So, funny story about the house below. We bought it and we’re moving in.
We know this news probably evokes a whole range of reactions. Excitement for new makeovers. Sadness for leaving our current house. Curiosity about all of the logistics. Confusion. Anger. The inexplicable urge to do The Carlton.
Starting this story requires rewinding seven years, back to our first house hunting experience in Richmond in the spring of 2006. We had just moved from New York City and Richmond real estate felt very spacious and very cheap by comparison. It made dreamers out of us. We checked out a bunch of neighborhoods, and fell for an awesome old area with nice big wooded lots, great schools, charming tree-lined streets, and kids on scooters.
But none of the sweet old character-filled houses in that neighborhood were in our price range, especially because the bank had no faith in us. The issue was not our savings, but the fact that I was less than 2 months into my new job and Sherry was just as deep into her career as a freelance copywriter. In the eyes of the bank, Sherry was unemployed since she was a newbie self employed person (even though she was earning more than me!) so I ended up being the only name on the loan – basically cutting our buying power in half. Goodbye dream neighborhood, hello this looker.
As deflating as that financial reality check was, it turned out to be one of the biggest blessings. Had we not been steered towards a fixer upper, we might not have ever started this blog or learned the advantage of buying a home that’s well within our means. By not stretching financially, we could stash away a lot more project money and build up our nest egg – because we hadn’t lost sight of that neighborhood we first fell for, we had just put that dream on hold.
Fast forward 4.5 years, past a new puppy, a wedding in the backyard, Clara’s birth, and me coming home to work full-time. Our beloved little 1,250 sq ft ranch (with only one full bathroom) was suddenly feeling cramped and we found ourselves house hunting again. Dream neighborhood here we come, right? Try again, compadre. This time I was the financial deadweight (having just left a salaried job six months earlier to come work at home – great timing, right?). So once again we found ourselves approved for something far below our actual mortgage-paying abilities thanks to the bank’s you-haven’t-done-this-self-employment-thing-long-enough-for-it-to-count doubt.
But it dropped another gem of a fixer upper in our laps. And this time we knew that an affordable needs-work home meant even more projects and more money squirreled away for our “maybe someday” neighborhood.
Now, I wouldn’t say we ever consciously thought of these homes as “stepping stones” or rungs on a property ladder that we were itching to climb. Even though we always loved that dream neighborhood from afar, Sherry was fully convinced our first house would be our “forever home” (we even have that statement on video). When we fall in love with a house, we fall hard. But the experience of outgrowing and leaving our first place made us realize that we enjoy the process of loving an old house back to life way too much to stop at just one.
So when we moved into this house, we went into things with a more open attitude. Knowing we’d soak up every second of living here (you know we’re nuts about the journey) but no longer making bold declarations like “we’ll stay here forever.” Admittedly, at halfway through year three of living here, the end came a bit sooner than we expected, but our time here since 2010 has been jam-packed. We’ve celebrated three Christmases in this house, created a book from start to finish here, and enjoyed countless Clara milestones (crawling, walking, talking, Gangnam Style-ing). So this place is by no means a blip on the timeline of our family history. It has been “home” through a heckova lot, which makes leaving it that much more bittersweet.
We just knew we didn’t want our current place to be our last fixer upper (it’s not only what we love to do, it’s our livelihood), so when we felt ourselves tackling the last few untouched rooms on our list we started casually keeping one eye open for a deal that could be a potential rental or even a future Casa Petersik. We’d occasionally flip through real estate listings and drop in on open houses. We always hoped that something would come up in our price range in that dream neighborhood so we could jump on it like a velociraptor, but after two house-hunting experiences that didn’t lead to us ending up there, we weren’t very confident.
And then it happened. Pretty much out of nowhere, we found the sweetest needs-lots-of-love home in that old charming neighborhood that we’ve driven through at least five times a year just to stare creepily since 2006. Yes, this is a seven-years-in-the-making house coup of ours. We would have loved to take you guys on the house hunting adventure with us like last time, but it all happened so fast and before we knew it we were closing on it.
And thanks to putting some of that saved-for-years cash down at closing, our new house’s mortgage amount is almost exactly the same as our current house’s – but our interest rate is even lower. We both spent closing day waiting for Ashton Kutcher to jump out and scream “you got punked!” but all went well and the house is officially ours. We’ve even had it long enough to fix some first-priority issues like a leaking roof, a broken furnace, and even hooked up the alarm system.
