Building vs. Buying

Build a new home or buy a preexisting home is a question we kept asking ourselves this past year.  We knew our target area as well as what we were looking for.  We started looking at the homes that were on the market last year and even went to a couple of open houses to test the waters.  We saw some beautiful homes, but not quite what were were looking for.  We even looked at preexisting homes last month and saw one in an established neighborhood that we thought we would eventually buy in, but ultimately decided it was not for us.

Fortunately for us, we had an ace up our sleeve.  We had reserved a lot last fall in a new development with the intent of building.    The only bad part of our plan is that the lot would not be ready until March.  Unfortunately, Mother Nature has had other plans and the phase that our lot is in will not be ready until April.  That being said, we love the lot and feel it is worth the wait.  Our lot is highlighted in blue.

We like how the lot is situated and that is on a cul-de-sac.  The other great bonus about this development is that we have friends that recently built with the builder we are going with and are very happy with the end results.

We are excited that we have the ability to get in there and really personalize our house from start to finish and build it to our specifications.  We know that we have a budget and will not get everything we want.  Our realtor said a great statement when we were looking at houses last month...you can have a $10 million budget but still want $11 million worth of things.  It doesn't matter what your budget is, you will always want to go over.  The good thing is that we will be able to determine what we are willing to give up and possibly finagle ways to get more than what we could have gotten with an existing home.

Here are just a few of the reasons we ultimately decided building was the answer for us:

• Everything will be new
• We can adjust the floor plan to fit our vision, needs and wants
• We can get a side entry garage - this is something we both feel strongly about
• We get to pick all of the finishes out
• We will have the ability to do a little bit of the work ourselves (I stress little, but we are both excited that we can participate)
• We will be getting a larger lot 
• It will be ours and only ours     

Our next step is meeting with our realtor and architect to get this process rolling.  I am excited to see what the final product on paper will look like since we have a floor plan picked out that we both like but needs tweaking.  Let the fun begin!!

Moving on Up

Technically this post should be titled "Moving on In...into my Parent's House", but that just doesn't sound as good as moving on up.  My husband and I actually moved into my parent's house December 14th, two days before we closed on the sale of our first home.   All joking aside, it is a good thing and we are so appreciative that my parents are letting us and our adorable dog, Ozzie, crash at their house until our next living situation is finalized.  I plan on using this blog to document all the fun that encompasses figuring out all of the ups and downs associated with building/buying our next home.  While we figure out the details, I would like to give you a little background as to where we are coming from...

The picture above is of our first house.  We purchased it seven years ago and it feels like yesterday.  It is a beautiful historic home built in the late 1800's in St. Louis's Fox Park neighborhood.  I loved this house the minute I stepped into it.  I admit I cried the day we moved out and the day we closed.  It is such a beautiful home inside and out.  What made our first home even better was the neighborhood.  I miss our neighbors and the involvement our neighborhood association had in making Fox Park a great place to live in.

I know that it was the right time to move on, but in the meantime, here are some of my favorite things about this house that I will always miss!

The ceilings - they were so tall:

Our master bedroom with its little nook:

Our big for the city backyard:

This house taught us so much about home ownership.  It gave us a great idea of what we would love to have in our next house.  It taught me that it is okay to pick a bad paint color because you can always fix it.  Yep...we had burnt orange in our bathroom.  Fortunately, it only lasted a couple of hours!  It taught us that there will always be another project to do around the house.  It taught us to buy quality pieces of furniture that we really love and to not just settle.  Most of all, it taught me that we can create a space that we love, are proud of and are comfortable in.  This house and Fox Park will always be special.  I am looking forward to finding something special about the next one!