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We bought a house!

CastleJJ's picture

Submitted by CastleJJ on Wed, 10/06/2021 - 7:40pm

I posted a blog on here a few months back about how stressed I was that we are living in a tiny two bedroom apartment, expecting a new baby, and worried about how SS would react about sharing his room/space with his baby sister. I was also worried about how SS would react about his baby sister in general, since he is on a long distance schedule and the baby would be with us full time. My biggest fear was SS feeling replaced and I figured the lack of space would amplify that feeling. 

DH and I have been working so hard to save up for a down payment for two years now and we got pre-approved, but everything just seemed out of reach. We couldn't find a home we liked, everything was either out of budget or required way too much work. I had made my peace with the idea of staying in this apartment for another year and dealing with the fallout/complexities of that choice. 

Two days ago, DH and I went for a drive and we stumbled across a newly built neighborhood. It was so cute and so well maintained. You could tell it was tailored toward seniors and young families. We drove through and there were no lots for sale. We were bummed, but moved on. The next day, DH and I called the builder to see if they had a lot available at another property, and they said they actually had one left at the property we originally wanted. We met with the builder today and signed on the dotted line. We will be building a 3 bedroom 2.5 bathroom home in the cutest neighborhood. Within 48 hours, everything changed! 

Now I am stressing because my due date is late February and the builder said we will be able to close/move-in by March 1st. I told DH that I will literally have a week or two old baby at time of move-in, so it's on him, our families, and our friends to help get us moved in. Everyone is so excited for us and totally willing to help. I cannot wait to tell SS at Christmas that he is getting a baby sister and a new house. After years of feeling broke due to high CS and always feeling like BM gets everything she wants, it's nice to have things go our way for a change. This has definitely been our year!

Comments

caninelover's picture

Submitted by caninelover on Wed, 10/06/2021 - 8:03pm

So excited for you! 

bananaseedo's picture

Submitted by bananaseedo on Wed, 10/06/2021 - 10:45pm

Congratulations!  That is great news.  The place you are at now is a rental?  Keep in mind that there can always be delays so the closing date may have to be moved further away.  You could look at doing what we did....since our first payment wasn't until the following month after signing (you can negotiate that many times)  we stayed in our apartment an extra month with my newborn. We were lucky in that our apartment complex just did us a solid as we had been there several years and just extended our current  payment and didn't over-inflate it.  Are you on a contract now and when is it up?  Maybe prepare to speak/negotiate with them.

  My parents stayed at our house and over the course of the month we did trips there/back.  I slowly unpacked over time, no rush.  Just kitchen stuff.  But I worked alongside them in between nursing the newborn.  So when we moved in, he was a month old.  The good thing is you will have some months prior to baby being born to pack your current house/purge junk/unclutter, etc.  It takes time so start now.  

Sure, we COULD have moved the week he was born but it was really just not good to do.  For your own comfort as well.  Stay put the first month and then slowly move things.  OR if you can afford it, sure, you could get movers to do it all/pack/unpack. , we weren't that kind of people lol

CastleJJ's picture

Submitted by CastleJJ on Thu, 10/07/2021 - 5:50am

We are in a rental and luckily we have a fully renewed lease until October 2022. We just have to provide four months notice to vacate and the lease will be broken at no charge to us. So we have a cushion and fully intend to use it if needed. I would like to delay move-in until a little later, just to give us time to adjust to baby and to heal. 

DH and I plan to start purging/packing now. Luckily, we have moved apartments 10 times in 8 years due to college, relocating, and high rent increases year to year, so we are well versed in that process. 

We aren't movers kind of people either. DH jokes that with pizza and beer, you can find an army to help move. Luckily, we have helped many friends move over the years and they are all very willing to help us. 

NotYourAverageStepMama's picture

Submitted by NotYourAverageS... on Thu, 10/07/2021 - 9:48am

Your situation reminds me of my close friends last year. My friend was due in January and their house was supposed to be completed in December. My DH and I were supposed to help them move as their families live hours away and we were more than happy to help them. Unforunately for them because of covid and the vaccine not being a thing yet for everyone, the doctor didn't want anyone around them that could not quarantine beforehand for her last 2 months of pregnancy. My friend's parents had the ability to quarantine and come help them luckily.

Their house was ready a week after the baby ended up being born so the rest of the house was packed except for the baby stuff and they made it work for the short period. As long as you plan ahead it will be okay! Plus you have the ability to have more people to help since people are getting vaccinated.

I am very happy for you!

CLove's picture

Submitted by CLove on Thu, 10/07/2021 - 1:09pm

Congratulations!!!

There is no feeling like becominga  homeowner Biggrin

And congrats on baby too!!!!

agitated's picture

Submitted by agitated on Mon, 10/11/2021 - 11:35am

Congratualtions! We were in the same boat two years ago. Saved and saved, but never seemed to find anything. We too built a brand new house in a new community. Enjoy this process and pick out the things you will love. What I wish we knew during the home design appointment is to spend a little more up-front. We went to the closing table with $6000 LESS than we were told during the pre-approval loan discussion. We would have tiled the entire house (not just main living areas) and upgraded the fridge. Now, we doing those, but for much more money.