It has been a busy, stressful month since I last wrote, but I'm happy to say that it's all in the past and we closed on our new home last Wednesday!
When I last wrote, we had just lost out on a home we really, really liked. Seeing and losing that home really got us antsy to find our forever home so we amped up the search that week and found a bunch of houses to go look at the following weekend. We saw a few that were fine, but none of them felt like home when we walked in. We saw some pictures of one that I just couldn't quite wrap my head around, so I wanted to see it in person. When we opened the door, to our surprise the homeowner was walking down the stairs! She was extremely pleasant and said that she didn't drive in the snow (yup, snowing like crazy in April!) and that she would stay out of our way. We walked through the house and loved it. We finished our tour that day and wanted to go back and see this home for a 2nd time. We called the realtor and she told us that was fine, but that there was an offer on the home and she just wanted us to be aware. We went back anyways. As we were standing in the basement talking about how much we loved it, the realtor selling the house we lost the previous week called our realtor. The all cash offer fell through and the first house was back on the market. We couldn't believe that there were two homes we liked that we had a chance at getting. We decided to put our offer back on the table for the first home, but we put the pressure on them to make a decision because if that one didn't work out, we wanted the 2nd house. After much stress and waiting, we were outbid again on the first house and put the offer in for the 2nd home that evening. Our incredible realtor was up until 11PM on a Saturday doing paperwork for us. She is an angel. Knowing that there was another offer on the house already, we gave our best and found out the next morning that they accepted!
Having the house, now it was time for the mortgage. We bought our first home 8 years ago and it was a very different experience. Back then, they asked us if we wanted a house, we said yes, and they pretty much told us we could have any mortgage we wanted for any house we wanted, just choose. Now, clearly I'm exaggerating a bit, but compared to how much work it was this time around, it felt like it was that easy. After agreeing to hand over our first born child, name our 2nd child after the bank who gave us a mortgage, and signing all of our paperwork with blood, we closed! (I'll let you decide if that's an exaggeration or not).
The night of closing we brought Deb to the house and she LOVED it. We have a big backyard with tons of space for her to run and play and lay in the grass. She's in puppy heaven. We invited a few friends over and sat on the deck with pizza and beers in perfect, summer weather. It was a lovely evening. We officially move next Saturday which means I'm spending the holiday weekend packing. It's quite a bit easier this time around with only having to pack up an apartment, plus I got rid of SO much stuff when we moved last year so there's nothing to get rid of this time. If we own it, it goes in a box. Easy. Even better yet, we have a week and a half between closing and moving so every time we go to the house, I bring a truck load of stuff that I don't feel like packing or that I don't want to have the movers toss on the back of a truck. That's a HUGE relief.
In between all of this house fun, my parents came to PA! They flew in on my birthday and it was really nice to have them around. We went to Longwood Gardens and it was so much fun to see everything so green. The Saturday that they were here we did our final walk through and they got to see our new house. I'm so happy that they will have an idea of where we live and what it looks like. The owners were there to talk to Andy and show him the guts of the house (these people were the absolute best sellers we could have asked for) and my mom and dad got to meet them too. It was almost like a hand-off of the home and it was really cool. On Sunday we drove to Atlantic City and got to see the ocean. It was a bit rainy, but the ocean is my favorite, no matter the weather. I've committed to loving the ocean for better or worse, so a little rain doesn't stop me! Mom won a few bucks on the slot machines and we got some candy at James's Candy store, of course. It was really nice to spend time with mom and dad and have them see what our day to day life is like here.
We said goodbye to them, we're finishing up our time at the apartment, and I'm also finishing up my first year at Unionville Elementary School. I can't believe the year is almost over. As I look at the kids, I realize that I'm going to miss seeing them this summer. It's also a little sad that they are off to middle school, so I won't see them unless they come back to visit. So many goodbyes. It has been a really great year and I am so grateful to have gotten a position in such a great school district. I have made some good friends and truly enjoy everyone that I work with. That being said, bring on summer! I can't wait to get to the ocean and swim again. The thought of sandy hair and sticky, salty, skin sounds incredible!
And, I'm off to finish up my packing. Pictures of the house will follow! Until then, here's a few to quench your curiosity...
