We did it. We bought a new house from a Tract builder. But this was not part of the plan. Now, I know what you are thinking. It’s all of the questions of why, what, how, and where. Because I’m an Interior Designer, I wasn’t sold on the idea of buying from a Tract or Spec Home Builder. I wanted a custom home where I designed the whole home. I found a floor plan online and then made changes to it and started my holistic interior design process. I even found a custom home builder and was looking for the land. But I was wrong. It was so much work! It also got very costly very quickly. I talk about the 3 types of builders in this post. So what does our “Phase 1” currently look like and where are we headed?
Where Do I Start On Our New House?
I am so excited to write this post! I am beyond excited for this next chapter in our lives and finally having the end in sight back home in Northeast Indiana! For those who know my story, you know that it was hard, full of limiting beliefs, and strife. But I found my calling in life which is to empower women to curate, design, and decorate their spaces with intention by providing home design and decor solutions and educational resources.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I loved living in southwest Ohio and have officially been converted into a Cincinnati Bengals fan (Go Joe!). I highly recommend visiting the Great American Ball Park to watch the Reds play. I honestly greatly enjoyed living by the Ohio River. But there’s no place like home in Northeast Indiana!
Anyway, onto the topic at hand! As you can see by the photo, our house was a pre-built new construction that was just finished in March of 2022. Ya’ll, I have to say that this was probably the easiest house-shopping experience I’ve ever had. I fell in love at first sight. Our first shopping experience was rushed and done in three weekends during a very stressful time. I don’t recommend EVER buying a house under duress. I was naive the first time. Please learn from my mistake and NEVER do that. Now, this felt…right. We walked in and were able to picture ourselves living here. We scrutinized the builder’s quality and craftsmanship which it passed with flying colors. This home is stunning and was built beautifully.
How Did I Find Our New House?
I found this home online in one of the many searches that we did while preparing to move. Now, I always recommend working with a real estate agent but when you know, you know. I work in real estate for my day job so I kind of knew what I was getting into but I’m not an agent so always consult a real estate agent for your home buying and selling needs. But I found it and then I found the model home where the new home sales consultant was located that could show us the house. We took a walk through the model home, and to be honest, while I like it and the flow is great, it didn’t resonate for me and I couldn’t see myself living in it. I asked her if our new house was the same model. She explained it was not, it’s actually a retired floor plan which makes it unique. I greatly enjoyed this detail.
Now, side detail, when you are looking into building or even buying, take a look at the neighborhood and notice if all the houses look the same. That’s how you know the quality of the builder. If all of the houses look the same, they may be built the same. When I look around at our neighborhood, the houses look different and detailed. That’s what really made it worth it to us to continue moving forward into buying our new house.
Why Did We Decide To Buy Pre-Built New Construction Than Build Custom?
This is a great question! It really came down to timing. Literally, timing is everything. If anyone has been experiencing this real estate market, you will know exactly what I’m talking about right now. When we sold our house in May, we weren’t planning on buying a pre-existing home. With that being said, our Realtor sold our house very quickly, actually within 24 hours almost $30,000 over asking! We had a very quick move. You throw that in with a toddler under 2, 2 dogs, and 1 cat, it was a struggle. We moved in with my Mom. Well, to make a long story short, while I loved living at home, I was ready to have my own place again so I started looking on Zillow. Now, I don’t recommend this usually but I was dreaming at this point. I will always recommend working with a knowledgeable real estate agent. But, I found the one. I saw it and had to go in it! Like I said earlier, it was love at first sight. It met 9/10 of the check marks and we realized checkmark #10 we could compromise on with each other. It was easy and felt right!
If it didn’t feel right and the buying process didn’t align with our core values, I don’t think we would have moved forward. It felt right, the timing was right. As Goldilocks says, “This is just right!”
When Did We Move?
The only downside is that part of our contract was that we couldn’t move in until the beginning of September. Again, timing is everything. The Universe knew exactly what it was doing because I got to go through all of our things a second time and really determine if it was going to be in the new house or if it was time to let it go. When we moved in, I have so many ideas and plans for both immediate and long-term goals we’ll do over the next few years. And I’ll be sharing it with all of you in due time! I’ve been saving inspiration for years. So now it’s time to go through it all and narrow it down now that we have an actual space to work with!
Needless to say, I’m over the moon and can’t wait to take you all along for the ride! I’ll be sharing my design process all within my portfolio section so stay tuned!
Love,
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