Well, the secret is out guys! We’re moving!

Honestly, this move was so unexpected. We’ve been in our current house for exactly 2 years and always thought we would stay here for around 5 years. Well, within a matter of 2 weeks things changed fast LOL.

So here’s what happened.

We were over at our friend’s house for a little social distancing wine & takeout night last month and we were sitting outside in their backyard. We were saying how much we loved their outdoor space and how it would be so nice to have one of our own in our future house (our backyard is basically non-existent). So then we started taking about how we planned to stay in our house for around 5 years, etc. We then got on the topic of how because of COVID, interest rates are so much lower, and how now could actually be a good time to buy. And while that is true, we just kind of shrugged off the idea because were we really going to move?

Turns out, we really were LOL.

Fast-forward to a few days later and Stephen and I were talking. We really do love our house but aside from the lack of outdoor space, we have felt for a while now that we need more space (mostly because of my job). Our house now is about 1500 sq. feet and has 3 bedrooms. One bedroom is ours, the other is a full office which we definitely need since we work from home, and then we have 1 extra bedroom. This one extra bedroom is basically taken over with all my stuff for work, so we really don’t have anywhere for anyone to stay when they visit, or if we were to have a baby, etc. You get the picture lol. But we never really thought moving would be on our radar for another few years. But we were like, maybe we should just talk to our realtor (who sold us the house we’re in now) about moving? Maybe it does make sense to move? We kind of felt crazy for jumping on this idea so quickly, but hey, you only live once right?! I mean, it doesn’t hurt to have a conversation.

So we called our realtor and mortgage broker, and given current interest rates and what we would get approved for we thought –maybe this isn’t such a crazy idea after all. I mean, we’re not in any rush to move but it doesn’t hurt to just start looking. You know, “look just to look” …but are you ever really looking to just look? Haha.

For the next week or so we browsed homes online but nothing was really standing out to us. Which was fine! We didn’t expect to find anything right away ad and we weren’t in a rush. We knew this next house was going to be a long-term play so we didn’t want to compromise on a lot. I shared on the blog recently about the process of buying our first home and we definitely made more compromises for the house we’re in now because 1. Stephen wasn’t working and we were only approved for a mortgage on a single salary (my nursing salary) and 2. We knew this wasn’t a forever home so we weren’t going to be “as” particular. This time though, even though we knew weren’t probably going to get everything we wanted (no house is practically perfect) we could get a lot closer and not make as many compromises.

Within a week of looking, we went to see one house but didn’t love it. A couple days later Stephen and I were looking online (for like the 5th time that day LOL) and saw this one house that just came on the market was having an open house on Sunday. We liked what we saw online so we thought—doesn’t hurt to just stop by? And if we love it, we can then talk with our realtor.

We get to the house Sunday and it was even better in person than photos. Sure, it needed some cosmetic updates here and there but almost everything about it was on our “wish list.” Lots of natural light, big kitchen with an island, big master closest, large & private backyard….we were like, is this too good to be true??

I called our realtor after we left, and we decided to go see the house on Tuesday (Monday was Memorial Day). I was already getting anxious about letting the house sit there for another couple of days because houses in the Raleigh-Durham market go fast. Like 24-hours sold fast. Granted, things have slowed down a little with COVID, but not a ton. So anyway. We get there on Tuesday, do a walk through and I asked him at the end–what are your thoughts? Are we being hasty wanting to put in an offer? How rare is this house–basically, will we see similar ones on the market later down the road? He basically told me that houses like this (given our wish list) didn’t come up that often. (I should also say that we trust our realtor 100% so I knew he wasn’t just encouraging us to put in an offer so he could make a sale. Very important you find someone you trust!!). So with how Stephen and I were feeling and advice from our realtor, we put in an offer that day!

We found out there was another offer on the table, but lucky the buyer accepted our offer that same day and we officially signed off on everything that night! As you can see things definitely moved fast but we are excited and so grateful that things just seemed to workout and that we found our forever home so quickly. Yep, I don’t think we will be moving from this house unless we decide to downsize later on so we’re in the house for the long-haul!

We close on July 13th, and can’t wait to introduce you guys to the new house and take you along on the journey! We’re going be doing a few updates when we first move in so I’m excited for you to be part of that process too. Also, if you’re reading this I just want to say THANK YOU. It is because of your support of my brand and blog that we are able to start this next chapter I will be forever grateful xxC