I’m over the moon to be writing this post because I’ve been holding this news tightly to my chest for a while now! It’s not that I didn’t want to tell you guys, trust me, I did. In fact, there were many a texts and conversations with Marco about how badly I was dying to share this news! But! We wanted to ensure everything came through and worked out before making the official announcement.
LET’S START AT THE BEGINNING…
January 2016 was around the time Marco and I started house hunting. We had been living together for two years when Marco took a new job where he began to work from home full time (which I wrote about in the 2016 Annual Recap), and our condo went from being a great size to a little cramped. Not a huge deal, but we started to look at homes and envisioned more space, which was definitely an exciting thought.
Fast forward a year later, and we were still coming up empty handed. We had seen so many properties, and we came close to settling on a couple, but ultimately decided to keep looking. In October, we decided to put a halt on the house hunt for a while–with upcoming holidays and newly engaged, there was lots to keep us busy so why add the stress of potentially moving in the winter.
We started to look again with our Realtor in January of this year, but there wasn’t a ton on the market, yet. However, when late February rolled around and Marco suggested we head out to an area we hadn’t explored before, thinking we might need to buy a lot and build something, I was pretty reluctant, but agreed. We took a drive and instead of finding a lot, we found a home! Under construction, with a For Sale sign on the front mud pile, we pulled in and peeked through the windows. At the time, we didn’t think it could be the one, but we sure did love the look of it. We excitedly-but-cautiously texted our Realtor and asked him to get the details on the house, which wasn’t listed online, to see if we could at least get a price.
A few days later, we found out the price and immediately set up a viewing for the coming weekend. We spent almost two hours at the house that morning with the seller, and were totally swooning! We left feeling excited, that this could potentially be our future home. We headed up to Tremblant that weekend, and discussed all the amazing holidays, parties and times we would have in this house over the course of the two hour drive. However, our bubble burst when we arrived to a message from our Realtor that another couple had gone to see the house immediately after us and put in a verbal offer!
NOTHING OFFICIAL, BUT THIS COULD BE A COMPETITIVE SITUATION NOW
Essentially, when someone puts in a verbal offer, it doesn’t really mean anything, but we were scrambling to figure out if this house was even financial feasible, without the added pressure of competition! After a few hours of serious discussion, we decided that we wanted to put in an offer, this was the house and we needed to move on it. Now.
The next few weeks were a mix of excitement and crazy stress. We submitted our offer the night before we left for our trip to Cancun, and while there we went back and forth with the seller on various counter offers. It was a crazy time! We were there with people from Marco’s work and several of them knew and were so excited for us–they kept asking what the status was, which was really sweet and jacked up our excitement too. The day before we left, our offer was finally accepted! Now came the conditions and financial implications–moving the money around, getting our deposit to the Lawyer and more. The pressure was high and there was lots to do, with a short time frame in order to secure our offer.
OUR OFFER GETS ACCEPTED!
Everything was eventually finalized with our offer, the mortgage broker and more, right before we left on this trip. It was was such a relief after weeks and weeks of high stress and working with a variety of people to ensure we got the house. Essentially, we had some major bumps in the road, added to the fact that there were two other individuals interested in the house, so we knew if we couldn’t seal the deal, someone else would.
We went on our trip completed elated to know that the house was ours and we would be moving in a month and a half!
PACKING UP OUR CONDO
Now it’s crunch time! We close on the house this Friday, which means that is when we get the keys. We have been packing and living amongst boxes for a few weeks now, which sucks–if I’m truly honest, ha!–but are just full steam ahead prepping for the move. If you’re new here, Marco and I currently live in a two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo, which you can see all my posts about the space here. We are totally pumped to be moving into a bigger space, where I can come home from work, make noise if needed, and not disrupt Marco who works essentially off of our kitchen, currently. Also, to be able to have our fiends and family over for meals at an actual table (our former table was a four-seater, so Marco and I were often eating off our laps on the couch), have BBQ’s in our backyard, park in a garage, have more cupboard space in the kitchen, and of course, be owners, is totally exciting! The list goes on, we are really over the moon and I can’t wait to bring you girls along with me–I’m going to need some serious help in the decor realm, and would love to hear your suggestions if you have them! Thanks to everyone that sent me a message after we shared our news on Instastories & Snapchat on the weekend, it means so much to get those messages from you, you have no idea.
I have been taking video and photos along the way, as the house was nearing completion, so lots to share with you once we finally get in there (including photos, promise). We are officially moving next Tuesday, but having some new furniture delivered on Saturday and will take a few car loads over ourselves in between. Plus, I’m sure we’ll be having a picnic on the floor this Friday after we get the keys–again, so so so excited, and can’t wait to be in!
UPDATE: MOVING INTO OUR NEW HOME
As always, thanks for reading, being here, stopping by and hanging out. Whether you’re a silent reader or someone who reaches out through any form of social, I appreciate you and you taking the time to connect with me here. See you tomorrow for a new outfit post! xo
Photos taken on our second visit, right before we put in our official offer.
