After Going Through What We Did Back In 2014-2015, We Needed To Do Something...

I was chatting with an old friend of mine earlier today. She is very seldom on social media, but decided to check in on the overnight due to a bout of insomnia. That's when she discovered that we were in the process of buying a house. She reached out via email immediately.

"OMG! You're buying a house? I thought you and Lisa were not interested in buying a house at this stage in your life. Fill me in, please!"

That was her entire email.

I replied back after Lisa left for work.

My email began with...

"We obviously need to keep in touch more...LOL!"

I honestly was sitting at the table giggling while sipping coffee because I can remember the many conversations we've had in the past about this very subject.

But, as I explained to her in the email, the Universe shifts and shimmy shakes and life changes...

Back in late June of 2012, we got in touch with a realtor to find us a rental home. We had a lengthy list of criteria which included long term.

One of our criteria was that we wanted to settle in and not have to worry about moving again.

Ever.

Our realtor found us a place within a week. A wonderful 1st floor apartment in a 2 family home in a great neighborhood.

Honestly, we were not prepared for that. Our wedding day was less than 3 weeks away in New Hampshire.

When we toured the apartment and met with the landlords, we emphasized that we wanted long term. We did not want to worry that in 5 or 10 years down the road we'd be in a position where we'd have to find another place to live.

They reassured us that we were all set and even told us we could paint the walls and personalize our apartment the way we wanted.

We signed the lease.

A little over 2 years later, the owners decided to sell this house.

At the time, Coco and Sophie were our only kids.

Our life turned upside down.

We got notice that a potential buyer wanted to look at the house the day after Christmas in 2014.

We were pissed, but we had to comply.

A month and a half later, we adopted Lobo. The house wasn't sold yet.

Periodically, when potential buyers toured our apartment, Lisa would take personal time off at work to be home so I would have assistance with our kids. I wasn't about to take all of them in the backyard during the Winter to wait it out while a potential buyer toured the entire house.

What stressed us out the most was seeing the house we lived in posted "For Sale" in the weekly Turnpike Buyer. In the description, it mentioned that this house would be the perfect setting for the owner living in one of the apartments and renting out the other.

What that translated to was that the next owner of this house could kick us out and we'd only have 30 days to find another place to live.

I can't even begin to describe how scary that was for us and our family.

During this time, Lisa and I considered buying a house. We looked at a few.

Then, in April of 2015, a woman and her daughter toured the house. We met and I briefly gave her a rundown of our furry kids and the fact that the upstairs apartment's back stairs landed at our back door.

In other words, if you have furry kids (dogs) and someone is at your door, they're going to bark.

She was easy going.

Long story short, she bought the house. As of May 1st of 2015, she was our landlord. She and her daughter moved in...upstairs.

In the years to follow, we became close friends. She adopted 2 kitties, one of which we had fostered for a local animal shelter, and 2 dogs.

We also talked about buying a piece of land and building a duplex. The 4 of us and our furry kids would live there indefinitely.

Between then and the end of last year, things changed.

In November of 2019, our landlord friend said that she could not wait to sell the house in the Spring. Lisa and I were both shocked. We had no idea that plans changed.

In the days to follow, Lisa and I talked in great length about what we were going to do. We did not want to go through what we did in 2014 and 2015. But, more so, we were well aware that 99% of landlords would not rent to anyone who had 4 furry kids (dogs).

No pets! No pets! No pets!

In addition, after dozens of conversations about the red flags and signals that the Universe was shifting and doing lil' shimmy shakes and other stuff, we realized it was time.

Lisa and I both agreed that we would get through the holiday season and move forth after the first of the year.

That's exactly what we did.

After we got approved for a house loan, we began the search immediately. Even during that process, the Universe was shifting and doing lil' shimmy shakes. And that led us to the home that we are in the process of buying.

I'll fill you in more on that later...

We didn't waste any time after the holiday season was done and over with because the well being of us and our furry kid family depended on us taking things very, very seriously.

So.

Here we are now.

We have a closing date.

We are just waiting for a specific time on that date.

I will keep you posted and fill in more of the blanks in the days and weeks ahead.

For now...

We're going to keep packing and cleaning and getting all of the details in order.

Stay tuned...