To share the eventful but blissful past eight weeks of our lives. So in years from now when we need a reminder of that time when we purchased our very first home… we’ll have it here, to remember!
Justin and I have been keeping a secret over the past two months and it’s been killing us not to share! Obviously, we wanted to tell you right away, but there were a lot of moving parts that needed to be confirmed before we felt comfortable announcing the news… we bought a house! We close on our first home March 13th!
Ahh, our first big adventure.
We knew we were ready to sell our townhome, but had no idea it would happen so quickly. For us, the initial concept of moving began about seven months ago when, for fun, we spent a Sunday afternoon (top off of the Jeep!) exploring different neighborhoods throughout the Charlotte area. I vividly remember it being the most beautiful day. For the first time in months we had no real agenda and got lost chasing posted listings of various apps on Justin’s phone. This quickly became our routine Sunday afternoon that over time made us very knowledgable on the different housing options available in our area. In no rush, over the course of seven months we considered everything from purchasing a fixer-upper to building a custom home on land miles outside of the city.
We lived in a townhouse just South of the city. There, we made wonderful memories, but something about it never quite felt like home. As we plan to grow our family, my itch to have a place to call home became my priority. I longed for a porch where we can watch the sun set in the afternoons, a true living space to dance around barefoot in and a yard where we can finally plant our oak tree.
The ball got rolling around the start of the year after Justin came across a new construction home listed for an unbelievable price. Too anxious to wait, we called our realtor and visited the property that same day. Sadly the cons outweighed the pros, but we laughed so much and learned a lot too. While that particular house wasn’t a good fit (for reasons such as the neighbors free-range roosters), something about being in a home for the first time and seeing what could be ours was a nostalgic feeling.
The following Saturday, New Years Eve day, we looked at numerous properties with our realtor. Over the course of eight hours we saw a variety of options: historical homes, land to build upon and new construction houses.
It was an exciting and long day, and we were anxious to head home to get ready for a NYE celebration with friends when our realtor encouraged us look at one last property. She said she didn’t predict this house being on the market for very long, and that it was worth considering! As we drove up to the house we immediately fell in love. The floorpan was exactly what we wanted. As I mentioned before, we were casually looking at properties for quite some time, but this house was different. And so unexpected!
When we pulled away, I cried. I also laughed in shock of my reaction, but at this very moment in our lives it couldn’t be a more perfect place to start a family! Fast forward two months later… we were soon to be the owners of a new home!
Our home is new construction, yet has so much character! We have a few projects to do like renovating our master bath, kitchen and making a few changes to the exterior once we are in the house. We actually won’t be moving in until April 3rd. I am so excited to share this process with you and plan to document it all through short video segments titled, Soufflé Sweet Home! Lots of planning is underway and you can see those ideas via my Pinterest boards.
Because this whole process happened so fast, later this week I’m taking a deeper dive into the reality of the past two months. 2017 has been wild!
xx, Taylor-Rae
See our first of many videos below:
Film by, Market Street Studios
Congratulations!! Owning our own home has been such a joy and I know it will be for y’all too! Can’t wait to follow along 🙂
SO happy for both of you to finally be sharing the big news! Such an exciting time.
xoxo A
http://www.southernbelleintraining.com
Thank you, Annaliese! We are so thrilled. Congratulations on your new job. I hope it’s everything you dreamed it would be.
xx,
Taylor-Rae