Life Update - House Hunting Edition

A few weeks ago G and I fell in love with a house super close to work on a river. We didn't expect it to happen so fast because we love our house. Oh, how quickly we could cheat on our house and fall in love with another! We went again with my parents to show them the house and they had a few reservations, but we were smitten. We had weighed the pros and cons and decided it was worth it.

We scrambled to get our house ready to go on the market. it was a mad dash of deep cleaning, purging 10 bags of clothes to donate, touch ups, hiring out a new sump pump install, gutter cleaning and a fresh coat of paint on the exterior. We put the awning up and cleaned the garage. WHEW. It was a lot of work and we were tired, but so excited for the "River House" as we started to endearingly call it.

It's not how I would have done it. I wish we didn't put off some of these projects for so long to be completely honest. I don't even know why we did. It feels amazing to have the house looking so fabulous! But looking back I don't think I ever would have put my house on the market without being completely sold on another home. We have talked about moving for years, but I think it took falling in love with another house to actually move forward.

So our house hit the market and we had 18 showings the first week. CRAZY! The running out of the house at a moment's notice and leaving the house show ready every morning was exhausting, but exciting.

In the meantime things were progressing on the river house. We met with our broker, our offer was accepted and we scheduled the inspection. In the meantime G decided to call on flood insurance quotes because it was a concern of our realtor's. He even urged us to put in the contingencies of the contract because he thought what the current owners' were paying was really low.

That is when everything went down hill. The insurance agent G talked to gave us the craziest flood insurance quote we ever heard. The amount would put our mortgage payment way out of our comfort zone. So G called another insurance agent and was quoted the same thing. Long story short, the agent told G, and I quote, "Get the hell away from that house."

So we did. We walked away and I was sad. I had already moved in in my head. I had already started calling it "our house." I get attached to things and I was attached to that house. Now that reality was setting in I was bummed out and thinking "what am I doing? My. house. is. on. the. market."

But I also felt relief. My parents reservations about the house were valid and maybe I was a little blinded by the fancy modern updates, river views and my five minute to commute. In the end I think it was a blessing. God protecting us from getting in way over our heads.

Our house is still on the market.  29 house showings later. The feedback is things we can't change - the hill in the back, small kitchen, no mud room, not having a designated laundry room. Those are things I never thought twice about when buying the house, but also things I can't change. I know the right buyer will come along.

I'm also a little relieved too because the house hunt has been a DOOZY. We thought we could get a house on a lake close to work within our budget, but that is proving NOT to be the case. It's frustrating to see house after house at the top of our budget being a gut job. If I'm totally honest, our current house is looking better and better, ha! Maybe the drive isn't that bad?

An odd thing happened once we listed our house. It didn't feel like our house anymore. It was on the internet for all to see and people were walking through it daily and it just didn't feel like my house anymore.

So now we are facing the dilemma if living close to work is more important to us than lake living. Because it's becoming crystal clear we cannot get both in budget.

So that's life lately. it's been insanely busy and stressful,. On the other hand I'm also trying to enjoy the process and not get  discouraged. Everything happens for a reason and I'm confident God has the perfect house out there for us. We will find it! The timing just isn't right yet.

In the meantime we will keep looking. Explore new towns and try their restaurants. Grab a cocktail or head to the lake when we have to get out for a showing. Embrace the crazy.

We also took a much needed weekend trip to Grand Haven to relax and rest after that first week of 19 showings and walking away from the river house. More on the trip soon!