We decided to sell our home we just built a couple years ago. We had been considering selling but before we knew it, our house was sold! Where do we move to?
Ryan, my husband is a home builder, so we usually build our own homes. We decided we wanted to move into something smaller than our current home to keep living costs down. Our finances have been struggling lately as living expenses keep rising, don’t you find? Our growing kids seem to cost more right now too. So selling and having less of a mortgage sounds tempting, doesn’t it? So we decided to take advantage of the hot housing market in our area and sell our house. The market is currently the highest it has been since the crash in 2008! Our home is now worth a lot more than it was last year, so it seems like a good time to sell.
We had been looking at older homes to renovate and move into. Our friends keep asking “didn’t you just move???” Um…yup! We are so sad to leave our home and our lovely neighborhood. We have built some great relationships here, but we look forward what God has next for us.
OUR HOUSE IS SOLD
“Angie is selling? Doesn’t she love her place?” It all started when our neighbor friend told another one of our sweet neighbors that we were selling. Our neighbor responded, “She is married to a builder, she is always selling!”…umm yup and yup, so true!
I think Ryan married the right girl, as I grew up renovating and moving
It’s in my blood. I am always up for another project. Especially because I get excited to decorate the next pretty house!;) Can you relate? Or are you happy to stay in your home for many years?:)
Our neighbor told her realtor about our home. He ended up contacting us as his cousin was looking for a home exactly like ours. And thus, our beautiful home sold without even listing it! We didn’t even need a “for sale” sign this time…which is a first for us. Apparently, the same day we signed papers to accept the new homeowners offer, they too had a knock on their door from some people who wanted to buy their own home! What a God confirmation! When God has plans…
House showings
It was wonderful to not have to go through a bunch of showings this time. I am still having nightmares from a couple of years ago when we were selling our last place. We had regular showings over a 6 month period. I would get the text for a showing, run home between design consults and spend 20 mins power cleaning while putting everything in its perfect spot, before driving to work again… with a laundry basket full of laundry in the back of my car. Please tell me I am not alone in this??? Being a certified stager, I get a little crazy about having to make the house perfectly staged for every showing. Thankfully my family is really great about getting it showing ready. They have it down to a science by now!
WHERE DO WE MOVE NOW?
Now that our house is sold, where will we go? This is our house we are moving out of. Thankfully, we have long closing dates before we need to move out. We prayed a lot about where to move to. As we prayed, we heard the Lord say, “be patient”, “humble yourselves”, and “trust me.”
It has been really hard not to get anxious about where to move to. It can be so shaking not having a home to move into! As we started house shopping, the house prices started rising…and rising…and rising! What an incredible housing market it has been in the lower mainland this year. It seriously is epic here right now, and many people actually don’t have homes to move into with a housing shortage right now.
As we crunched numbers, nothing else seemed to make sense other than building a new home again. Ryan was currently building a spec house in a local new subdivision. There was one choice lot in this subdivision with an incredible view that we really liked. So as we prayed, we put in an offer for the lot and it was accepted! After searching and praying for two whole months about where we should live, we finally had somewhere to go…
THE HOUSE PLANS FOR OUR NEW HOME
The next step was to come up with a custom home plan to suit the building lot size. We spent weeks going over ideas together to make sure it was perfect for our family needs, and budget. And of course, we needed to take advantage of the beautiful view. So after playing with options on our design program, we came up with this layout to send off to the architect to draw up the final city plans.
We love coming up with customized, well-designed floor plans. Contact us for this one, or for your very own customized floorplan to fit your budget, needs, and lot size, ready for your architect to finalize.
THE FAITH WALK
It has been such a faith walk this spring. This has been super stressful with the impending move as time keeps ticking closer to the moving date. We have been praying for good framers to frame our home, and waiting weeks for our city permit to be released to be able to start building. Thankfully, we have a wonderful architect to finalize our plans for us. Architects are difficult to find in our area right now as some are booked for up to 6 months!
In all of this, the Lord keeps saying “Trust me, trust my timing. My timing is perfect.”
“Ok Lord…just please give me peace to wait on your timing and work all this out for your glory.” Is my prayer. I feel like I am experiencing the song we sing at church by Hillsong United “Oceans”. Why did I ever pray for this?…to walk faith without borders? Between our house stuff and many other intense situations going on in this season in our lives, we are being refined. It’s through the faith journey we become more beautiful, reflecting His Glory. Through great trials and tribulations, He is working everything out for His glory and for our good.
WHAT IS NEXT AS WE BUILD OUR NEW HOME?
As our moving out date comes closer, I am anxious and stressed. My stomach hurts because of the stress. We are arguing about which tiles to choose, and are busy with the kids year end at school. How am I going to fit in packing and setting up a house again? Fortunately, we have been blessed with a few more homes to build in our new neighborhood while we build our own. We look forward to getting to know our new neighbors. As we wait, and wait, and wait for our permit so we can start building our new house, I find myself asking; “Lord, did you really call us to build a new home?!?”
Building Tip
Plan your home budget.
Plan what you can afford monthly even if interest rates were to rise. Get a mortgage pre-approval from the bank. Lock in some good interest rates with them. Shop around for a lot or a home in the area that meets your families needs and budget. Keep in mind any building or renovation costs that may need to be done to the new home. And remember it’s better to be a little house poor, than to be stressed beyond your means. You want to be able to enjoy your space:)!
Have you ever been through a faith walk? What was your experience? Sign up below for more post updates and click here for our next episode on how we built our family home!
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