My whole life I have dreamed of owning a home. Some people dream of having kids, some people dream of their wedding day, but for me it was always about a house. Now, that’s not to say I didn’t also think about getting married and having a family, but for me having my own space was always at the top of the list.
When Matt and I got engaged, we were living in a one bedroom apartment in Jersey City — where we were also stuck for the first year of COVID. Being trapped inside a small apartment, without a car (because parking was too expensive in our building), with little to no outdoor space, and for months on end, really took a toll on us. When we first moved in together, Jersey City was so convenient because we both commuted into the city for work so the proximity to Manhattan was invaluable. Once working remotely became so widely accepted, and I quit my corporate job to go full-time with photography, there was truly no point to paying nearly $3,000 per month to be stuck in a little apartment yet never go into the city.
It was January of 2021 when our home buying journey began. COVID was causing a mass exodus of people fleeing the cities and heading to the suburbs to get more bang for their buck in terms of space. As badly as we wanted to leave our Jersey City apartment, our lease wasn’t up until August. The previous summer (in the midst of 2020) we had nearly terminated our lease to move to an apartment in Bloomfield, NJ but just as we were about to sign the papers we had a gut feeling it wasn’t the right move. Thanks to COVID we’d also only been able to do virtual tour of the apartment, and it was just too big of a commitment to make the move without seeing the space in person first. So, we decided to stick it out for another year. However, that all changed when I woke up to a Zillow email on January 8th.
Seeing Our Future Home
Friends from our apartment building in Jersey City had moved out to the NJ suburbs the previous summer, and their new town was only about ten minutes from where I grew up so I was familiar with the area. It was close to my parents, had great schools, and was relatively affordable (although Jersey is definitely not cheap, it was comparable to what we were paying in rent so it felt doable) so I created a Zillow notification to alert me when new homes went on the market.
That Friday, I woke up around 7 am to let our dog, Macie, out when I checked my email and saw a Zillow update that had been sent about an hour earlier about a new house going on the market in that town. As soon as I saw the house, I had one of the strangest feelings I’ve ever had — I’m not even sure I can describe it, but I just had to know more. Scrolling through the photos and reading more about the home, it felt too good to be true. When Matt woke up I immediately showed him the listing, and we both looked at each other like, “Is this it?”
Now, mind you, we were not officially house hunting — we were not pre-approved for a mortgage, we did not have a realtor, and our apartment lease wasn’t up for another 8 months. But something about it just felt right.
Once it was a reasonable hour, we called the listing agent and asked if we could come see the house that day. He said it was literally just listed and there was an open house Sunday, but if we wanted to come by later that afternoon he would show it ahead of time. I called my dad and asked if he could come pick us up (remember, we didn’t even have a car) and we both let work know we would be offline that afternoon.
I still remember the feeling of walking into the house for the first time — it was staged nicely, but it wasn’t the furniture that made it feel like home. It just WAS our home. I immediately felt at ease as we walked through, and I just knew that we would be buying it. Of course there were both pros and cons, as always, but the pros felt like they definitely outweighed the cons. As my dad drove us back to Jersey City that evening, we couldn’t shake the feeling that house was where we were meant to be.
The Buying Process
Now anyone that has purchased a home knows the process can be grueling. Before buying a home myself, I naively thought it was as simple as: offer, offer accepted, sign papers, house bought. Little did I know that was pretty far from the truth, but in all honestly looking back it was definitely a pretty painless process for us.
We were able to get pre-approved quickly which was such a help, and the listing agent let us know the seller was not accepting offers until after the Sunday open house. Sunday night we submitted our offer and anxiously waited to hear back. It’s funny because as nervous as I was, I also had no doubt we were going to get it. Come Tuesday, the listing agent called us and let us know our offer was accepted. It was crazy because in the course of less than five days, our lives were on track to completely change.
Thankfully the inspection and appraisal both went well, and the hardest part was waiting the long several weeks until closing. We knew not to get our hopes up until the closing documents were signed, sealed, delivered and we had the keys in our hands because anything can happen — but before we knew it, the papers were signed and it was official! Just like that, we were suburbia residents.
Between breaking our apartment lease, paying closing costs and the mover’s fee, leasing a car, and many many MANY trips to Target, the home buying process was certainly not cheap. However, we were so beyond excited to begin to build equity and be free of our 700 square foot Jersey City prison (okay, that’s an exaggeration but it really started to feel that way).
We are so incredibly fortunate that the first and only home we looked at worked out for us, as I know that is so rarely the case. Since then I know interest rates have sky rocketed, the market has been extremely volatile, and it’s been nearly impossible for so many people our age to buy homes. My words of advice to anyone thinking about buying a home are: ACT FAST. If we hadn’t been so on top of seeing the home and putting in a competitive offer as soon as we could, I have no doubt we would have let this home slip away. However, I know that there are so many factors that have to fall into place to be able to purchase a home, and we are so thankful things worked out how they did for us.
Making a House a Home
If you follow me on Instagram, you probably know that I absolutely love decorating and styling spaces in my home. I really started to get into interior design in 2019, and did the best I could in our apartment but was definitely learning along the way. Moving into our new home was like my Super Bowl — there were so many more rooms and opportunities to flex my design muscles. While I am most certainly still learning, and sometimes look back on styling decisions I made only a few weeks ago like, “What the heck was I thinking,” I am truly so happy with how far I’ve come in terms of making our house a home.
Lucky for me, Matt relinquishes most of the design control, but I’m always sure to include him in the decisions for the larger (and more expensive) furniture. I would say as of now (updated in February of 2023) we are in a really good place in terms of feeling like most rooms are “done” — although I am always coming up with changes to spaces because I get bored with them quickly.
We didn’t have to do any major renovations upon moving in because our house was a flip, but we did add a fence a few months after closing because we live on a busy road and wanted our dog, Macie, to be able to enjoy the yard freely. The fence was definitely a big investment, but it adds value to the house and gives us a lot of peace of mind.
Otherwise we haven’t even so much as painted (so sorry to everyone who asks me what our paint color is, the house came this way!), and although there are plenty of other updates I’d love to do (kitchen, bathroom, etc.) I know it probably doesn’t make sense because this really isn’t meant to be our “forever” home. As much as I absolutely love it, we will definitely outgrow it quickly if and when our family grows down the road. But for now, I love knowing that Matt and I (and Macie) are so happy here, and it is certainly the perfect starter home to begin building equity until we find the place we want to stay forever.
Be sure to follow along on Instagram and check out my LIKEtoKNOW.it to shop the exact products from our home — I absolutely love sharing home design, interior inspiration, and products I love!
