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…
Tonya says
Congratulations! This is a very exciting step. I haven’t read your blog as long as some others on here, but with the last 2 weeks of posts I thought to myself, “It feels like they are getting the house ready to sell.” :)
Maybe in a future post you could cover how you decided which projects to finish and which ones to let go? (this is the hardest part for me)
Love your blog!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, we’d love to cover that!!
xo
s
Trista says
HOORAY PETERSIKS!!! My husband and I bought our first house less than 2 years ago, and now we are going to be moving across town to be closer to his work. I’m kind of excited to be able to follow your steps in selling a house and moving. Congrats!
Andrea says
I’ve had the feeling that a move was imminent. So much so, that this morning, I reviewed the latest Listy McListerson to see how complete your (old) house was getting. Congratulations. Cannot wait to read about your new adventure!
Jackie A says
PeterSNEAKS! Congrats on the new purchase, can’t wait to see what you come up with for the new place! Although the pink trim should stay for Clara’s room :)
Sara V says
I thought it might be April fools too! hahaha That’s so exciting!! I can’t wait to see more pictures. Maybe a ‘this is what the house looks like before we touch anthing’ walk through video??
Laura says
The exterior of the house is gorgeous! Looks like there is so much character to work with! Super excited for you guys! :)
Morgan says
So excited for you guys! Can’t wait to see everything you do in the new house. It actually looks a lot like the 1970s fixer upper we bought last spring. I’ve been eradicating the dark trim and wallpaper one room at a time!
Stephanie says
I was so caught off guard by this post that I was about midway through reading (I’m not a terrible reader, just exhausted with a round-the-clock eating 7 month old!) before it hit me that you were serious, and moving! I had the strangest, sad “but I love your current house” feeling before I got all excited for you guys. I know you’ll have the new house looking awesome soon and I’m thrilled that it worked out for you!! Congrats!
Erin says
So exciting! Congrats! How is Burger with stairs? We don’t have any and had to teach our dog how to use them during a visit to my dad’s house over Christmas. He eventually got the hang of it, but not after getting stuck upstairs a couple times.
YoungHouseLove says
Thankfully he has had them at John’s parents house and their beach house and when we travel and stay with friends (and we have some that he goes up and down on the patio everyday) so he seems great with them thankfully!
xo
s
Melissa says
Congrats! I definatly saw this coming… just the nature of your most recent projects seemed to be “finishing touches” based. The new house looks beautiful. Cant wait to hear (read) more about it! =)
Jean (notsupermum) says
Wow, that’s spooky – I was only thinking the other day that your current house looks so fantastic would it mean you would be moving again soon. Can’t wait to hear all about it and follow the house move etc. Congratulations!
Just one question, in the UK you have to sell your own home before you can buy another one (unless you pay in cash of course) so I assume the rule is different for you?
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, here you can do either one (depends on your credit, loan strength, etc) so thankfully we could overlap, but we have a showing this afternoon (our first one! ahhh!) so we hope to get this sold asap!
xo
s
Mia B says
Yay for you! Congratulations on the new house and the new chapter in your lives. I swear, I was wondering the other day – what do home bloggers do when they finish their house? Move! I like to think I somehow mused this house purchase into existence, with the power of my mind. :)
molly @ still being molly says
ERHMAHGERD this is so exciting! I seriously can’t wait to see all the DIY projects that pop up with this new place! It’s going to be amazing, I just know it! Congrats, y’all!
jp says
Can’t wait to see what you do to those stairs. Because I can’t figure out what to do to mine. I’m a big believer in moving to a good neighborhood. Congratulations.
sarah says
HOLLA’!!!!!!! How exciting, you guys! LOVE all of the great things happening for you. YEEHAW!!! Can’t wait to follow the progress.
hyz says
Congratulations!! The new house is absolutely gorgeous(from the outside, anyway)!!! I have never been a big fan of ranches, although you guys really made it work and started to change my feelings about them, but I simply cannot wait to see what you’ll do with this classic beauty. Super excited for you–again, congratulations!!
JC says
Congrats!
Strange aside? I dreamt last night that you bought a new house and moved…and woke up thinking, “What was that about?”. Logged on to read blogs and – cah-razy! Enjoy the new adventure.
