If you missed Part 1, you can find it here!

We had found a house in the exact area of town that we were hoping for — a tree-lined street with the cutest houses, and a short walk from our favorite dining in town. We requested a showing and were paired up with a realtor through Zillow, and were headed to view the house a short time later.

The home was a Victorian-style home, originally built it 1911, but recently renovated to include more modern appliances and flooring. It had three bedrooms, 2 baths, and a ton of common space that could be used as a formal dining room, sitting room, and family room. While the architecture was quirky, we loved it because it was unique, plus the white pickets fence and large wrap around porch gave it so much curb appeal. Here are some pictures from the listing:

We loved the brick fireplaces (there were two!), the staircase, the wrap-around porch, the large master bath, and the family room in the back of the house. We were smitten with house charming the house was and its location, but I was still hesitant. I couldn’t figure out what it was about the house that I didn’t like, but I had a gut-feeling that prevented me from wanting to make an offer that day. We decided to take the weekend to think about it but were encouraged by our realtor to not wait too long because this house most likely wouldn’t last on the market very long.

In the meantime, we went back to the new build, this time with our realtor in tow. I was stuck at work so she and Jody had the opportunity to walk the house again and finalize the details with the mortgage broker that we chose to go with. Unfortunately, the original cost that we were told the house cost did not include all of the new build and property taxes, making the monthly payments almost $600 more a month than we had planned. Untimely, I had just decided that I was in love with that house and ready to move in when Jody called me to tell me it was going to be too expensive and we needed to pull our lot deposit.

Admittedly devastated and discouraged, we decided to ask for one more walkthrough of the charming house in town. While I wasn’t in the best mindset to be open to what this house could be to us, Jody and I were still hopeful. But after spending a little more time in the house trying to imagine us growing our family within those walls, we realized it wasn’t practical for us. While there were three bedrooms, the two that were on the second floor were incredibly small, which wouldn’t allow us to grow into it as we had hoped. There was also no garage and limited street parking, which would create a challenge, especially since we have three cars. Ultimately, we decided to pass on this house and trust the right house would come in time.

Fast forward two months later, when I was casually scrolling on Zillow, I came across a two-story colonial in a neighborhood not too far from our apartment. It had just been listed, and I admired the house and its decor from the pictures on the listing. It was a three-bedroom, two and a half bath, with a two-car garage and a decent size yard for being in a neighborhood, all of which checked off boxes on our list of wants. I thought it was cute, but I waited a few days to show Jody to make sure I liked it, in case he fell in love with it.

Four days later, we scheduled a walkthrough with our realtor. Once we got inside, it only got better. Everything had been updated (including new appliances!), it had an open floor plan and there was a ton of natural light throughout the entire house. We finished the walkthrough and couldn’t find a single thing wrong with it!

Considering the house had just come on the market, and of course considering that we aren’t in a highly sought after area, we knew we had a little time to think about it. We also had a friend in town visiting on the morning of the scheduled showing so we told our realtor that we’d discuss it later that evening and let her know the next day whether we were going to move forward or not.

Even though I was still slightly hesitant (I think due to all of the emotion of the last time we found a house we loved), Jody and I felt the most at peace throughout this whole process after seeing this house. We knew and trusted that if it was meant to be ours, it would be. The following afternoon we called our realtor to make an offer. 24 hours after that, we submitted our offer and by lunchtime the following day, we got the call that our offer had been accepted! We were thrilled but I tried to keep my expectations low going into inspections because it felt like it was all too good to be true. To say we were relieved when only a few minor things came back on the inspections (all of which the sellers agreed to cover!) would be an understatement. After the longest month and a half of waiting, we finally closed on our first home on September 20th. We got the keys and fulfilled a dream we had eating pizza on the floor, husband and wife, in our home. And it was perfect.

We tackled our first home improvement project of painting that weekend and then our big move was planned for the following Saturday. As each box gets unpacked, we are slowly turning this house into a home. We are so anxious to make the place our own, create space for our family and friends, and start filling the house with new memories — and I can’t wait to take y’all along for the ride!