When we purchased our house in March 2007, it was because I really didn't want to move again for awhile. We had moved from Baltimore to Sonoma (beautiful but no diversity) in the Fall of 2005, and then about a year later we moved from Sonoma to Atlanta. I was just done with moving. Before we moved to Sonoma, I looked at the real estate and decided it was too much money for too little. The condo that we rented was built in the 1970's, 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and had a community pool. I think the owner paid over $400K for it:-(
Before we moved to Atlanta, I googled houses that were environmentally friendly and The Tributary in Douglasville came up. Wow, the houses were gorgeous and you got so much for your money. They advertised as being about 25 minutes from Atlanta so we decided to visit one Sunday. It took us 45 minutes on a Sunday. No good.
The Preserve in East Atlanta also came up. When we came to visit Atlanta for the fist time during Gabe's interview process, we had lunch in East Atlanta and Gabe said that it was possibly a place where he could see us living. So after moving into our apartment I decided to step up our home buying process. I visited the Preserve and loved all the houses. Gabe was lukewarm but I kept on visiting the model homes. One day I decided to visit a home that I never visited before. I decided to just go in since the door was unlocked. I fell in love. It had pretty much everything that I wanted: open kitchen, natural light in the basement (for Barry's room), smallish master bedroom, double sinks, back deck, little lawn for us to mow. We were first time buyers and this was in 2007 so of course we paid too much for it.
Seven years later, I think we made the right choice. This neighborhood is really special, and I still love my house. It's accommodated first Gabe and me and our three cats, then Barry, then the children, then Phuc, and now Leslie. This house has been good to us.
We've seen neighbors move out, primarily for better schools, and every time it confirms for us that we don't want to move. One, it'll be a huge loss on paper (~$70K). Two, I really hate moving. Three, I don't know where we would move. I didn't mean for this to be a long term house, but I guess it is.
Some people buy a starter home, followed by an upgrade, then forever home, and finally a downsized home. I think our home is between an upgrade and forever home.
Before we moved to Atlanta, I googled houses that were environmentally friendly and The Tributary in Douglasville came up. Wow, the houses were gorgeous and you got so much for your money. They advertised as being about 25 minutes from Atlanta so we decided to visit one Sunday. It took us 45 minutes on a Sunday. No good.
The Preserve in East Atlanta also came up. When we came to visit Atlanta for the fist time during Gabe's interview process, we had lunch in East Atlanta and Gabe said that it was possibly a place where he could see us living. So after moving into our apartment I decided to step up our home buying process. I visited the Preserve and loved all the houses. Gabe was lukewarm but I kept on visiting the model homes. One day I decided to visit a home that I never visited before. I decided to just go in since the door was unlocked. I fell in love. It had pretty much everything that I wanted: open kitchen, natural light in the basement (for Barry's room), smallish master bedroom, double sinks, back deck, little lawn for us to mow. We were first time buyers and this was in 2007 so of course we paid too much for it.
Seven years later, I think we made the right choice. This neighborhood is really special, and I still love my house. It's accommodated first Gabe and me and our three cats, then Barry, then the children, then Phuc, and now Leslie. This house has been good to us.
We've seen neighbors move out, primarily for better schools, and every time it confirms for us that we don't want to move. One, it'll be a huge loss on paper (~$70K). Two, I really hate moving. Three, I don't know where we would move. I didn't mean for this to be a long term house, but I guess it is.
Some people buy a starter home, followed by an upgrade, then forever home, and finally a downsized home. I think our home is between an upgrade and forever home.