After a week in California, it feels so good to be home.
I am still feeling a little sluggish today but hopefully by tomorrow I’ll feel adjusted to the time change and a bit more like myself. The Super Shuttle picked me up at my hotel at 3:05 a.m. yesterday so by the time I arrived home in Charlotte, the only thing on my mind was sleep. Fortunately a little bit of energy surfaced when Ryan arrived home from work since I was excited to see him. Ryan talked me into an evening walk with Sadie before we drove to a local pizza place for salads, pizza-by-the-slice and a beer.
It was a great low-key evening with my two favorites!
Workout + Breakfast
This morning things returned to normal and I went to a 7 a.m. Pure Barre class.
After a week away, the core work felt harder than usual. One thing I can definitely say about my regular Pure Barre workouts is that they really have strengthened my core. During the workouts I did during IDEA World, I noticed how strong I felt during various workouts that focused on core training. I didn’t feel like I wanted to collapse and die in plank and it was definitely a pleasant surprise to notice an improvement in my core strength. Thanks, Pure Barre!
After Pure Barre, I walked to Starbucks to grab a cappuccino and breakfast while I worked and caught up on the business side of blogging for a few hours.
I had two conference calls and a bunch of emails that needed my attention. Eventually I needed a break from staring at my computer and drove home to fix lunch and take Sadie on a walk.
Lunch
Lunch today included a spinach and cheese quesadilla served with a side of grapes.
While I ate lunch, I did some house-related stuff and tried not to let myself feel too overwhelmed. There’s so much to consider and discuss and while I am so, so excited about our new house, after a series of inspections last week and more negotiations related to repairs this week, I am trying not to let myself feel too stressed. Our closing date was already pushed back by the sellers to the first week of September which is unfortunate since we were really hoping for a smooth move out of our place in Ocala (our rent is up at the end of August) directly into our new house. I’ve heard the home-buying process can be a bit of a rollercoaster from everyone I’ve talked to and I’m beginning to see exactly what they mean.
I am still really pumped about the house and am definitely ready to get a move on, both literally and figuratively. I’ll keep ya posted!
Question of the Afternoon
- Home owners: What was the home-buying process like for you? Any hiccups?
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We are currently going through the home buying process and it’s been quite a roller coaster. We’ve had two offers accepted only to fail the inspections miserably. We had one offer that was better than the bidder we were up against but because they came in with a cash offer it was accepted over ours. LASTLY (hopefully) we fell in love with a house slightly out of our original price range so we had to do a contingent offer on the sale of our current house (which originally we were trying to avoid) so that we can use some of those funds for the down payment. Phewww it’s been alot of work that will hopefully pay off. You guys seem to be in a good spot because you have the advantage of not having to sell to buy. Good luck!!
Good luck to you, Leah!! I know it can be stressful and I hope everything goes smoothly for you from here on out!
We are going through it with you. We close October 3 (which works out great since we are in our rental until November) and are waiting for our financing paperwork to get finalized. I feel like I spend half my day working on house stuff. Congrats on the purchase!
I feel ya!!!
Reality usually seems to hit harder after a fun trip, doesn’t it? So sorry you’re kind of feeling overwhelmed – but the house will be worth the wait! And the day is almost over, so you’ve already accomplished a lot! You’ve got this, girl! =)
It definitely will be worth the wait! There’s just so many little things popping up ($$$!) that are a little overwhelming at the moment. Deep breaths! I am SO ready to move! 🙂
When buying our home we dealt with some awful sellers! They made the process pretty hard to manage but we somehow managed! Good luck and just keep positive 🙂
we still need to hang out, jess!!!!
I can so relate to housing stress. Our closing also got pushed back into September and we are trying to coordinate move-out and move-in as we speak. I hope things go smoothly!
House hunting/buying is a series of ups and downs, but it will feel so good once it’s all done!
PS Your abs looked amazing in the one pic showing your tummy in California!
thanks so much, linda!!
I don’t own a home, I rent but from what I hear it’s a huge headache. I was actually in Charlotte this past weekend, my fiance and I looking to move there next fall so we were checking out the area. It’s beautiful, I’m in NYC right now so it will be a huge adjustment. We did a little house hunting ourselves and there is so much to consider, I’m sure it was really tough.
we are looooving the area so far 🙂 you should totally move 😉
I love Pure Barre too ! The best…After buying and selling two homes, I can tell you that nothing goes according to plan and rarely goes smoothly. But it all works out in the end.
Will your Ocala place let you extend and rent month to month? Most places will let you do that, but the monthly rent goes up a bit.