The house hasn’t been updated since it was built around 35 years ago, and knowing that its interior might scare off others trying to buy in a mostly turn-key community, the sellers priced it way under assessment. It was over $100,000 less than another house of the same size that was for sale down the street. A low-priced fixer upper in a neighborhood that we’ve dreamed about for almost a decade? Yes please. 70’s wallpaper, blue trim, lumpy carpet and all…
Beyond the price, neighborhood, and glaring need to be rescued – this place is perfect for us in so many other ways. It’s nearly the exact same size as our current place (huzzah, no more extra square feet to clean). The street is beautiful and quiet (perfect for someday teaching Clara to ride a bike). It’s still just as close to our family (maybe they can watch Clara while we strip wallpaper). And it presents us with so many new design challenges and opportunities that our minds are spinning with ideas. I mean, hello, we have stairs for the first time in seven years of home-ownership!
Perhaps the funniest thing is that at our age, my parents were moving into their third house, which was where they stayed for over three decades. So apparently it’s in the Petersik blood.
We know that you guys probably have dozens of questions – When are we moving in? (Don’t know yet) When can you see more pictures? (Soon) What does Clara think? (She already picked out her room… based on the closet size. Is she 16?) But this post would be ten thousand words if we tried to cover everything, so we’ll get to those things in time. We also have a few things to finish around here to get our current house sold (anyone interested?) so in an effort to keep our own minds focused on those to-dos, it won’t be all new house posts all the time. We’ll just be moving at our usual real-time pace and sharing a little bit of everything that’s happening (selling, packing, planning, moving, and diving into our new house adventure).
Did I mention these two are the most excited of all? Okay, three if you count Ariel.
We can’t wait to continue sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly with you guys. Seriously, who wants to come paint some mauve trim with us? And if there were a moral to this story, it’s patience. This is not “the house the book bought” (we still haven’t hit our royalty point), it’s the house that seven years of saving up and living within our means bought. Had we strained our wallets and gone for a larger or more turn-key house back in 2006, we probably would’ve had a very different financial path, and most certainly would have had a different career path. So even though we had to wait a while, it just makes this new chapter in our lives that much sweeter. Who knows, we might just stay there forever…
Amy says
Wow!
When I saw the picture my first thought was, please don’t let this be a joke because I’m already in love with it!
Good luck on your showing, we have one this afternoon as well but it’s a third look for the couple. Fingers crossed we both hear great news today!
Deanna says
I’m grabbing my paintbrush now! Bring on the mauve!! AWESOME NEWS! CONGRATULATIONS!!
Lauren says
I totally understand the itch to move; we’ve been in our fixer upper for almost 3 years and now that we’ve pretty much redone our whole house, I’m ready for a new project! The hubs, however, needs some convincing…
Kate says
Oh so excited! I was just thinking the pergola added so much to what you’ve already done to the outside that its sure to be an easy sale. I’m sure you’ll be back to only owning one home in no time. We pounced on the unexpected “forever” home ourselves a few years ago. Best decision.
Laura M says
Deep down I knew this was coming, but somehow I’m still shocked! Congrats on every level! You guys are brave, inspiring, and very blessed. I can’t wait to see the progress on the new house. I love new and refreshing ideas.
Ellen says
Congrats! I’m excited about the kind of projects you’ll be doing in the new house, if those thumbnail pictures are any indication! :-)
Ellen says
Oh, and a tip! If you have hardwoods that need to be refinished in the new house, DO IT NOW before you move in.
Lindsay L says
OH MY GOSH! I am so surprised!!!! Congratulations!!! I just love y’all to pieces and am so excited to see you work your magic all over again. It looks completely charming.
Rebecca says
Just to add on to everyone else’s comments, AHHHHHH WHAT!?!??! Crazy town folks. I’m so sad, as I’m sure you are, that you’re leaving your cute little house behind, but you have bigger things ahead of you now! Two floors?! Dream neighborhood? Yes, yes, yes, yes!!!!
Kate says
Congratulation! I can’t wait to follow you guys on another fixer-upper house journey. I’m definitely excited to see you guys in a house with stairs! Are you doing another sale by owner with your current house, or did you go with a Realtor this time around?
YoungHouseLove says
We’re giving for sale by owner a try first (we have our first showing this afternoon). Ahh!
xo
s
Kate says
Good luck with your showing this afternoon!
lynn says
uh, SHOCKER!!!!!! congratulations.
marisa says
I have to say, the most shocking thing to me is the stairs. Thought you guys were ranchers for life! Fun to see this new step (haha) for you guys.
