Back in 2010, my husband and I moved to Maryland. We pretty much immediately started looking for our first home to purchase, as we knew we’d be here for the long haul.
Moving from Ohio to Maryland had some sticker shock. Our dream home in Ohio, was about half the price (or less) than what it would cost here in Maryland.
Our dreams of having a nice yard were stunted, and we quickly realized we weren’t even close to affording a single family home in this area.
It took us a solid year of searching, to finally come to terms with the fact that we were going to have to purchase a townhouse. We came to terms with it and found a great first home.
We moved in a little bit closer, but still stayed in the suburbs. We loved our first home and poured our hearts into it. We did all sorts of home improvements.
Our first home was with us as newlyweds, and as new parents. That house was our home through two births, and two losses. It was the perfect house for our needs at the time.
Fast forward to 2018, and we were feeling the need to slow down. We were wanting another bedroom, and we were really hoping to get back to our idea of some land and some space.
We knew it would be tough, but we started our search.
In the process of selling our home and losing what we thought would be the home of our dreams, we stumbled upon the perfect find.
We found our land and the chance to build our forever home from scratch.
The prices around here are still waaaay out of our comfort zone, but that’s just the reality of the area. We made a few bucks on our sale, and had just enough to put it towards our dream house.
We didn’t get to put our 20% down that we’d hoped for, so we are still going to be stuck with PMI on our monthly payments.
We are back to a monthly payment that’s doable, but tight as a result of this purchase.
The money part and the financial commitment scares me. I remember feeling this way when we purchased our first home.
I would have freak out moments that I would feel like we shouldn’t be doing it and that it was too expensive.
We figured it out and made it work, and it was such a great investment. And, financially we grew into it.
Now, here we are again. I get super stressed when I think about the commitment we made.
It will be an adjustment, but one that we can manage.
There are two things that give me such comfort, though:
1. It’s our forever home.
I know life is going to throw things our way. I know we can’t actually count on it being our forever home.
But it could be. And we want it to be. Those words are so comforting to think about.
This is it. This is our dream house. This is our dream land. This is what we’ve always wanted- within reach.
So we grabbed it as quickly as we could. We’ll grow into it financially and become more comfortable as the years go by.
It’s all worth it to have our forever home.
2. I can breathe.
When we visit our land, and our construction in process, I am suddenly as stress free as it gets.
The mountain views in the back, and the farm views in the front give me such a sense of calm. I feel home. Our house isn’t even built yet.
I could spend hours just taking it all in and standing on our bare land. I can see our kids playing in the massive backyard, and the dogs running around.
We purchased 1.8 acres! 1.8 acres! AHH! It’s so peaceful and so amazing.
The house is 1825 sq ft. It’s more than enough for us.
It will be 3 bedrooms with an unfinished full basement.
The kitchen, eating nook, and family room are all nice and open, which we love.
Our builder suggested a genius change to the floor plan- since we will be using the “dining room” as an office, we are closing it in from the kitchen, and extending our pantry to be, well HUGE!
We are really excited about this change. Below, you’ll see a picture of my husband with his arms stretched out. That’s the pantry he’s standing in. LOL!
I can feel myself enjoying the morning views from my office. It is breathtaking. It’s is our slow down. It is our peace.
On May 23rd, they broke ground. The hole for our foundation was dug.
The next day, our foundation was started. By June 9th, we had a first floor framed out, and by June 13th, we had a second story!
The process is fascinating to watch. Honestly, I wish I could watch every bit of the process and learn about every little detail that goes into building a house.
I love being able to take Caroline to see the process. She gets SO excited to play on the land, and she is thrilled to see the progress on the house build.
It’s been super fun to pick out the details of the house. We got to pick our granite counter tops in the kitchen, the color of the cabinets and the hardware.
We chose the bathroom vanity marble and cabinet colors as well.
Then we picked flooring. We ended up downgrading in some areas and upgrading in others.
We didn’t want to spend too much on this, but were also trying to think ahead to what we actually wanted.
We are getting a vinyl tile throughout most of the first floor, and I can’t wait to see how it turns out.
Every detail is up to us! It’s fun. The reality is that none of it matters.
We just want the bones of our house. But picking out the details is a lot of fun as well.
So far I am insanely happy with our choices.
In the kitchen we are doing grey base cabinets, with eggshell white for the top cabinets.
We love the two toned look in kitchens, so we were excited to have the flexibility to do this. The granite has really nice grey and brown tones.
We kept the grey cabinets in the bathrooms, with a white and grey marble.
The hardware for the kitchen and bathrooms is such a fun country touch.
The flooring is grey carpet throughout, with a tile look vinyl sheet in the upstairs bathrooms. The downstairs will have a nice wood look vinyl tile everywhere except the family room where we wanted cozy carpet.
This is such an exciting time in our lives. We cannot wait for this house to be built!
At the moment we are in between houses and living the apartment life. I didn’t realize how much I’d dislike living in an apartment again! LOL!
We have a super heightened awareness of all of the wonderful reasons to own a home right now!
I chose an apartment that was really close to our lot. We are 5 minutes away.
I knew we’d be wanting to visit all the time, and I figured we’d have a chance to get used to our new area.
We are close enough to the lot, that we are already shopping at what will be our grocery store, etc. at the new house. I’m so glad to be so close by.
On the day that we went to settlement for our forever home, we got more huge news. Our fertility clinic called with the confirmation that I am pregnant!
We’ll be moving into our house right before I enter the third trimester.
The timing on everything is just perfect and we can’t wait to settle in.
-Katrina
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