Well… It’s official.
October is the best month out of the year. Hands down.
In addition to meeting Ryan this month four years ago (10/23/08) and adopting Happy two years ago (10/12/10), we’re adding another reason why October ranks so high…
10/11/12: the day we become HOMEOWNERS!!!!!
Taking the “final walk through” (10/10/12)
How this came about is a crazy story.
Ryan and I weren’t even planning on looking for a new house until after I graduated this December from graduate school. But…I’ve always had buying a house in the back of my mind, especially since we got engaged at the beginning of the year.
My mom has been big into real estate ever since the early 90s so I’ve seen all of the craziness that goes down during the home buying (and selling) process. It’s quite time consuming, and all of the negotiations and potential for deals to fall through can take a toll. And then, of course, there is the upkeep that goes along with owning a home. Needless to say, Ryan and I weren’t ready to start looking yet. With our lease ending January 31st, 2013, we figured we’d start looking in December once I was done with school and go from there, hoping to find something during the spring/summer of 2013.
Well, this whole year I’ve been keeping my eyes out on homes as I go out on runs around the neighborhood. As I said before, I’ve seen my mom do her thing with homes for over two decades. Whenever I saw a home that striked my interest, I picked up the little flyer and took it home with me to look up online later. Usually, the homes were ridiculously out of our price range (even though the square footage isn’t that big) but due to the location of this area (we’re talking a historic district, 5 minutes from uptown, a view of the city skyline, and a great school system), property is prime. You know what they say…location, location, location.
Nevertheless, I’ve always dreamed of having a home in this neighborhood one day. Not only is the location incredible, but the public school system is very, very good. Both Ryan and I grew up in public schools and we want the same for our kids some day (because, well, private school is WAY too expensive and we still want our kids to go to a great school). So, our plan was to buy a starter home somewhere in Charlotte and work our way towards moving into this school system in the (far away) future.
Welp, the universe had other plans for us. We stumbled across a house in the historic Dilworth area on Monday, September 10th… and as it turns out, we are buying that home… TODAY!
Closing is late this afternoon, and I could not be more excited 
This home is our dream home. It’s got a HUGE fenced-in back yard (we’ve taken Happy to see it already and she *loves* it), a large deck out back with a cozy patio underneath, and room for expansion if we decide to add an addition later on. Our new home has 4 bedrooms, 3 (full) baths, a bright and fresh kitchen, and a fully renovated lower level. It’s located in a historic district in Charlotte and literally a block away from Freedom Park. In fact, it’s only 2 blocks away from where we are currently renting our apartment. And! It has a man-cave for Ryan. Well, a bedroom-turned mancave 
Things have fallen into place so seamlessly.The gal who showed us our apartment 3 years ago when Ryan and I were apartment hunting for the place we are currently in now is actually involved with the whole house process (she changed jobs in those years and just happened to be connected to the seller’s side). She’s an incredible woman and I’ve kept in touch with her over the years. Coming full-circle in this way really made the decision feel “right.”
In fact, circumstances with our lease have turned out in our favor as well. Instead of having to pay rent until the end of January, we are able to break our lease as our complex has a waiting list of people who are wanting to rent. There is more “full-circle-ness” to this piece of the puzzle as well, but I don’t want to divulge too much. Let’s just say I am very sad to be leaving our apartment (our first place together! we got engaged here!) but I am excited for who will be moving into it next
Our realtor is an incredible woman as well (she reminds me SO much of my mom). For those of you in Charlotte, her name is Debe Maxwell — she’s with Savvy & Co. and is AMAZING at what she does and has been such a pleasure to work with. Truly. She also has incredible connections in Charlotte, too. It’s amazing all that goes on during the moving process… we’ve learned quite a bit!
Ryan and I are starting to pack things up tonight and start moving tomorrow! We have a moving company to help us with our big pieces of furniture late next week, and next weekend we will officially be all set up in our new house — just in time to host some visitors, as BOTH sets of our parents (well, the moms) are coming to town (both visits were planned WAY before buying a house was even on our radar, so this makes their visits even extra exciting!).
Ryan’s mom, Rhonda, and stepdad, Marty, have come to celebrate Thanksgiving with us for the past three years –with a Christmas celebration thrown in there at the same time. We call it “ChrisGiving” –it’s a tradition we all absolutely adore. This year is a little different, though, as Ryan’s mom is unable to come for the actual Thanksgiving holiday. Because she can’t come this year, she has been planning on visiting us in late October, instead, and turning that visit into an early ChrisGiving feast. My parent’s venture down to Florida was postponed due to some health issues, so instead of early October, they are now driving to Florida the same weekend Ryan’s mom is coming into town. My mom and Ryan’s mom have never met each other in person before (although they’ve chatted on the phone and Skyped throughout the years, ha!). I am SO EXCITED they finally get to meet for the first time! And on top of that? We all get to have a Thanksgiving feast together! I haven’t had a Thanksgiving feast with my mom and Gerry since my senior year of college – 5 years ago. Needless to say, I am SO EXCITED!
Now we just need to figure out where to seat everyone. I don’t think our two queen sized beds or rocking chairs are going to cut it…
Looks like Ryan and I might take a break from packing this weekend to venture out and look for dining room furniture! We will see
Homeowners!!!!
And now… some more pictures.
The (old) Deck (it’s currently being redone by the seller – all new wood!)
Lower level leading out to the patio through the double French doors
Kitchen (with all new appliances, our seller is awesome…)
I <3 the blue backsplash
Back of the house
View of firepit area and backyard from the deck
<3 the architecture!
Ryan in deep thought over whether or not we want to move forward with putting in an offer
Bar in the lower level? Yes, please.
Secret doorway (in the form of a bookcase) leading into the spacious laundry room
porch swing!
Happy’s heaven (!!!)
