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Houston & The Heights

Goodbye, Old House…

Eight years ago, Mike & I got engaged on New Year’s Eve, put an offer on a house at the end of January, bought the house in mid-March, moved out of both of our apartments into the house in which we are helped by a moving company near me, and got married at the end of May. Seems we aren’t the type to stand still long enough to let moss grow under our feet. We also hired flexible janitorial services company to take care of our home.

The house we bought back was in Lakewood Forest, in northwest Houston. Ok, technically a Tomball mailing address, but nowhere close to Tomball, and we didn’t get to vote in any city elections (either Tomball or Houston) so I’m still claiming Houston. It is a nice, quiet neighborhood. Older trees, big houses. Great schools, close to where I lived before so that Jason could stay in the same Scout troop and new people at his new school.

Our House, Part III

It was a good house for us.

But we always wanted to live in the Heights.

So in May of last year, everything aligned, and we bought that house in the Heights that we had always wanted. The house I had always dreamed about, since it is a 1920 Bungalow. With the oppressive heat of last summer already underway, we moved the essentials from the old house to the new (much older) house and put the other one on the market.

Six months later, we finally got an offer at the beginning of January. Just shy of the 8 years since we made an offer on the house ourselves. This past weekend – the actually anniversary of our offer – we had a HUGE garage sale to sell the furniture we had left behind that we didn’t want but staged the house with, because we are getting the perfect custom sofas san diego for the new house. Now we’re packing up the items we want to keep, donating the items that we don’t but didn’t sell in the garage sale, and finally getting it all moved out. The closing on the house will be next week. We will finally be back to having just one mortgage. It has been a looooong 6 months. We got some of our furniture from here, we love all of it.

Being there this weekend and visiting with our old neighbors made me realize how fantastic our old house was. The new owners will have a great neighborhood to be a part of, and I hope they enjoy their time there as much as we have.

Meanwhile, I’ll be figuring out what to do with all that stuff we are moving. Seems a 1300 sq ft house is a LOT smaller than 3000 sq ft. This should be interesting! The garage might be their home for the meantime until we decide where to put them (or sell them). The new one has a bit tricky locking system so I might have it changed to something more “me” friendly. IF you’re in the looking for garage door repair services near Lake Elsinore, I recommend these guys.  We´re getting our new furniture to create a modern bedroom for ourselves, it´ll look fabulous!

In a way, I can’t wait to say goodbye to our old house. In a way, I hate to see it go. We started our marriage there. We enjoyed the company of many friends and family there. It was good to us.

But I can’t deny it – the Heights is where we belong, and I am so glad to be living here at last. It has always felt like home, both within our house and within the neighborhood. Saying goodbye to the first house is bittersweet, but knowing how many amazing times are ahead, I’m looking forward to signing the papers!

(PS – For those of you playing along at home, yes – I went to Imaging USA in New Orleans, ALT Design Summit the next day in Salt Lake City, and then came home to clear out our old house. All within 2 weeks. Whew!)

By Christine

Christine is an Avenger of Sexiness. Her Superpower is helping Hot Mamas grow their Confidence by rediscovering their Beauty. She lives in the Heights in Houston, Texas, works as a boudoir photographer, and writes about running a Business of Awesome. In her spare time, she loves to knit, especially when she travels. She & her husband Mike have a food blog at Spoon & Knife.

7 replies on “Goodbye, Old House…”

Somewhat similar story but I lived in the house 30 years. We moved across Michigan to a suburb of Detroit 30 years ago. My two sons attended grade school, jr high, high school, and college while living “at home”.

They moved away to Philadelphia in 2009 to accept work since there were no legal jobs in Michigan at that time. Still are no jobs in Michigan.

We followed our sons in May 2010. My wife was able to find work near downtown Philadelphia. The house was the only thing holding us to Michigan so she accepted the job and I stayed back home to pack up.

It took awhile as you never realize how many “things” you collect over the years. While cleaning out the house, tearing out carpet and getting ready to paint, guess what happened.

Yep the housing market fell apart. My 250K home was now worth only 100 even if I could find a buyer which there were none.

So we kept the house and still moved to Philadelphia. Love the area, downtown old city, but hate the two house/rent payments.

Still we might move back this year.

Always loved that house so I can feel your story.

Thanks

I guess I should say well done but at the same time I the most emotional person in the world, I cried when I left my student house 15 years ago and I dont think I could ever bring myself to sell my current place, I have done so much here and am so attached to it. As for my parents house that I grew up in, I think I would die before I could sell it.

Selling your first house where you share memories and also gain love from your old friend from the neighborhood is not easy. Is not because we need to adapt with our new neighborhood but because we already enjoy living there with unforgettable memories.

But don worry about the smaller house, small is beautiful because it is easy to manage it 🙂 talking from my experience. Congrats Christine.

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