Brad and I started renting at our pink corner house nearly a year ago. I spent my very first teacher summer (a freakishly hot one, thanks a lot, geriatric AC) here. We both figured out that we were totally unhappy with our first real jobs. We then found new, much better jobs, thank God.
And we feverishly continued house-hunting, a mania that brought us to Old Town and is now sending us to a quieter neighborhood. In the beginning of 2011, we nearly bought a beautiful old house in Old Town near an apartment complex. We ended up renting a house nearby, and after 11 months of trains, loud bass, and neighbors all up in our space, I'm SO thankful we didn't buy in Old Town.
Around November of 2011, we started the house-hunt again. Our ideas and intentions veered all over the place. From buying a small plot, building ourselves and living off the grid to buying a new construction home in a Lumberton subdivision.... We considered every viable option, or so it felt. We were glued to real estate listing sites like Zillow.com. Brad knows nearly every recently listed or newly sold house in Beaumont, or at least every house that I ask about. Hundreds of listings, and dozens of hours later...
Our sights are now set on a modest 1953 ranch style home in Beaumont.
The rent house we currently inhabit is drab, slightly dirty, and dark (we keep the windows and curtains shut for privacy). There is a tiny patch of a front yard which is mostly taken up by a sidewalk. Behind our house is a driveway that we fight over with the renters next door. Neighbor children and random people meander across our property on their way to somewhere else. And so forth and so on. Don't get me started.
But our HOME. Our new place has a fenced backyard! It has space between our windows and our neighbors'. It's quiet and secluded and traditional and quaint and nearly everything we could want.
I never thought that I'd actually be excited about living in town, but we've grown to love our city. And I honestly think we like it more because we're allowed to go "home" (Fannett, Hamshire) and escape it whenever we like. But living in Beaumont has been a great adventure, and we'll continue to explore it on our bikes.
None of this would have been possible for us if it weren't for the real estate crash, low interest rates, and the good fortune and prayers that allowed us to have good jobs. We have the BEST real estate agent, James Callas. And our families have supported us at every turn. I'm sure they're grateful that we've ended up choosing this house.
We close tomorrow. Moving will be gradual, but by the end of April we should be settled. And newly minted (indebted but grateful) homeowners.