YoungHouseLove says
Weird!!!
xo
s
youandmeandwalliemakethree.com says
Holy Smokes! What exciting news! (And another reminder that DC is way too expensive!) Can’t wait to see the transformation happen!
redkimba says
It looks HUGE!! Are you sure it’s the same square feet as your current house? I was wondering where you were going to go with the old house. What was left to do?
Betcha you’ll sell it for $$$$!
Congrats on the new house.
YoungHouseLove says
Hahah! You’re not the first one to say that! The thing is that our current house has a 1000K square foot addition in the back (completely hidden from the street, which is why it looks the same size as our first house, which was half the size). So our new house just has a second floor instead of 1000K hidden in the back :)
xo
s
Dawn says
So thrilled for you guys! It seems somewhat bittersweet to leave all the work you did, just when the house was becoming so, ‘you’. But like all your readers I can’t wait to see what you do with it! Hooray for new projects! :)
Richelle says
Holy cats! Congrats to you all!
We’re contemplating a big fixer upper right now… you guys have been a major inspiration. Can’t wait to see what unfolds in the new place!
Elaine - Visual Meringue says
WOW! Congrats guys! Beautiful house and (as always) can’t wait to follow along on the journey!
Amanda S. says
Are you going to post a listing for those of us interested in buying it? How much is it going for?
YoungHouseLove says
We have our first showing this afternoon, so here’s hoping that goes well (some realtors know it’s for sale, but we haven’t posted a listing just yet). In general we freely talk about how much we spend on updates and how much we make when we sell a house (like in this post), but we don’t go into how much we paid for a house or how much we sell it for in total. We arrived at that “boundary” because we don’t know how much our friends or parents paid for their houses and wouldn’t talk about that stuff at a dinner party with them… so it feels weird to share that with the internet at large. Of course if it gets listed we’re sure people will find the listing and know, we just don’t blog about it :)
xo
s
Amanda J. says
Huge congratulations! I can’t wait to see what you do with the new house!!!
MichelleR says
Wow! It’s beautiful on the outside. Looks ugly on the inside! haha. Can’t wait to see what you do with it. I do have to admit that I feel a little sadness for you guys though. All that work and you’re not really staying to enjoy the fruits of your labor! That’s how I feel about our old house, so I’m a little biased there. :)
MichelleR says
And I guess in hindsight, we shouldn’t really be all that surprised. I have noticed it seemed like you guys were really picking up the pace on finishing your house (to get ready for sale apparently). :)
Lisa says
The new place looks beautiful from the outside… hard to believe it is so dated from the inside. The house where I grew up is about the same age (built in 1977) and now I’m wondering how it would look to buyers whenever my mom finally decides to declutter and sell… wish I could have the same “it has so much potential” reaction when we look at disastrous apartments here in Manhattan but it’s a lot harder to think about living through a do-it-yourself reno when there are only 2 (maybe 3 if you’re lucky) bedrooms and no place to shuttle stuff around to as you work!
Lindsey says
Congratulations!!! Buying real estate when you’re self-employed is a total pain in the rear. I feel your pain! I’m excited to see what you do with this place! Good luck selling the current home. I’m sure it will go fast.
Lindsey says
Also, when did Clara get SO TALL?!?! She’s such a big girl in those pink pants!
YoungHouseLove says
I know, right?! She shot up overnight!
xo
s
Christy says
Congrats!!! So exciting and I can’t wait to see what you guys do!!
Beck says
Congratulations! I’m along for whatever ride you guys take us on next. Can’t wait to see all the love you give your gorgeous new place!
Heather says
I’m a long time reader and I’m so excited for you guys! Yay!! You are such an encouragement to my husband and I who are currently in the market for our first home. We want to live well within our budget so we are looking for a fixer upper, but at times those beautiful turn key homes are so tempting!! Thanks for the encouragment to live within our means so that we can someday live in our dream home. :-) Good luck with this new adventure and I can’t wait to see what you do with the new place.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks so much Heather! All the best of luck with everything!
xo
s
Jaclyn says
Is it weird that after the initial excitement, I was sad to realize that we may not get a post about you enjoying your new deck? I really loved that project and wanted to see the deck all decorated and ready for summer BBQ’s!
