We purchased our townhouse 10 years ago -- pre-kids. It is 2 car garage, little back yard, 3 bedrooms and just under 1400 square feet. It was a perfect fit for our need then. We figured we'd be in it for maybe 5 years and a great starter home to have kids in. Now that our kids are 5 and almost 7, we have fully outgrown the house - busting at the seams.
With Jack in 1st grade this year, I knew if we were going to move, we needed to do it soon -- preferably before he started 2nd grade and before Brooke started kindergarten this fall. That way, they'd be in the school for the rest of their schooling years.
Every once in a while we'd stop at an open house... just to see what is out there. In mid-January, we stopped at an open house in a part of our neighborhood that we've never been in. It was a nicely re-done house, but the bedroom layout just didn't fit us. The realtor told us of another open house down the street. The second we walked into that house, we both just fell in love.... 3 car garage, 5 bedrooms, 2600 square feet, small pool in the backyard, on a court, some nice upgrades, same hill that we love, same school Jack is already in (best elementary school and high school in the district). In talking to that realtor, we found out it had about 4 or 5 offers on the house.
We decided to find our own realtor and get serious about looking for our next home. We went through upromise.com to find a realtor and after a week - one finally got back to us. We met with him, told him our situation, what we were looking for and about that house. He told us that house was in escrow and gone... we shouldn't think about. The next couple days, he showed us listings -- everything we said we didn't like. We were discouraged. Scott decided to find another realtor and I'm so glad he did. We found Jennifer and it was the best thing we did. We met with her and told her our story. She lined up about 20 homes for us to look at over that weekend. As we were going through them, she got a better feel for what we like but she suggested we go back to "that" house so she can really understand what we are looking for.
Two days later, we went back to the house and we were still so in love with it. Jennifer then told us that the house was falling out of escrow. If we moved fast, we could put an offer on it without the house even getting relisted... and that is exactly what we did. Within 2.5 weeks of when we first saw the house, we had put in an offer. The whole month of February was a whirled-wind of stress. Scott has taken point on everything and has pulled this off entirely on his own. He tells me where to sign and I sign. It has been amazing.
Packing up the townhouse has not been amazing... packing with kids is hard. We pack something, they take it out. I tape together a box, Jack makes a fort out of it. But even with all that, the kids have been great and rolling with everything. They've already picked out their own rooms... although Brooke still thinks she gets the actual bed from the room. The sellers had turtles and the kids love turtles so it was a difficult conversation explaining to them we don't get the turtles. They also love the pool, so that was an easy conversation explaining the pool stays with the house.
This weekend we take ownership and the kids and I will be in Northern CA for my nephew's first birthday. We have a few days to make some change before we move in on March 8th!! Pictures to come....
With Jack in 1st grade this year, I knew if we were going to move, we needed to do it soon -- preferably before he started 2nd grade and before Brooke started kindergarten this fall. That way, they'd be in the school for the rest of their schooling years.
Every once in a while we'd stop at an open house... just to see what is out there. In mid-January, we stopped at an open house in a part of our neighborhood that we've never been in. It was a nicely re-done house, but the bedroom layout just didn't fit us. The realtor told us of another open house down the street. The second we walked into that house, we both just fell in love.... 3 car garage, 5 bedrooms, 2600 square feet, small pool in the backyard, on a court, some nice upgrades, same hill that we love, same school Jack is already in (best elementary school and high school in the district). In talking to that realtor, we found out it had about 4 or 5 offers on the house.
We decided to find our own realtor and get serious about looking for our next home. We went through upromise.com to find a realtor and after a week - one finally got back to us. We met with him, told him our situation, what we were looking for and about that house. He told us that house was in escrow and gone... we shouldn't think about. The next couple days, he showed us listings -- everything we said we didn't like. We were discouraged. Scott decided to find another realtor and I'm so glad he did. We found Jennifer and it was the best thing we did. We met with her and told her our story. She lined up about 20 homes for us to look at over that weekend. As we were going through them, she got a better feel for what we like but she suggested we go back to "that" house so she can really understand what we are looking for.
Two days later, we went back to the house and we were still so in love with it. Jennifer then told us that the house was falling out of escrow. If we moved fast, we could put an offer on it without the house even getting relisted... and that is exactly what we did. Within 2.5 weeks of when we first saw the house, we had put in an offer. The whole month of February was a whirled-wind of stress. Scott has taken point on everything and has pulled this off entirely on his own. He tells me where to sign and I sign. It has been amazing.
Packing up the townhouse has not been amazing... packing with kids is hard. We pack something, they take it out. I tape together a box, Jack makes a fort out of it. But even with all that, the kids have been great and rolling with everything. They've already picked out their own rooms... although Brooke still thinks she gets the actual bed from the room. The sellers had turtles and the kids love turtles so it was a difficult conversation explaining to them we don't get the turtles. They also love the pool, so that was an easy conversation explaining the pool stays with the house.
This weekend we take ownership and the kids and I will be in Northern CA for my nephew's first birthday. We have a few days to make some change before we move in on March 8th!! Pictures to come....
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