Life Update: House Hunting in a Pandemic
“Right now feels like a really stable time to buy a home” said no one… and yet here we are.
We are officially HOUSE HUNTING!
Have we completely lost our minds? Has the quarantine gone to our heads and drove us mad? The answer is most likely “yes”.
Now, let me start out by telling you that this was NOT, in fact, the plan. When we found out a few weeks ago that we could no longer stay in our beautiful townhome once our lease ends in June, I was heartbroken.
I had just been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and severe iodine and supplement poisoning and was told by my team of doctors that the best thing for my health was to reduce the stress in my life. Never mind that we are in the midst of a pandemic that will most likely wreak havoc on our economy, but now, as a result of that, it appears that we would be finding, buying, and moving into our first home in a matter of weeks.
Remember when I confessed to you that I practically live and die by my planner and well-thought out “timeline”? Yeah, well...
When we made the decision to move to Virginia last year, I shared our story of how we were debating between buying our first home or renting a townhome for a few years. In the end, mostly due to time restrictions and not being familiar with the Virginia area, we decided to rent.
Once we got here, we ended up loving it so much that we figured we would stay and rent for about 5 years before trying out the house hunting process again. We began decorating, ordering custom pieces (RIP to my reading nook and gallery wall), and a couple days after I signed a contract for a temporary wallpaper project in my home office, we found out that we would moving.
I won’t get into the specifics of it, but the bottom line is that, to the fault of no one, this pandemic created a ripple affect that has made it so that we don’t have a choice but to move.
Now, sure, we could try to find another townhome and rent again, but why delay the inevitable? At this point, our lives are fairly settled, we know that we want to be in the Williamsburg area, and the responsible thing for us to do is buy a house and start building equity.
Is it ideal for us to cram it all into a matter of 2 months and to tour houses wearing a Hazmat suit? Probably not, but this is the reality.
Although I am anticipating this process to be stressful and overwhelming at times, I am also incredibly optimistic. I feel so thankful that we even have the opportunity to make this decision right now with everything going on in the world and I’m determined to make the best of this situation, no matter how much chaos unfolds in the next 2 months.
It seems as if things are changing day to day at this point, so all we can do is try our best to go with the flow and make decisions that we feel will benefit us in the long run.
Since we found out, we have been searching for homes non-stop online. And when I say “we”, I actually mean Sam. Due to my health, he has really taken the lead on this project. After searching through hundreds of listings in a matter of days, he narrowed it down to ones he knew I would like before getting me involved (this also gave me a chance to get past my stage of denial and accept the fact that we would be moving, whether I liked it or not).
The past two weekends before getting a realtor involved, we spent our days off driving around to check out the various neighborhoods, see the curb appeal of the houses in person, and narrowed it down to 6 houses from there.
So, now the process officially begins.
I work for a mortgage company as a loan closer (I’ve been with them for over 7 years now), so I feel confident that not only have we chosen a fantastic realtor, but our lender is the best out there.
Today with our amazing husband and wife team, we are going to be touring the inside of each of the 6 homes on our list. Disclosure* we will be very carefully following all of the COVID-19 regulations throughout this process. It will in no way be a typical house hunting process, but a milestone to celebrate nonetheless.
To put it simply, house hunting in the midst of a pandemic is going to be a unique adventure that I’m sure we will never forget.
What we are looking for: family-friendly neighborhood, single family home with an open-concept layout, backyard, fireplace, and at least 2,000 square feet. Since I work from home, I need a space for my office, and we want to be able to grow into the home over the next 5-10 years.
Sam and I describe our home aesthetic as very Joanna Gaines-esq (doesn’t everyone these days? #goals) Needless to say, we have been binge-watching Fixer Upper and a new show called “House in a Hurry”. This show basically follows a new couple each episode that is forced to cram the whole home-buying experience into 2 days. On every episode the husband looks exhausted by the prospect of adding any “home projects” to his to-do list and the woman cries and feels “so overwhelmed” (aka US in a nutshell). Sam and I get such a kick out of it.
We aren’t looking for a Fixer Upper, but I feel like watching Joanna Gaines and others see the potential in homes and be able to transform them into their dream living space has inspired and motivated me to do the same. I LOVE styling and decorating, so naturally I already have a secret Pinterest board going with how I want things to look that I’ve been shoving in Sam’s face every night when he gets home from work.
Anyway, to wrap things up, we aren’t sure how this process is going to unfold, but for the sake of transparency, I wanted to bring ya’ll along on this journey sooner rather than later. I will be sharing some home inspiration throughout and will keep ya’ll updated every step of the way.
We are hopeful that we will be able to come to a decision and make an offer on one of the 6 homes by the end of this weekend so that we can start packing and planning our next steps!
Cheers to another wild ride! Whatcha got next, 2020? (lol, jk, pls stop surprising us)
Photos by Jade Nikkole Photography
What is your favorite home decor brand? Let me know by commenting on my latest Instagram post, or by tagging me in your home style with the hashtag #herblushingstyle!
Want more lifestyle inspiration? Read Health Update: My Fertility Journey and Autoimmune Disease Diagnosis.
xo Anna Elizabeth