The Search Has Ended

I mentioned in my last post that we had made an offer on a house. Well, after some back and forth negotiations, we have an accepted offer! The search has ended. Wahoo!

After seeing over 80 houses in 14 different towns over the last 3 months, we settled on 1. Our search morphed a lot over time. Originally, we started looking in more of an urban feeling town (not city mind you but not completely suburban) for a house in walking distance to a town center. This house had to have amazing curb appeal and be an old charming home that had been renovated. This led us to a lot of houses with finishings we didn't love for prices we weren't able to or weren't comfortable paying. So, we decided we had to be open minded.

Then we looked at things all over the gamut of style, age, and condition in towns within an expanded radius. We looked and looked and looked. While my parents were here for Dylan's birthday a couple of weeks ago, we had them tour 2 homes that were at the top of our list. Having their opinions mattered a lot to me because a) my Dad's been in the real estate business for over 25 years now and knows a thing or two to consider and b) my Mom's more obsessed with houses than I am and has her fair share of remodeling experience over the years as a contractor. They saw both of those houses and had some valid points to consider on each.

Another week went by and, due to some things I had already considered but were reiterated by my parents, 1 house was eliminated. After the 2nd viewing of the other house, I liked it a lot more than the 1st viewing. A growing appreciation is always better than a declining one! We spent the next week exploring more homes and using that top of our list house as the litmus test. Nothing came close. So, we decided to make an offer.

Wouldn't you know it, after the house being on the market for 3 months and having 1 price drop over a month ago, we got into a multiple offer scenario! Rats! While I was hoping for more leverage, my powers of negotiation still won over. We paid just a bit more than we had agreed our top price was before getting into multiple offers but are happy with the deal we got.

So, it's a lovely new-ish home (4 years old) in the town of Wayland. I don't have the walk-ability to a town center that I was craving but we do have the space we want, a large lot that buffers us from neighbors, a reasonable commute to work and an excellent school system. I'm sure I'll find other destinations to enjoy walking to and will appreciate the other amenities of our new town. Some of the things I think I'll really like are being a short 3-4 mile drive to the shopping\restaurant mecca that we go to now for all of our purchasing needs and our very close proximity to the town's lakes and ponds which will be great for kayaking and swimming. And, after living in an old home for the last 9 years, there are definitely some benefits to new that I think I'll get used to REALLY fast. A few that come to mind immediately - large walk in closets, wood floors that don't squeak with every step, a 3 car garage (any garage for that matter....I've never had one) and a dry basement (which is even partially finished)!

Barring any major issues with the inspection on Monday, we move forward with the deal and plan to close on September 16th. With the home search stress behind us, a new stress has been introduced - selling our house. As we knew this would be coming up, we've been working on some projects to prepare but now we're in full gear on that front. I'm taking off tomorrow to help with some projects and packing around the house. The list is long but Mike and I are pumped and motivated so hopefully we'll able to knock most of them out in the next few days. If we do, the house could go on the market as early as late next week!

I'm definitely excited about this new house and new chapter in our lives. But, I'm very sad about it to. I absolutely love my house and my neighborhood and will be very emotional to leave it. It's a wonderful house that we've made our home through renovations, big life events and lots of joyful memories. Until now, that aspect of moving has only been abstract...now the reality is staring me in the face. I am the kind of person that gets very emotionally attached to a house and I can't even put into words how hard it will be to let go of it and move on. Pregnancy hormones aren't helping either. So, keep us in your thoughts this weekend and throughout next week as we are physically and emotionally challenged with preparing for this sale.