Almost 5 years to the date that I bought my first house with the love of my life, we sold it.
5 years of memories. 5 years of learnings. 5 years of frustrations. 5 years of making a house that was once just a listing on Zillow our home.
It was the perfect starter home. Big enough to host dozens of family and friends for a weekend (which we did when we threw our housewarming party a couple months after purchasing the house as well as a few years later for our engagement pre-party), but small enough to maintain and house our family of three. It was old but held up beautifully, so any issues were small enough to test us to figure it out on our own and become more responsible.
It’s a bittersweet feeling, really. Being a homeowner is not for the weak. But I knew the benefits of homeowning long before I became one myself.
My mom owns three houses, with two of them serving as investment properties, which is the vision I had for myself once upon a time. But when it came time to crunch the numbers and plan for our next phase of life, which included finally settling down in a city for good (after living in 3 different states since I graduated high school), starting our own family, and seeing the equity we built in our home, we knew it made the most sense to just sell and use the profits for our next house that we’re already excitedly on the lookout for.
But I’ll never, ever forget my first house. I got engaged while living in that house. Got married while living in that house. Changed jobs three times while living in that house. My husband went to school while living in that house. Became an FAA-certified A&P mechanic while living in that house. We hosted too many family and friends to even count in that house. The memories are endless in that house.
My company is still headquartered in Minnesota, so it’s not a complete goodbye to the state, although it weirdly feels like it. There’s nothing else tying us to Minnesota after this, aside from my job. We no longer will have to pay bills there or talk to our realtor/friend weekly with updates about the house, inspections, etc. It’s just…done now. And that is a feeling that will take some time to shake.
Looking ahead, our next house will be a 180 from our first one. Our research shows us we’ll likely have double the square footage, more bedrooms, a bigger backyard and pool, as we plan on having little ones to run through and play everywhere they possibly can. And for the first time, I’m paying attention to school districts, researching what specific schools houses are zoned for, their ratings and reviews, and how far they are from the house so we can hopefully walk our future sons and daughters to and from school.
It’ll be important to me to one day drive by our old house with our kids in the backseat to show them the first house mom and dad bought when they were practically just kids themselves. I want them to see the difference between that house and the house they will grow up in. Show them that while our old house was perfect in every way, it was definitely more humble. I want them to know the major milestones that we celebrated in that house while also explaining to them how hard mom and dad worked to get to the next phase of our lives before we had them. And how we thought of them every step of the way before they even existed.
But before all that gets here…I say goodbye to my first house. Thank you for being there for me, Myles, and Cheesecake. Thank you for giving us a spot to lay our heads at night. A spot where we could relax outside. A spot to watch countless movies and tv shows and sporting events. A spot to cook thousands upon thousands of meals. A spot to have family and friends stay as they experienced Minnesota for the first time. A spot that gave me some of the best memories of my life.
I will never forget you. I hope your new owner loves you as much as I forever will.
XOXO,
Crys
lifesalugobeach.com 