When I last wrote, we had just lost out on a home we really, really liked. Seeing and losing that home really got us antsy to find our forever home so we amped up the search that week and found a bunch of houses to go look at the following weekend. We saw a few that were fine, but none of them felt like home when we walked in. We saw some pictures of one that I just couldn't quite wrap my head around, so I wanted to see it in person. When we opened the door, to our surprise the homeowner was walking down the stairs! She was extremely pleasant and said that she didn't drive in the snow (yup, snowing like crazy in April!) and that she would stay out of our way. We walked through the house and loved it. We finished our tour that day and wanted to go back and see this home for a 2nd time. We called the realtor and she told us that was fine, but that there was an offer on the home and she just wanted us to be aware. We went back anyways. As we were standing in the basement talking about how much we loved it, the realtor selling the house we lost the previous week called our realtor. The all cash offer fell through and the first house was back on the market. We couldn't believe that there were two homes we liked that we had a chance at getting. We decided to put our offer back on the table for the first home, but we put the pressure on them to make a decision because if that one didn't work out, we wanted the 2nd house. After much stress and waiting, we were outbid again on the first house and put the offer in for the 2nd home that evening. Our incredible realtor was up until 11PM on a Saturday doing paperwork for us. She is an angel. Knowing that there was another offer on the house already, we gave our best and found out the next morning that they accepted!
Having the house, now it was time for the mortgage. We bought our first home 8 years ago and it was a very different experience. Back then, they asked us if we wanted a house, we said yes, and they pretty much told us we could have any mortgage we wanted for any house we wanted, just choose. Now, clearly I'm exaggerating a bit, but compared to how much work it was this time around, it felt like it was that easy. After agreeing to hand over our first born child, name our 2nd child after the bank who gave us a mortgage, and signing all of our paperwork with blood, we closed! (I'll let you decide if that's an exaggeration or not).
The night of closing we brought Deb to the house and she LOVED it. We have a big backyard with tons of space for her to run and play and lay in the grass. She's in puppy heaven. We invited a few friends over and sat on the deck with pizza and beers in perfect, summer weather. It was a lovely evening. We officially move next Saturday which means I'm spending the holiday weekend packing. It's quite a bit easier this time around with only having to pack up an apartment, plus I got rid of SO much stuff when we moved last year so there's nothing to get rid of this time. If we own it, it goes in a box. Easy. Even better yet, we have a week and a half between closing and moving so every time we go to the house, I bring a truck load of stuff that I don't feel like packing or that I don't want to have the movers toss on the back of a truck. That's a HUGE relief.
In between all of this house fun, my parents came to PA! They flew in on my birthday and it was really nice to have them around. We went to Longwood Gardens and it was so much fun to see everything so green. The Saturday that they were here we did our final walk through and they got to see our new house. I'm so happy that they will have an idea of where we live and what it looks like. The owners were there to talk to Andy and show him the guts of the house (these people were the absolute best sellers we could have asked for) and my mom and dad got to meet them too. It was almost like a hand-off of the home and it was really cool. On Sunday we drove to Atlantic City and got to see the ocean. It was a bit rainy, but the ocean is my favorite, no matter the weather. I've committed to loving the ocean for better or worse, so a little rain doesn't stop me! Mom won a few bucks on the slot machines and we got some candy at James's Candy store, of course. It was really nice to spend time with mom and dad and have them see what our day to day life is like here.
We said goodbye to them, we're finishing up our time at the apartment, and I'm also finishing up my first year at Unionville Elementary School. I can't believe the year is almost over. As I look at the kids, I realize that I'm going to miss seeing them this summer. It's also a little sad that they are off to middle school, so I won't see them unless they come back to visit. So many goodbyes. It has been a really great year and I am so grateful to have gotten a position in such a great school district. I have made some good friends and truly enjoy everyone that I work with. That being said, bring on summer! I can't wait to get to the ocean and swim again. The thought of sandy hair and sticky, salty, skin sounds incredible!
And, I'm off to finish up my packing. Pictures of the house will follow! Until then, here's a few to quench your curiosity...
Comments
Post a Comment