house that we loved. This offer was contingent on the sell of our current house, and the sellers accepted it immediately. We were so excited! The crazy thing is we looked at this house before a few years back but at the time we did not qualify to purchase it based on the price. When we went to see it we fell in love immediately. The current owners completed many upgrades on the home and it was move-in ready. We continued showing our home and hoping and praying for a contract. A few weeks passed and we had no offers on our home. Our realtor was very good about keeping in touch with the sellers realtor. The days continued to pass and still no contract on our home. On June 2, 2020 we made the painful decision to terminate the contract on the house we thought was our “forever home.” We were both devastated, but we did not want to hold the sellers up from relocating as they were moving out of state.
God said, “nah.. bigger.”
We regrouped and changed up a few things on our home, and continued to show it as needed. So. Many. Prospects, but still no offer. We looked in another subdivision that we loved, and checked out some of the floorplans that were offered. We found a lot and went under contract to build our new home on June 25, 2020. Talk about excited! We were building from the ground up! After meeting with the builder we were told it would take around 90 to 120 days to build, we were able to breathe as we had time to get our house sold.
A couple of weeks passed before we got the news we were so ready to hear,. Our realtor called us on July 13, 2020 and told us “we have an offer!” After jumping for joy we read over the offer with our realtor and accepted it! Shortly after accepting the offer we prepped for closing, which meant an inspection on the home and an appraisal. Everything was going along as planned, and we started packing. I never realized how much stuff we had until we started packing. We began to think about where we would stay temporarily, as there would be about two months between us selling our home, and our new home being ready. We decided the most logical thing to do would be to live with my parents. The only downside to this, their home is 45 miles away. My parents wouldn’t have it any other way and they were so excited about us staying with them. We got rid of so much stuff while packing, and put the things we were keeping in storage. We only took essentials to my parents house, and enough clothes to get each of us through 2-3 weeks. This was hard for me considering I’m a clothing snob and I wanted all of my clothes with me!
On August 14, 2020 we closed on the sell of our home and we were officially with my parents for the time being.. and commuting daily. While it was tough some days, we knew the reward in the end would be so worth it. The days went by and we were having the best time with my parents. They were loving seeing the boys every day. In the meantime, the progress on our home was coming along nicely. I can’t put into words how it felt watching this home take shape from the ground up.
We started buying a few new things for the house because of course we were super excited. We had all of our colors, fixtures, flooring, carpet, and countertops picked out. Our builder even built us a mud bench in our laundry room! Our builders actually build cabinets for a living, so this definitely worked in our favor.. especially for the beautiful range hood we picked out and the mud bench in the laundry room! It was really starting to look like a home.
Our closing was scheduled for October 14, 2021, but of course with the home buying process things are always changing. There was an issue with something regarding our appraisal and our closing got pushed back. Ugh. Not what we wanted to hear. I tried to remain positive as I know that God will not put more on us that we can bare, but we were so looking forward to that day. On October 22, 2021 it became official.. we were HOMEOWNERS again! Whew, what a sigh of relief! We waited on this day for months and it was finally here.
For the past year we’ve been turning this house into a home, and making amazing memories.
I’ve enjoyed decorating for all the holidays.
I’ve enjoyed having family and friends over.
I’ve enjoyed having more space.
I’ve enjoyed all the home cooked meals and chats at the bar.
I’m thankful that God provided, and continues to. If you want to own a home, do it. We’ve been married for 16 years and this is the third (and hopefully final) home we’ve purchased, but it’s the first one that we’ve built and designed how we wanted, and that makes it so much better. On my Instagram I share lots of home pictures, and DIY projects, so if you’re not following me there please come join the fun!
Blessed and forever thankful.
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