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…
Rachel Danj says
once you start repainting rooms and all the other rooms were getting trimmed I felt itchy feet for you. How exciting how great to hear financially responsible and what a great journey we will all be joining you on. So much fun to have Clara involved too.
Yulia says
I’m a teacher and I usually read your blog once I get home, but today I had a few minutes and decided to click over and WOAH! This is one of those posts that I wanted to pour over and read and retread, but darn it, I had classes to teach. Now I get what you meant in an older post about letting big cats out of big bags. I thought maybe you were thinking about flipping houses, but this never crossed my mind. Congratulations!!! And please post more photos of the new house. I.just.can’t.wait!
Claire says
Oh my gosh, I just kept waiting for the, “Just kidding!” and it never came!!!! Congrats on the new house! Can’t wait to see what you do with it. :)
Jenna says
Congratulations John & Sherry! That’s SO exciting! I always wondered if you would start to run out of projects to do….now I know you’ll be kept busy for another while yet!!!
Benita says
Yay! So excited for you!
Christina says
So excited for you! You’re right though, this post had me feeling a little like this: http://tinyurl.com/cp7hcmz.
It looks like it’s going to be a wonderful place to live, and it looks like there’s going to be tons to share on the blog! Best of luck selling your house, too. While you work on that I’m going to ponder how I deal with change :)
YoungHouseLove says
Hahahah! Best gif ever!
xo
s
Jo Devoy says
Eeeek… So excited for you guys! My first thought was “Is it April 1st?” And my second was “Stairs? Never saw you guys going for a second storey!! Woo hoo attic conversions!” And my third was “best of luck, may the roof always keep you dry and the walls always keep you warm” huge hugs…
Alison says
That is CaRAZY!!!!!!!!!! But so exciting for you guys!! I’m anticipating all the new ideas you guys will have for it and all the before and after pics.
Amanda B. says
Wow, what a surprise! I get attached to houses, too, and I must admit I was fond of yours. Something about making things that work just right for YOU… We’ve done that too and I can’t imagine leaving our house, although I know we probably will one day. Congrats on the new digs, and good luck with the wallpaper! Your readers can’t wait to follow along!
Lynn @ Our Useful Hands says
Okay. Comment #2 goes like this….I’m soo soo happy for you guys! Did my heart start racing from all those mini project shots? Yes. Am I now going to see if my house hunting brother and sister-in-laws can be coaxed down to Virginia from Maryland to buy your house? Yes! :o) Was I thinking just the other day “I can’t wait to see when they decide to get a new space to rehab.”? Why yes indeed I was. And now I will sing the line from Winnie the Pooh that comes out whenever I’m sufficiently excited about something…”It’s gonna be greeeat!”
http://youtu.be/GHAIPzjPvrA
My absolute best, Lynn
*and your story is my story…the same month we moved to FL (2006) I walked through my current neighborhood with a heart full of dreams wishing I could afford to live here – thank you financial crash of ’08! I randomly shout sometimes “I can’t believe we live here!” (It was vacant for 6 years until we bought it so we always say it waited for us. :o)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, I’m so glad you’re there Lynn!
xo
s
Maribel says
Congrats to you…I know those bushes will be going 4 sure. The shot of Clara, is that a deck….the bench around the tree.
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, it’s in the back! So sweet.
xo
s
Cassondra says
Somehow I wasn’t surprised by this and thought it right when I saw the Facebook link! So excited for this, you guys are one of the main confidence boosters for me when tackling home improvement projects – because after I read something you did it makes me feel like we can figure it out if we have patience and do it as a team. I’m excited to see you take this house right from the beginning since it looks like it’s definitely a fixer-upper. Our renovations have been really stressful lately with all of the surprises that can come, so I’m excited to see how you tackle the initial projects!
Liz says
Ok, so my first thought was…”I am so excited!” Then my second thought was…”Why am I so excited, I didn’t just buy this house?”
I have truly enjoyed your first and current house. They have inspired us in so many ways, and not just decorating. We have decided to put our 3200 sq ft house on the market and move into our rental house of 1100 sq ft. Why? Because there are only three of us and it’s right for us (and no more mortgage). I love reading your blog and not only thinking something is a great idea (and convincing myself I totally had that idea first)and applying it to my home. I also love that there is a practicality to what you do. It’s hard to be financially responsible and have people understand why you do what you do. (Especially those friends/family living beyond their means.)So what I am rambling at is: Thank you. I like feeling like I have a partner in No-we-can’t-go-out-to-eat-tonight-we-are-saving-for-a-rug crime. Congratulations on the new place, can’t wait to see it, post by post.
Debi says
What a lucky house – to have the Petersiks moving in!
Rebekah says
What awesome news! It will be fun to see how you transform it into your new home. I wish you all the best!
