Our First Place

Like I said in a previous post, buying a house was not on our to-do list for 2014. Really the only thing on our to-do list was getting a dog. Did that early on, so what next? Kidding, that wasn't our logic. Regardless of our logic, buying our first home was another reminder that our idea of "timing" pales in comparison to His idea of timing.

We happened upon our house in a random, "let's just see what's out there" search online. Jonathan found this house that had just been flipped. Adorable outside, adorable inside. "Let's go check it out, what do we have to lose," we thought. We lucked out on our realtor just as randomly. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Gail. She happened to become our realtor because she's the one that was randomly assigned our inquiry for this house on Zillow. We really hit the lottery with this one. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself.

So we met Gail at the house and took a harmless tour.

And then I didn't want to leave. But, being the newly responsible adults that we were, we knew we had to look at more than just one house. Oh, and we also had to think through the whole buying a house thing. Cause we had kind of put the cart before the horse. 

So we researched, discussed, planned, made calculations... In the end, where we are in our jobs and the timing with our lease, plus realizing we'd like to call St. Louis home for a while longer, led us to the conclusion that buying was right for us right now. So we looked at a few more houses, but let's be honest: we had found the one. We had a few criteria that we weren't going to stray from: location (close to the highway so our commutes wouldn't increase), nice kitchen, not a fixer upper, at least two bedrooms and two bathrooms, and price. So all those things combined amounted to not too many options so we knew we found the one pretty quickly.

Back to Gail: she was the perfect realtor for us. Not pushy or salesy, she genuinely wanted us to feel comfortable with our decision. Not only that but she's a guru at renovations and old homes so it's been great to have her wealth of knowledge on our side, not to mention the list of experts she knows for any given project. Looking to buy or sell in St. Louis? Call Gail. 

One month ago we closed on our first home, a 1929 Dutch colonial. We learned a lot throughout the buying process (loans, mortgages, home inspections, appliances, priorities) and I know that learning will never end. Even though our place was move-in ready, there's a slew of projects we've already tackled and many more to cross off the list. Home Depot is our new hangout spot (my goal is for them to greet us by name). It's already been so rewarding to pour into creating this home together and knowing that it's ours. We especially love being part of a historic neighborhood that's still flourishing and reinventing itself. We already feel so much more invested in our community and city. We know this won't be our forever home, but right now it's right and it's ours.