Clare says
Wow – Congratulations! And holy wallpaper and colorful trim – you definitely found the right home for you four to remake.
megan s @ gourmet or go home says
Wow, so so excited for you guys and to follow along!! Can’t wait to see what you do with the place. I am currently in the “I just bought my first house I want to stay here FOREVER” phase so it is interesting to see the process! Good luck and CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Jenn C says
What? Gosh, I thought after you put up your pergola you’d be there in your current house for a while. Speaking of carports, does you new home have a garage? Pardon me while I mourn a little bit but I’m so happy for you and I can’t wait to witness your awesome journey!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, thanks Jenn! It has a garage :)
xo
s
Jessica F. says
Holy spumoni Batman!!! At first I read that thinking there’ll be a “just kidding!” towards the end but no! It’s for real and that’s the most ubberest exciting news ever!!!!
The new house is adorable and you guys will do wonders to it. Can’t wait!!! Congrats!
Jen. says
What a sweet bombshell! Congratulations!
adina says
Congrats!!! Would love to have detailed tutorials on how to get rid of all that wall paper. We still have 2 layers deep in our bedroom and I’m scared to tackle it and destroy the drywall underneath. We’ve had such issues with wallpaper. Good luck with everything else!
Suki says
So exciting!!! I just adore you guys (and I figure that there’s no way that I’m creepy in saying that…. or at least I’m not the only creepy person to say it) and am so excited for this new house of yours. If I were in your area, uh, yes, I’d be jumping into your house before you could say mamarama. I have dreams of fixing fixer uppers but I have to live vicarious through you since my hubby is not currently there yet. One day. Maybe.
Katie says
INTERNET MAGIC. New house!
I think I might be a little in shock, but very, very happy for you guys. What a beautiful house.
I do really wish you had shared this story as it was going on. What I love about this blog is that you usually don’t just wave a magic wand and have completely finished projects appear. The nitty gritty and the step-by-by step is interesting, and seeing the projects broken into human-sized pieces with human emotions diary-style gives me confidence that I can do these things too. (I painted my first room because of this blog!) So I hope you’ll go back and share the stories about finding the house, and negotiating for it, and fixing the roof and the furnace and the alarm system.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, we’ll share all of that soon! You know we’ll cover every last detail! Sometimes things happen all at once on top of each other, so we just blog about each one at a time :)
xo
s
Holly P. says
Wow, so weird. I was just thinking the other day with the pergola that you guys seemed to be just about finished with the house. Oh sure, not completely finished but it just seemed…done. And I thought ‘wonder if they will start looking for another house soon’.
So, CONGRATULATIONS! VERY EXCITED for you all! And oh joy, we had some of that funky wallpaper in our house when we moved in 15 yrs ago.
Samantha says
OMG! So many emotions going on right now, mostly happy! I cannot wait to follow you guys on this new adventure! (Hope that doesn’t sound creepy!) Congratulations, the new house is so beautiful!
Abigail says
We are kind of in the same position. Bought small house at bottom of our price range 5 years ago and trying to save money to move into our dream neighborhood. I was discouraged last night thinking about house stuff and this really encouraged me this morning. Thank you. And congrats!
Michelle says
Oh my god, this is so shocking! I was so so sure WE were being punked and was just waiting for it… but congratulations! This sounds so perfect for you guys and I’m excited to follow along for all the new, exciting projects! :) This also makes me feel old–I’ve officially followed along as you guys have bought your last two houses! You’re so entertaining, time flies!
tiffany says
wow wow and wow!! congratulations!!!!!!
Emily says
Oh my god, congratulations! I was another one in the ‘this is blatantly a joke, let’s keep reading’ camp – I even felt a teeny bit terrified when I realised you weren’t joking! It seems sad to be leaving the house you’ve put so much time and effort into, but very exciting to have a blank canvas to put your stamp on.
Good luck!
Emily
xxx
Mary Buckelew says
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry! I feel like I was left out of the decision… ha ha… you’re like family! I’m sure the new house will be SO WONDERFUL and I’m excited for you to be in a lovely, lovely neighborhood. YAY! Good luck!
Jenn says
WOW, WOW, WOW!! Congrats! That home is going to be fabulous! Love the bones…can’t wait to follow along on your new journey and see what ya’ll do with it.
Heidi says
I definitely wondered if this was a late April Fool’s joke at first! Congratulations – what a beautiful home!
Michelle says
Yay! A whole bunch more home projects! Congratulations and good luck with the transition.