Kirstin says
WOW!!! I come back from maternity leave to this!?!?! I am just coming up for air for the first time in 10 weeks! How exciting!
I am trying to convince the hubs that we need to be selling and moving up to a better neighborhood! We live on the west siiiide ::Insert gang sign:: and need to be living on the right side of the tracks for when this 10 week old baby goes to school, I am pretty convinced she is going off to college tomorrow.
I excited to see all your new projects, when you painted the kitchen a new color I wondered if something was up ;)
Lauren W. says
I just have to say- Congrats!!! And I look forward to seeing more awesome transformations!
Kelley says
We are currently looking at buying our first home and today we learned that 2 of the houses we’ve had our eye on are getting ready to close (bummer!)….and in that you think, “Maybe if we raise our limit by just a little….”
But. You said it clearly: By not stretching financially, we could stash away a lot more project money and build up our nest egg.
Thank you for that reminder! AND GOOD LUCK!! So excited!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, good luck with everything Kelley!
xo
s
Christine says
So excited for y’all! Thanks for letting us all join in your excitement!
Paige @ Little Nostalgia says
First of all, YAY! And congratulations!
I was only surprised for about .03 seconds, because I was starting to wonder what the heck you guys would work on now that all of the major stuff had been tackled. Guess you were thinking about it too! :-)
Jen says
Congrats y’all! It looks like you will have so many fun projects to tackle there!
P.S. Have you noticed how all of your houses have had the same overall “feel” on the outside? Similar looking brick, black shutters….you know what you like!
YoungHouseLove says
It’s true! We’re brick lovers! Haha!
xo
s
caroline [the diy nurse] says
Consider my mind blown. Wow. I am soooo excited for you!! I can’t wait to see even more makeovers. Is it bad that I like one of those wallpapers? And that my deck looks just like that. :o
CONGRATS!
Liz says
Ok, so my first thought was “I am so excited!”. My second thought was “Why am I so excited, I didn’t just buy that house?”. I have enjoyed your blog during the first house and you current house. Both my husband and I have been inspired in more ways than stealing…er….re-creating decorating ideas. We love your practicality. We have decided to move out of our 3200 sq. ft house and into a 1100 sq ft home (no mortgage). Your financial responsibility helps us feel like we have a partner in We-can’t-go-out-to-dinner-we-are-saving-for-a-rug crime. So thank you and congrats! We can’t wait to see the new place improve post by post.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks so much Liz! All the best with your move!
xo
s
caroline [the diy nurse] says
Consider my mind blown. Wow. I am soooo excited for you!! I can’t wait to see even more makeovers. Is it bad that I like one of those wallpapers? And that my deck looks just like that? Or that I dance EXACTLY like Carlton?? :o
CONGRATS!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, all good things!
xo
s
Alana M. says
PARTY TIME… We are getting ready to celebrate my son’s first birthday!
Kim G. says
Congratulations! It has great bones and you will make it a stunner in no time, and we’ll be lucky enough to see the end results.
JoannaBanana says
This is awesome! I’m not going to lie… I was getting a bit bored. :-X
Erin says
Look at you Petersik’s – moving on up! So proud of all that you have achieved thus far and can’t wait to follow along in your next adventure. Hopefully there is a guest room for me :)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Erin! There’s always a guest room for you :)
xo
s
Diana says
WOW! looks like a great house. I’m with everyone else who was waiting for a punchline- but it’s not April Fool’s Day so I guess this is real. Congrats! Hope you sell your current house quickly.
Tabbitha @ Turnip Tootsie says
I’m over the moon for the three of you!!! Congratulations, and patience really does pay off. My husband and I have been married for almost 9 years, and still have yet to buy a house. But we have traveled all over the world:-) And in August my husband will be going back to college at the age of 30. Needless to say we know about some patience and one day we will be moving into our dream home too (using your oh so awesome decorating tips to make it feel like home)! Again congratulations, you guys deserve it!!!
<3
Tabbitha
Monica says
Congratulations!!!
The outside looks beautiful!! The inside looks… charming! Can’t wait to see more pics!
Ann says
I see a wallpaper steamer in your future. Don’t believe anyone who tells you a sponge and some solution will get that paper off those walls. You need a steamer. I bought one specifically to remove wallpaper from our 1980’s bathroom, and it was worth every penny of the $50 it cost. Good luck in your new home.
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds awesome Ann!
xo
s
Momlady says
I knew something was up with you guys!
Great find.
Can’t wait to see this house become a home!
Mary | lemongroveblog says
Holy SMOKES! That is so very exciting! Nothing better than getting your hands on a new home. And that one is in need of some serious love – can’t wait!
