A hunting we will go..

I originally started this post (but obviously didn't finish it) about 2 months ago, when Brian and I first got in touch with our realtor in Chicago.  We'd given her a criteria of what kind of house we were looking for, and the areas in the Chicagoland area that we considered living.  Over a few weekends, Brian and the realtor went out to look at some properties.  A lot of the houses were fairly old (15-30 years) and needed a bunch of work and/or upgrades.  There was one house in particular that we liked (Brian saw it twice, but since I wasn't there, I only saw it through photos :P), but we didn't quite pull the trigger on it. In my heart of hearts, I had reservations about buying an older home.  Maybe I'd watched too many episodes of Holmes on Homes.  I was super worried about 'hidden' issues in a home that would potentially cost us thousands of dollars to fix.
With this scaredy-cat feeling in my gut, I decided to look into the option of building.

Areas are pretty well developed out there, so any new developments are a fair distance out and away from the actual city of Chicago.  The further out you go, the newer the houses and the cheaper they are.
There was one area being built that I had been keeping my eye on for a while, but I wasn't sure if the location was going to be too far from the in-law's house in Wheeling.  Turned out, it's only about a 15-20 minute drive.

I urged Brian to talk to the realtor about getting more info on the development, but it took a while to get the ball rolling on it. Finally, the builders got back to us, but there were only 2 sites left (eek!)

I spent a lot of time doing research on the area, the builders, the floor plans, the...everything.  I searched the building company on the BBB, I read reviews, property tax info, etc.
So by the time Brian actually got to meet with the builders for an initial appointment, we were pretty well prepared.

After plenty of conversations, number crunching and more conversations, Brian and I decided that building was the way to go :) *TRIGGER PULLED*

Property sold!....TO US!

So it's official -- we're building a house in Mundelein, Illinois.  Located in Lake County, it is quite a distance from the city of Chicago -- around a 50 minute drive.  So anyone coming to visit will have to endure quite a commute into the city (or you can pay to stay in a hotel, ha!).

This is what the exterior of the home will look like:

"American Farmhouse" Elevation -- WOOHOO! A PORCH! (the 'senior citizen' in me is jumping for joy)

As anyone can imagine, the process of building a house is extremely stressful (try doing it from a different country!).  There are a lot of things to consider -- cost being the biggest factor.  We want to build it right (from the start) but don't want to be house-poor either.  So the biggest challenge is being sensible and realistic about the options that we need and recognizing which options we can do without.  It's tough.  Really, reeeeally tough.

At the same time, this process is very rewarding -- I'm building a home with the love of my life, for us and OUR family.  What can be better than that?  We are extremely fortunate for this opportunity - I'm so excited for the amazing life we will build together in our new home.

Stay tuned for updates on the building process, vision boards, product posts, etc.!

My house-selling experience

I've owned 2 homes.  My first one, I bought with my sister when I was 19 years old, and eventually moved out when I became pregnant at 23.  I went on to buy a brand new home in a new development and I lived there for 8 years.  Now?... well... I'm homeless.

When my husband got a job back in the US in June, the first thing that we focused on was selling the house.  We knew it would be a huge feat, so I think we wanted to be as proactive as possible and get it out of the way as soon as we could.

One month after Brian left Canada, we decided to put it on the market.  It took me about a week to prep the house for the sale (minor repairs, cleaning, junk removal, staging).  We listed it at a fair price, had 9 showings in 5 days and an Open House.  We got 1 interested buyer (which is all it takes), and in 7 days after going onto the market, our house was sold.  They requested a possession date that was just under one month away.

My next 3.5 weeks was consumed with packing every square inch of the house - boxing our lives up and getting it ready to ship to Chicago.  Without the help of my husband, I had to enlist in some help from a couple of friends.  I was also still responsible for my (then) 2 year old - so there were certainly a lot of long breaks and distractions that went along with that. 

As much as I knew that the prep and move was going to be tough, I knew deep down in my heart that my bigger challenge was going to be on an emotional level -- this was the home that I built; the house that I got married in (literally); the house that both of my kids were born in (not literally, oh gawd!) There were so many memories made in this house and the thought of leaving it was heartbreaking -- but it had to be done.  So privately, I began to detach myself from it.  I didn't even think about being sad.  I invested my time getting everything organized and packed.  I got tunnel vision and focused on the road ahead of me, and didn't allow my emotions to get the better of me.
The moving truck came and everything was loaded -- my entire life...in a truck...en route to Chicago.

Was it hard?  Not at the time.  In fact, I'm still very surprised at how easy I was able to keep things 'strictly business'.  It wasn't until my very last day in the house (sitting in the very same spot I sat the day I took possession of it, some 8 years earlier) that it finally hit me.  The rush of sadness, guilt and pain hit me like a ton of bricks...and I bawled.  But not for long, just a short moment, and then I stopped.

That's when I realized that no matter where I was - whether it was in that home, or in the US or in the North Pole -- the memories that we created as a family would always be with me.  The house was just a house.  Selling it was definitely a challenge, but in the end, I gained some very valuable experience from it.

My next house-buying journey will begin soon.  I'd be lying if I said that I'm not extremely nervous (watching too much Holmes on Homes).  I hope that the experience is pleasant, but somehow, I don't think I'll have that kind of luck.

I hope to share my experiences on the blog, so stay tuned...