We like to plan, and then plan again for everything that we do. Neither of us like unexpected surprises. So, why did we jump into selling our house without a new home ready to move into? I promise, it is for a good reason. The Moving Journal is going to be my record of how this experience went. Hopefully it goes smoothly and without incident. Either way, I will be recording it here.
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There is a lot that goes into purchasing a new home and moving out of the old home. Each person/family’s experience is different in part or in whole. This experience is ours.
Buying a new home is scary. Or at least if you know a little bit about the current market, it should be. At the moment the housing market is kind of a crapshoot. In the last few years the market has blown up in the area of Florida we live in. We live in a city that is experiencing unprecedented growth due to people moving from the north (the call themselves covid refugees). We are in the middle (or end) of a boom, but Zoopla said it expects house price falls of up to 5% in 2023. Most of the houses are being bought by house flippers, who quickly clean a home up and sell it for a bloated amount. Lately, companies have been making “air bnb’s” of every house they can get their greedy little hands on. Which means a normal person looking to buy a new home must compete with the buying power of investors. The house next to us is now an air bnb after the previous owner died of a stroke in the bedroom. Not to be morbid, but he wasn’t found for almost a week. Now, someone is unknowingly sleeping in the room he died in, not that long ago. It is weird.
The very first step is the sudden realization of knowing that your current home is just not doing it for you anymore. We both came to this sudden and inevitable conclusion at the same time (see picture above for reenactment). For us, there were a lot of factors that reared their ugly heads. But there was one big reason that we just said “enough is enough” and pulled the trigger on getting this show on the road. I will go through a few of reason briefly here and now. So, buckle up, because this is going to be a bumpy ride. Not really, it will not take more than five minutes of your time tops. It will take less time than it would to pull into my driveway (spoiler, see below)
The number one reason that we decided to sell and move; LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. It might not be what you think. Our current home is located on a street that is rapidly becoming one of the heaviest traffic areas of our apparently booming city. It takes anywhere from a ten to thirty minutes wait time, just to pull into or out of the driveway. That is bonkers. The traffic is excessively noisy. Two houses down is a traffic light, so people sit in front of our house waiting for the light to turn. The vehicles are often loud. On top of that noise is the noise of people listening to a cacophony of very loud music. Three different songs from different genres fighting to be the loudest is not a pleasant experience. Another interesting and creepy thing, is that people stare at us if we are outside. Like, stare, With this dead look in their eyes. Glazed over penetrating eyes, lifeless and sad, peering deep into our souls. We don’t know why. Our theory is that they get so bored waiting for the light to turn that they just stare at us for mental stimulation. Regardless, it is uncomfortable and rude. We also get far too much trash thrown into our yard. It is nuts what people throw into our yard (not just our yard, the neighbors too). Want a short list? Here you go; Beer cans (obviously), cigarette packs (yeah of course), condoms (new and used), plastic water bottles filled with urine, boxes that have their name and address on them (why would you do that?), the list goes on. Something new each day. Today’s donation was a half-used bottle of salad dressing. Insert confused face here. I’m not even joking. We also get people yelling at us. Random things. Some grossly inappropriate, and some downright terrifying. A death threat once. Again, probably just boredom while waiting for the light to turn, or just being an jerk. Either way, not acceptable. So, that is the first reason for us to move. It is a big one.
Reason number two is a short one. We need more room. We both have interests and needs for space, and they are currently not being met. I need space for doing art and art adjacent projects. She needs a home office. We collect books like they are going out of style. We need an area for home gym equipment. We have a dog that would probably like to go outside and not be harassed by people sitting in their car waiting for the light to turn.
Reason number three; our current home is needy. It is old, it has issues, and the upkeep is insane. We both work long hours and cannot come home and constantly do repairs and maintenance. I expect some amount of keeping the house in order, but this house is too much. Some people like project homes. We are not those people. Waste of time to us. We need a low-maintenance home. We live in an old wood-framed home. We also happen to live in Florida, where the hurricanes love to come visit like an unwelcome house guest.
Once you decide you want a new home for the right reasons, it is time to start thinking about how to make that happen. Make a plan.
We have already sold our home and are now entering the not so fun part of house hunting with a fast-approaching deadline. We have a few months to figure it out. Can we do it? Tune in next time.