Louisa T. says
This is wonderful for you guys! Amazing that it is about the same square footage as what you have now. We, too, live in a two story (technically three, if you count the finished basement) home and I have loved it. There are definitely times I wish the master was on the main, but, you get used to it and learn to utilize those trips up the stairs to their fullest (never go up empty handed!). This is not our forever house either (mainly because we are very close to not needing five bedrooms and four baths, eeek!). It’s tough though, I’m sure, to put so much love and effort into a home and then, suddenly, you decide to move on. We haven’t told our kids yet, but, all the work we are currently doing to our home is to sell. It’s incredible to me how you guys so clearly see what a house can be, rather than what it is now. Really excited to see what you do to this place. It is beautiful from the outside!
Amy says
Oh my goodness! I’m so happy for all of you! I honestly did a quick scroll through at first to see if this was some sort of joke! haha! I love that you guys work within your means and have always admired that about you. It’s so great to see it pay off and how wonderful that you get to move into your dream neighborhood! We are probably a couple years away from that point, but this gives me great hope that it’s possible! Sometimes looking at real estate listings can get pretty deflating. As with so many others, I’m excited to see the new place and all of the projects that are ahead!
Anika says
Add me to the list of people looking for the “just kidding” comment! I thought maybe you were trying to sneak in one last April Fools joke!
Congrats on the new place! I am sure you will do amazing things with it!
Tabbitha @ Turnip Tootsie says
Oops, I said I was happy for the 3 of you! Didn’t mean to leave you out Burger. I’m happy for you too;-)
<3
Tabbitha
YoungHouseLove says
Haha! Burger thanks you with a lick and a snort.
xo
s
Brittany Allen says
Interest rates are awesome right now! We’re buying our second home and got a loan well under 3%! It’s a great time to sell also (at least here in Texas). Good luck!
Ali says
Way to save and live within your means to save up for the house/neighborhood of your dreams! My hubby and I saved for five years for a good chunk of a down payment on our dream home. You guys are such a great example to our “I want it now” generation. And it’s soooo worth the wait. Am I right? Beyond thrilled for you guys. Can’t wait to see you guys work your magic!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Ali!
xo
s
Jessica R says
Congratulations! I am so excited to be able to peek in on the next phase of your adventure!
Wendy says
O.MY.GOSH. Since I wasn’t a regular reader when you bought this house (or the last), I am SOOOO EXCITED to see you take a house from start to finish!
Please, please, gratuitious bad wallpaper pictures? In fact, if you just wanna put bits of it in a scrap book and mail it to me, that’d work too. I am a sucker for terrible wallpaper.
YoungHouseLove says
Hahah!
xo
s
Missy says
Congrats on the new house! Is that brick flooring you pictured? I hope it is because we have brick flooring through one hallway, the living room and master bath (gross!) in our new to us 1959 house! We’re torn on what to do with it since it’s probably 1″ thick and seems like it would be a pain to rip out! Totally curious about what you do with it! If in fact it is brick floor, that is. I’m crossing my fingers!
YoungHouseLove says
It’s fake brick linoleum! With bleach stains! Eeks!
xo
s
Angie says
I was wondering what would happen when you ran out of projects here. I am a bit sad to see this house go. It seemed like you were just getting it t the point where you could start enjoying your hard work.
Jennifer says
I will add that I also thought I was being punked OR it was April 1. But, I can see why this is the right time – you have done an amazing job with this house and it has been so fun to see the remodel in real-time. (I started reading the blog just as you moved in.) Bring on the stairs, the colonial style, and the new projects. Can’t wait! :)
Penny says
Daaaaaag. That house looks good. Did I do that right? Probably not. Congrats!!
YoungHouseLove says
Hahaha! Yes! You did it perfectly!
xo
s
Donna says
Holy cow! So excited for you guys… Not sure if I’m more shocked you’re moving or that you’ll have stairs! Best wishes selling your current house, I bet it goes fast!
tina says
exciting! new adventures ahead! congrats!!
Katherine says
Hey, I commented earlier, but I wanted to come back and ask if you guys would consider walking us through the home buying process- at least doing one post about it. I think it’s great and very wise that you didn’t disclose anything until it was all finalized, but I bet a lot of people would be interested to know what you looked for, how you decided if a house was a worthwhile fixer-upper or just a pile of junk, etc.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, we plan to cover tons and tons of buying/selling stuff (even about houses we looked at but didn’t like, and how we made our offer, etc). Just wanted to get the initial ‘we got a house’ cat out of the bag first :)
xo
s
Marissa Coon says
As it happens, my parents are in the market for a renovated single story house in the Richmond area so that they can be closer to me! They live in a 3 story 1860’s farmhouse in the mountains of Virginia and it’s just too much for them to handle these days!