*This is NOT an April Fool’s joke. Just crazy timing by my part 😉
Wow, I really can’t believe I’m writing this post. I’m sure most of you are reading the title thinking “uh… didn’t she just move?”.
Yeah. We did. 16 months ago.
BUT WE ALREADY SOLD OUR HOUSE.
Yep, last week we sold the house. IN ONE DAY. We thought everything would take much longer but apparently it’s a seller’s market out there. I should know this. I work for a home builder.
So WHY are we moving?
Well there’s a lot of reasons. Let me kind of explain.
1. My kid’s school.
The number one reason we wanted to move was to switch my daughter’s school. When we signed the contract on our current house Ellie hadn’t even started Kindergarten yet. Now that we have 2 years under our belt, it just doesn’t seem like the perfect fit. She has tons of friends and all of the families that we hang out with are extremely nice, but the actual school & parish just doesn’t feel like home.
2. Closer to family.
Ben was raised about 30-45 minutes from where we live now. As I mentioned many times on the blog before, we have Sunday dinner at my parents’ house almost every weekend. That’s an hour and a half in the car every weekend driving to and from their house.
3. My new neighbors.
So yeah… my sister is moving 3 houses down from us. This could be a blessing or a curse. Kidding! We are both very excited about this.
Plus having my parents, brother, and sister so close will mean a lot of more room makeovers on the blog. They’re already fighting over who gets dibs on me first, hah.
4. Closer to work.
When we purchased our current home Ben had a different job that was really convenient to our current place. Well now that he’s switched jobs, he leaves the house an hour and 15 minutes before the start of work because of traffic. Ew, gross. Plus it takes him an hour to get home. Who wants to spend over 2 hours in the car everyday? His new commute will cut travel time down to 10 minutes each way. My commute will be shaved by about 10 minutes each way. But the best part is I don’t have to deal with highways. The anxiety that the highways give me during winter with snow is insane. No thanks. I’ll take the side roads instead.
5. Smaller house.
Ben and I simply LOVE our current home… I mean, it’s our dream home. We picked out every single thing in it and built it from scratch. But this place is 3400+ square feet. It’s massive for 3 people.
So we are downsizing. Not by a huge amount, but 1,000 less square feet. OK, that’s a lot. I have lots of furniture that won’t make it into the new digs. Our new house will still have 4 bedrooms. Plenty big. And we’ll have a much lower house payment which is a big win in my book.
So yeah, we sold our house in under 24 hours with a firm contract. In fact we had 3 different families walk through the house that first day and all 3 put in an offer. It was insanity. A bidding war ensued and we actually got more for the house than what we asked for. It’s like a sign that we are making the right decision about all of this.
The crazy part is that we have to be out of the house in about 3 weeks. Yep, my head is spinning like crazy right now. My mom joked that we still have things in boxes from our last move. Sad but true.
I’m still trying to wrap my head around everything.
Can you blame me?
C’mon… someone make me feel better out there.
Who can beat my 16 month record for moving in and out of a home?
Daffodil says
Good luck with everything. I envy you for finding a place so close to your family. 🙂
Cecilia says
When we moved back closer to family, we rented until we could sell our house. The market was depressed at that time so we were renting it out. It took a couple of years. The house we rented was awful so we moved in about 6 mos. loved the next rental but the owners decided to sell it so had to move at the end of a year. We were only in the next rental for 6 mos when our house sold and we were finally able to buy a house. So, four moves in 2 years. We got rid of lots of stuff. 🙂
I think you’ll enjoy being closer to family. It’s good to have cousins and grandparents close. I’m really glad we did.
howtonestforless says
WOW, 4 moves? Ok, that makes me feel a little better 😉
sue says
Erin,
I thought for sure this was an April Fool’s joke LOL! Sounds like you are moving for all the right reasons. We also had a Catholic school experience that wasn’t the right fit and moving to a different Catholic school was the best move we EVER made. Um, will you be having a moving sale?? Can I get an advance preview 🙂
Sue
howtonestforless says
My aunt emailed me and thought it was an April Fools joke as well. LOL. Bad timing on my part!! So glad to hear that moving schools was a great decision for you guys. Makes me feel at ease 😉 And yes… we might be having a moving sale on April 11th since our entire neighborhood is having a garage sale that weekend. I’ll keep you updated!
sue says
Thank you!
Chelsea @ two twenty one says
WOOT! Glad it sold so insanely fast!
Barb says
I believe I have you beat! When my children were 5 and almost 2 we moved across country . 9 months later we moved halfway back. I did move boxes that hadn’t been unpacked from the first move.
howtonestforless says
OH my goodness! Yep, you’ve got me beat!
Rachel says
When you commented on my post that you were getting reading to put yours on the market, I had to come back and read through like 10 old posts here to see if I missed something–now it’s all coming together 🙂 It sounds like this move is the perfect decision for you guys. That commute for your husband sounds terrible, and of course you want to have your daughter in a school that feels like a better fit. I am SO excited for you that it sold so quickly!! That is amazing! Just goes to show what an awesome job you did in building it, and how nicely you’ve decorated it–of course people love it. Congratulations on the sale, and good luck getting everything lined up to move!
howtonestforless says
Hah, so yeah… you were like the very first to know 😉
Jenny says
That is so exciting! Where are you moving to? My first thought about Catholic churches was Holy Infant here in Ballwin. They have a huge parish and I’ve heard the schools are great. There are so many to chose from though. Oh and I want to know more about a garage sale too! Any nightstands to sell 😉
Miriam says
Wow, I too thought it was an April Fool’s joke!!! lol… We are currently selling our home and have had no luck so far, we live in a over 55yr community which limits our selling pool.. But we are anxious to live closer to my 8 grandkids who are all on the eastcoast. We are looking to be about 1.5 hr away from 1 son and 2.5hrs from another and 5.0 from the youngest ( he is looking to move closer ).
Before moving clear across the country to care for mother in love some 7yrs ago, we lived 5 mins away from our parents and that was too close for comfort for my hubby!!! so he doesnot want us to be that close to our sons!!! We will see how that works out!! But blessings to you and your family in your new endeavors!!!
krista says
A marriage, 3 moves & mil deployment in 15 months! It was a lil crazy looking back…..lol
Yes, a sign was def shown to you all…..you’re heading in a good direction!
Can’t wait to see all the updates 🙂
Stephanie R says
wow! That sold incredibly fast! Good luck on moving 😀
Robyn S. says
It sounds like you have some great reasons for moving! It will be such a blessing (maybe? ;)) to be so close to your families!
howtonestforless says
Hah. Yeah… we shall see!
Annie says
Erin,
So happy for you! I loved following your progress with your current home, which was brand spanking new. I can not wait to hear what you have planned for your home to be. Happy Easter!!
Annie
DeAnn O says
when I was 6 my parents bought a house that ended up not being exactly what they wanted. So after 9 months they bought a small farm and moved out in the country. That was the fastest move I’ve ever made with selling a house involved!
howtonestforless says
9 months is pretty fast! But love that your parents had the find the perfect home for your family 😉