YoungHouseLove says
Can you believe the deck is almost a year old? We got to enjoy it last summer/fall and we’re enjoying it already this spring (we got the furniture all uncovered about 3 weeks ago, and have had lots of meals out there). Clara’s third birthday party is coming up in two weeks too, so we’d love for guests to spill over into that area too :)
xo
s
Chelsey says
CONGRATULATIONS!!!! So exciting, can’t wait to see what this next chapter brings. Good luck :)
kimberly says
you two!
shocked…just like last time…congrats…love the moral-living within your means.
Erin says
I KNEW IT!! I was totally telling my husband today that I predicted you would be moving soon since it seemed you were running out of major house projects.
It’s probably super creepy how excited I am for you but oh well, CONGRATS ON THE NEW HOUSE! Can’t wait to join you all on this exciting new journey!
Caitlin says
Aaaaaaaaaa!
Natalie says
Congrats, you guys!!
The new house looks great on the outside, and I can’t wait to see what you do on the inside! It clearly has tons of character! Great find! :)
Wrenaria says
CONGRATS! The house is a beauty, and how exciting to end up in your dream neighborhood! I’ve always wanted to live in a colonial like that, though there aren’t many in my west coast little town. Excited to see more of the inside.
Best of luck in selling your current house!
andrea @ my kinda perfect says
holy amazeballs batman!!! =)
1. congratulations! a house with stairs! love it!
2. i’m so excited to follow along on this journey!
3. i wish i lived in richmond to buy your current house.
4. how are you guys so freakin’ good at keeping secrets?!?!
YoungHouseLove says
It was CRAZY HARD!!! I think keeping the secret book projects from you guys for a year strengthened our willpower a little, but I was still bursting at the seams!!!
xo
s
Nikki says
I can’t wait to hear about whether you’re using an agent to sell, your buying experience, etc. I have my real estate license so I am always fascinated with those details and excited to hear your experience. I hope you’ll share that with us!
YoungHouseLove says
Of course!
xo
s
Lucy says
WOW!!! So excited for you guys. Congratulations on your new “old” house! Can’t wait to see all the transformations.
Marsha says
Congratulations! I have to say that I guessed this a few weeks ago because the push to finish rooms with crown molding and outside work just seemed at a much faster pace of projects than we were used to seeing. I figured you were getting ready to sell :)
Tara says
Huzzah! How exciting!!! I cannot WAIT to see what you do with it! Yay!
Karla says
WHOA! Congratulations! It kind of breaks my heart to think about you leaving that penny tile, though. You were so happy together!
YoungHouseLove says
I know right?! I’m already dreaming of tile for the new house though. I’m not ruling out some type of penny somewhere! We have two bathrooms that need a full gut-job…
xo
s
Míriam Sans Borch says
Congrats! I hope to see you put down to work again!
You give me lots of ideas.
From Lleida, Catalonia.
Ellen says
Wow….. didn’t see that coming!!!
CONGRATS!!!!!
megs & bacon says
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(and I just ripped out that same vertical-patterned wallpaper this year. WALLPAPER TWINSIES!)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I love it! We’re in a secret wallpaper twins club. Anyone else care to join?
xo
s
janice says
whooohooo! you crazy kids!! And HOW do you keep things like this a secret??? You’re good. Reeeeeeeeeeal good. :)
CONGRATS!! I am so very happy for you and your family and I can’t WAIT to see all the new projects!
YoungHouseLove says
Ahhh, it was SO HARD to keep the secret! I was bursting. So glad to get to tell you guys today. Wahoooo, baby!!!
xo
s
Karisa says
Congratulations!!! I’ve been helping a friend move into and update an adorable little house in The Fan and just last night thought “I wonder what John and Sherry would do with one of these…” I feel like it was a moving premonition. Congrats again :)
Jeri says
CONGRATS!!! So excited for all the new projects to come. And I’ll admit to a tiny bit of cyber-stalking – I went to search the real estate listings, and the very first house that popped up in the listings was actually your old house. Crazy!
YoungHouseLove says
Isn’t that funny?!
xo
s
Crystal Monkman says
I see the comments and have to add just one that doesn’t appear to be as common as “I thought it was a joke” and “I’m super excited”– both of which are totally nice normal reactions. I’m so sad… all the things still to be done in this house! The painting on the exterior, the crazy angles you thought you could balance out, the refinishing for the mismatched flooring, the building of a double-sided fireplace and at least one bathroom getting a real gut job make-over someday. Guess the new owners can check out your plans for the house and decide for themselves… Best of luck.