Allison says
Sooo exciting!!! I totally did the double take on my calendar thinking this was another April Fools Day joke! At first I was so bummed because I first started reading your blog about 3 months before you moved out of the first house and LOVED everything about that house and didn’t want to like the second house. But it has really grown on me. Just yesterday I was browsing through the archives reading about your moving process (I’m looking at a move in the very near future..SCARY!!) and marveling at all the progress you’ve made since then. But, I love your blog and can’t wait to see what you do next!!
Sarah says
Ahhh!! That is so exciting! :) I kept thinking “wait, it’s not April Fools Day!” I can’t wait to see what you guys do in this new house! I personally think you should keep the blue accents on the stairs… Very classy… ;)
Jenn says
Wow!! You guys are such an inspiration. Good for you for living within your means and being able to act on this!
Gabriella @ Our Life In Action says
Oh wow – CONGRATS!!! It looks like a beautiful home in need of some TLC.
Nicole says
Congrats! I totally was waiting for a ‘Happy Late April Fools Day’! Can’t wait to see what you do with it!
Sarah says
I was simply perusing my blogs, thinking I’d scan some articles while doing some homework… I got through the first paragraph, set aside my other reading, and dove in. As I was reading, I kept getting more and more excited (and was so glad when you didn’t finish with a JUST KIDDING!) Congratulations!
Andrea says
Oh my gosh, I’m shocked! And this is so dumb, (no judging!) but I actually called my hubby and was like “John and Sherry are MOVING!”! Haha. I know, right?
I am SO excited to see this new chapter in your lives (and gain lots of inspiration along the way!). But, just so you know, this last house of yours has inspired so many of our design/DIY decisions since we moved into our new place in October. Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I love the hubby phone call!
xo
s
Lindsay says
First: CONGRATS! Second: Creeper question… Presumably your readers are wonderful, normal people — but do you worry you’ll get showings that are really just fanatics who want to meet you and see your house? So weird to have to factor that into a real estate sale. Good luck to you! #bloggerproblems
YoungHouseLove says
We didn’t have that issue last time so here’s hoping! People usually come through a buyer’s agent and have a letter of preapproval, so they’re not just here to stare at our stuff thankfully :)
xo,
s
Heather says
HOLY COW!! I did not see this coming!! I am sad because I feel like this is my childhood home but can’t wait to go on this journey with you! I have only been following your blog for 2 years, so this will be the first time I get to see you all move and start from scratch! Congratulations!
Janette @ The 2 Seasons says
OMG. I had some of that same wallpaper in the first house we built – in the 80’s.
We have lived in three houses since then.
Stacey says
BOMB.SHELL! I thought this was an April Fool’s/May Day prank! Nevertheless, CONGRATULATIONS! So excited for the makeovers to follow – you buying a new house should actually count as a business expense/investment! ;) Congratulations again!
Jenee says
I don’t normally comment but I’m having such an emotional response to this post! I was just reading some of your older posts about saving money yesterday. My husband and I are huge Dave Ramsey fans and I have so much respect for you guys and your lifestyle. Your new house is gorgeous and I can’t wait to see it transform. I just feel like you are such wonderful people and you deserve the best! So happy for you.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks so much Jenee!
xo
s
Jessica says
Congrats!!! So exciting! I was actually looking at the house tour photos the other day and was thinking, Sherry and John are going to need to move soon as they are almost done remodeling this house! HA!
Laura says
Is it possible for me to be as excited as you two probably are, for you?! Congrats! I can’t wait to see it all unfold!
Amanda says
So exciting–congratulations!
Myrna says
We will miss seeing the 4 of you walking by our home on an occasional evening. It has been fun seeing the transformation taking place right in our neighborhood. Our
best wishes for a wonderful new experience for all of you.
Leslie says
Congratulations! I was both totally caught off guard and felt like I finally got the answer to my sense of wonder over why you seemed to be speeding through projects lately…excited to read about your new adventure as it unravels!
Evie says
Can’t wait you for y’all to give it some Young House Love love! Happy Day!!!
Audrey says
Oh wow, that was a surprise!!!!! Massive congrats to you all, your new place looks gorgeous!!! Sad to be leaving your old house after all your work, you’ve turned it into a really beautiful house, I hope you get a great price for it….lucky buyers :-) Looking forward to reading all the new posts and keeping up to date on your move.
janet @ ordinary mom says
Wow! I am so excited for you guys. This house just LOOKS more like a froever house. Can’t wait to see what you do with it. :)
And I am sure your house will sell, you have done such great things with it.
Robin says
Congratulations!!! Having just bought another house in Rhode Island full of wallpaper and projects, we’ll be going on this new journey with you. My husband and I can’t wait to read and learn through your projects.