Virginia Beach portrait and lifestyle photographer specializing in comfortable portraits and candids
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3 bed. 2 bath. Transitional or farmhouse. Garage. Something with character.
I started yesterday by revising our “must haves” and “would be nice” list. It was a good release after months, ok, about a year, of looking at houses online. So many ideas and preferences. Likes and dislikes. Chad and I have started the process of looking for a place of our own, and we began with inquiring about a fixer-upper a few miles from our house. It is a white farmhouse that needs A TON of work. It was fun to imagine ourselves there. Although it was pulled from the market for bank-related reasons, it got us moving.
Space for outside entertainment. Glen Allen. Edge of rural. A home office/client meeting space.
Between college, getting married, and jobs, I’ve moved every year since 2004. I’m kind of ready to settle down. Put my favorite colors on the walls. Make use of all of my Pinterest ideas! We met with a realtor last night. Over a pumpkin spice latte and a slideshow, we talked with a real estate agent about our future home. What we wanted and liked, and what we are not interested in. We’re ready to keep the ball rolling. It keeps hitting me – we’re going to be first time home owners. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15
Are you a home owner? Have any advice for us newbs?
ME TOO! My wife and I just put down a deposit for our own little place in Old Town, Alexandria – EXCITING!
Our realtor was amazing & took us under her wing. There are so many things to consider with buying. Drew and I were almost ready to settle on a house when our realtor slipped in a little suggestion. They can’t tell you about schools, crime, etc, but she was able to tell me to check out this site as a “hint hint:” http://www.sex-offender.vsp.virginia.gov/sor/zipSearch.html (You put in your zip code and the site shows you all the listed sex offenders in the area) In addition, she suggested to seeing a house you really like at 2 different times of day, which we did for that same house. Needless to say, it was a different scene at night and there were 7 sex offenders listed that were adjacent & on the same block to the home we were considering. Those were red flags for us and we continued our search elsewhere and ended up at the house we are at now; and, I think it is so important to feel like your home is a place of safety and rest.
Wish you all the best in your search!
We are in the process of looking for a new place too! A piece of advice our realtor gave us… if you get a “fixer upper” or even just a really old house (I was interested in a 1910 house), then you can plan to spend your weekends working on the house. She said, if you like to spend your free/family time doing “other” stuff, then an old house isnt the way to go. However, if you love working on houses… get an oldie. 🙂 It just depends on what you like to do!
We just sold our townhouse and bought a single family home last week! My best advice is to find a realtor you can trust and speak honestly with. We had great experiences both time but you do have to realize what is affordable versus what you want. It sounds like from your blog you already have that down! Also thinking about how long you plan to be there is important. Our townhouse was great but we knew we didn’t want children in it due to the lack of backyard…so you have to compromise based on the years you plan to stay there. I know you will end up with a beautiful place! It’s crazy that you took my bridal pictures 2 years ago…I still love your blog! Good luck!
SO exciting! Matt and I dream of owning a house one day, but living up in NOVA that may never happen. We’ll see, but I’m excited to watch you and Chad go through the process together and especially excited to see where you’ll end up!
I’m so excited for you guys!!! This is so funny because our best friends looked into fixing up and buying this exact same house! haha..it is really gorgeous! I can’t wait to see where you guys end up! I’m thinking maybe you should look at houses in the near west end;)…