Those who know me know that I have been itching to get out of our condo and into a house for quite some time now. While living in 800 square feet of wedded bliss is lovely, our 27 and 28-year-old selves have quickly outgrown the allure of living near the Buckhead bars, which is what drew Matt in when he bought the condo straight out of college.
Don't get me wrong, I am grateful to own our own home and even more grateful that my mother came down to Atlanta approximately 3 weeks after our wedding to transform it from a bachelor pad (think Civil War General decanters, a pink and green floral couch that was missing an entire section that flew out of a truck bed and onto the interstate during the 2010 move, "limited edition" UGA Bud Light cans positioned on shelves as "decorations," you get the picture...) to an habitable, cohesively decorated living space for a newly-married couple.
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Our condo definitely has its perks that I take for granted and will sorely miss when we buy our first single-family home together: concierge, fully loaded gym, pool, extremely secured building access, little to no home maintenance, the adorable 5-foot-nothing octogenarian Japanese couple that lives across the hall from us. However, there are many other things that I will happily wave goodbye to once we move: sharing walls/ceilings with noisy neighbors, haggling over guest parking spots (and trying to navigate guests through the aforementioned extremely secured building access), sharing one single-sink bathroom with a ginger-headed grizzly bear, not having enough space to comfortably host dinner parties/visitors, etc...
Putting off buying a house has definitely been a test of patience for me, given that almost every other married couple that we know of immediately bought a house/got a dog post-wedding. Our situation was a tad different than everyone else's, however, since Matt returned to school full-time to pursue his MBA (a 2-year process, mind you). With his first year of school already coming to a close and a paid-internship/job-offer on the horizon, the green light to start the home selling/buying process has gingerly begun to flicker. Hey, I will take what I can get!
We are both type-A planners, and Matt's extreme love of Excel spreadsheets and personal finances allows me to rest a bit easier about our ability to buy a house. Couple these things with the fact that both of my parents are real estate agents, and our Summer 2016 time frame seems more in reach than ever.
I've watched enough episodes of House Hunters to know that you can never get everything on your wish list, but it never hurts to dream about our future Casa de Craycraft...
1. Charming curb appeal
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| This house is currently for sale in our preferred neighborhood and we LOVE it! |
2. Master bathroom with double-sinks
3. Located in our preferred neighborhood with close proximity to work and church
4. Fenced-in backyard so that I can FINALLY get the Brittany that I have always wanted
5. Large updated kitchen
6. Front porch or back porch/patio
7. Open space to throw parties and entertain friends and family
My wish list is exhaustive, so I decided to cap it at lucky number 7. If anyone out there has any helpful house hunting tips then please pass them my way!
Happy Friday!
Whatever you decide as a family, just go for it. Maybe any of these can be your practice run while looking for your dream home. It simply pays to have a home to call your own, and to mold and shape any way you please.
ReplyDeleteNaomi Walters @ Chicora
Please don't give up trying. We've just bought our first home, and I never thought that we would be able to do so. We used a local estate agent to help us through the process, and they found a home that ticked all of our requirements at the correct price. You just need to keep on looking.
ReplyDeleteElton Rousseau @ Hancock And Partners
I think you have done a great job with your place. It can be tricky to decorate a starter condo. I remember when we first moved into ours, it did not feel like a home and we both knew that we did not want to stay there long. We slept on the mattress, did not paint the walls, absolutely nothing.
ReplyDeleteJacqueline @ Buyer's Option Realty Services