under contract

A few months back, the lease on our apartment was up and our landlord allowed us to go month to month. B and I kicked around the idea of maybe buying a place. Our place was starting to feel a little bit small and with the upcoming nuptials, B pointed out that we would have nowhere to put any wedding gifts. It is also kind of an inconvenience to guests to have to either sleep on Ethan’s floor or on a blow up mattress in the living room. And real estate prices were still low and we could take advantage of the market.

There are of course many pros and cons to home buying. Were we staying in Chicago? Would we be able to find something that we loved? Could we afford it? Should we be taking on something like this in the midst of planning a wedding? And in the end would it be worth it?

We thought that it couldn’t hurt to at least test the waters and see what happens and so our real estate adventure began. We randomly found a realtor who on the very onset, told us not to get emotionally attached to any property. We looked at over a dozen properties, some we liked, some we didn’t even bother going into, and two we actually bid on. The first of which we got outbid on and were crestfallen. We found that we were not very good at not getting emotionally attached and were ready to stop looking and wait it out until after the wedding.

Two weeks passed and another property went on the market just a block south of the one we just lost the bid on. We were much more hesitant to go and look but after a few walk throughs, we loved it. We placed a bid and then the wait began. While on vacation, I saw that the property was “Under Contract,” and we were totally and completely crushed that we had again lost the bid. I talked to our realtor, who looked it up and saw that it was indeed under contract and she had never received any word back on our bid. She instructed us not to be too disappointed and gave us a pep talk that this happens and that we will keep looking.

The next day, we received a phone call, text and email letting us know that our bid was accepted and the house was under OUR contract. It seemed a little surreal and took about a day to process. There are still a lot of hoops to jump through but we are both extremely excited at the prospect of having a home. It is going to be quite an undertaking, we will basically have to gut it and start from scratch. But that is what we are the most excited about, getting to choose everything and be creative with the space. Should be interesting.

we made it

So after four fast food meals, six movies and two days of travel by car, we made it. And it was worth the trip. We arrived last night to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We rented a house with my two brothers and their families and my mom to a rented house (read: huge) a mere two hundred yards from the ocean.

For the past two years we have taken a Labor Day family vacation together. It kind of started out of the blue, but has become something of a family tradition. We have taken turns choosing a location to meet at and this year it was our turn. We wanted somewhere warm where we could all stay together in one house. We kicked around some ideas and came to the Outer Banks. When we were booking it, there was an option for hurricane insurance, which I quickly checked no to. Then Hurricane Earl came in for a visit and it was a stressful week before constantly checking the radar but we lucked out and have happily made it here.

Day one of beach vacation: spent the majority of daylight hours on the beach. B explained to me that when going on this kinds of vacation the key is to spend as much time on the beach as is humanely possible. And that we did. It has been a welcome change of pace to have nothing else to do but to hang out on the beach and sit and play in the water.