Selling Our First Home

I have to admit, every time I think about moving I get a little emotional.  This is our first home.  This is the house we built together as a newlyweds.  This is where I brought my babies home from the hospital, and this is the only home my children have ever known.  It is has been a wonderful house, with great neighbors, and good memories. 

After months of casually talking it over, Drew and I finally decided to have a real estate agent come and look at our house on September 5, 2012.  We liked what she had to say, so we decided to list our home for sale the next day.  It was one of those moments that makes your stomach churn due to the unknown.  But we did have confidence in the glimmer of a market turn around, and we knew this was the best decision for our family.  So we took a leap of faith not knowing the what would lie ahead.

So why are we moving?  The biggest factor is education.  Where we currenly live, the school district has been unstable.  Just last year it was under state control and cutting programs like art, science, music, and physical education.  Being both teachers, Drew and I knew we couldn't send our children to our current school district.  Another large factor in our decison to move was the upswing of the market in our area and the current low interest rates.  Houses in our neighborhood have been selling for $20,000-$30,000 higher than what we built our house for 3 years ago.  We figured with the money we would make off this house, in combination with low interest rates, we could afford a better house in a good school district that would provide a lot of opportunities for our children.

After 20 days on the market, 2 no-show open houses, 2 appointment showings, and 1 St. Joseph buried upside down in the yard, our house was under contract!  We were so suprised and taken back on how quickly it sold!  Our house is being bought by an investor out in California who intends to use it as a rental property.  Even though I would have loved to have sold our house to a family with young children, a buyer is a buyer!  The investor is paying for our house in cash so we have 30 days to get out of our house starting from September 26th.  My in-laws have graciously allowed us to live with them while we build our new home.  Our closing date is set for Friday, October 26th.  Although we are sad to say good-bye to the only home we've ever known, we have confidence in our decison and can't wait to start our journey to building our new home!

Still so surreal to see this sign in the yard!