I'm Moving In With Three Boys!
There’s a little something we’ve been working on for 7 months that’s finally complete! We bought a house!!! Before I tell you the whole story, let me clear something up. We aren’t leaving Chicago! There’s been a lot of confusion about the home my parents are building in Oregon. Many people have thought it’s my home and I’m moving to Oregon. The house in Oregon is my parents, not mine and I’m not moving to Oregon, but I am moving to Lakeview with my three boys!
Towards the end of last year, Sam & I made the decision to move in together. We talked a lot about what was important to us, what we both wanted, needed and what we didn’t need. We didn’t know what that looked like at first, but in time, and after seeing a LOT of places, we figured it out. We started our search officially in November. We saw what feels like 200 homes and had two previous rejected offers before we found our home.
Our patience was tested & we were absolutely crushed when we didn’t get the first house we put an offer on. We were almost 5 months into our search and felt like we were hitting a dead end. Then, we fell in love with a place and was out bid in a MAJOR way. It ended up being the best lesson for us. Looking back, the first house we put an offer on wasn’t the home for us, neither was the second home. Neither were any of the other places we tried to force and make work.
The lesson we learned was a lesson in patience and a lesson that what’s meant to be, will be. 7+ months into our search, Sam and I walked into a small brick house in Lakeview built in 1897. We were two feet in the door and both felt like we were home. With the market the way it was, we knew we needed to pull out ALL the stops. So, we wrote the sellers a letter explaining how it felt like home and why. Not only that, but as a gift, we offered them 10 years of annual family photos. We learned that we weren’t the highest offer, but the sellers said we won them over.
I will spare you all the intricacies of our 7 months of searching but I WILL write up a post about what we learned and our plans for the home!
We move in at the end of Summer and I can’t wait to share all the details with you! Most of all, I can’t wait to officially live with my three boys and start to create a home for my sweet little family.
xx Ali