I featured your popsicle recipe on my blog today! It’s SO good and easy 🙂
http://www.runningathousandmiles.com/2014/08/new-recipes.html
Unfortunately the saying is true, buying a home has it’s ups and downs. But it’s so worth it! I adore my house and those few months of negotiations are far in the past. Good luck!
I think bumps in the road are totally normal when it comes to home buying — hopefully there’s not too many bumps that pop up for you!
Unfortunately closing is a frustrating process. The key is to never believe any dates and keep following up and pushing people to get things closed. Any ball that can get dropped will get dropped.
We just bought a house and have only been living there a month and it was such a rollar coaster of emotions that last week of closing. Thankfully our experience was amazing up until that week. Like, we had zero issues and we felt like we couldnt understand what people complained about.. Well that last week the mortgage company did our paperwork wrong and we had to push our closing date back 2 days! After we had already set up having cable/internet installed and electric and gas turned on! It was a mess and I remember just crying on the floor thinking nothing was working out (so dramatic!)
The good news is that everything did finally work out and even though we didnt close on the day we thought we were still so excited and it feels good to have a place that is officially ours!
Just know that something will probably go wrong but ya just gotta roll with it and in the end you will be so happy! And if you feel the need to cry on the floor with piles of boxes surrounding you thats okay 😉
I’m glad you’re in your new house and are loving it! And thanks for the advice. 🙂 I can totally see crying on the floor happening at some point. 😉
It always feels good to be home after some time away! Glad you’re settling back into the norm again. I’m working on the same thing right now after being in San Diego all last week.
Our home buying process was a MAJOR roller coaster when we moved to AZ. I think we put offers on at least five different houses and didn’t get any of them because another offer was accepted literally MINUTES before ours. I had my heart broken multiple times! I never knew how emotional it could all be. To top it off, we almost weren’t able to close on time because of some drama with our lender. Long story short, we’ll NEVER use Wells Fargo as a lender again! Anyways, we obviously are in our house now and it all worked out. It always does! 😉 Just going through it can be a little bit of a headache at times, I totally get it. Thinking of you during this time!!
it took us 9 Months to close on our house and we were buying from my parents!! Stay patient and try not to stress 🙂 You will be settled in your home in no time!! Good luck.
Don’t be afraid to ask your inspector or realtor any question no matter how big or small. This is an investment and you don’t want to be left wishing you had asked something during the process when something might’ve been able to be done. Keep a journal about the stuff you went through, good and bad. When you’re putting the finishing touches on the place and getting it how you wanted it, you can appreciate it even more! 🙂
We’re shooting for a Sept. 2nd close date on our new home in Kansas, and things have totally gone downhill in the last 24 hours. We’re buying a home with a beautiful sunroom addition, but we found out yesterday (after doing our own research) that the previous owners never got a permit to build the sunroom. I was feeling really optimistic that everything with the home-buying process would continue to be smooth until closing, but this snag is really throwing us for a loop! Went for a mid-day run and am feeling a little bit less stressed! 🙂
Ugh what a headache! I hope everything gets back on track for your close date!
“I didn’t feel like I wanted to collapse and die in plank” hahaha, that is always a good thing! Plank is a lovely form of death by abs!
Good luck with the house stuff. It must be so stressful but exciting. I am looking forward to that in my future, but warily.
My sister works in the change request and loan department for a financial firm and says she frequently has to tell buyers that there will be a delay or that they even need to start over with their application so no worries it’s all normal, unfortunately.
I am telling you… there is just something so good about a slice of cheese pizza! Sometimes the simplest things are the best!
As a city-apartment dweller I have no home advice for you. However, I finally took my first Pure Barre class in San Francisco last week and wrote a full review today. It’s a great low-impact workout that definitely burns in the core and seat. I enjoyed it, but felt like I needed to do a little more after-the-fact. A great complement to a weekly workout routine for sure. How long have you been going to Pure Barre? That’s great you’ve had results!
I hate to say it, but in my experience home buying is the easy part. We’ve been trying to sell our home for one month now and we’ve been put through the wringer by two sets of potential buyers who backed out of their offers after we’d already accepted them and the conditions. This last month has probably been the most miserable time of our lives – we’re at the point where we will accept any reasonable offers but we don’t want to get screwed by the buyers. We can’t go out and buy anything either since we have to sell our place first and then try to juggle the closing dates.
Last year we found a house we loved and our offer was accepted – yay! Only problem: we hadn’t even put the house we were living in up for sale yet! YIKES! Talk about stress! It all worked out… And so will your situation! This is a very stressful time but it will all be worth it once you’re in YOUR HOME! Good luck! 🙂
Wow! That’s definitely intense. So glad it all worked out for you and that you love your home!! 🙂
Get some rest girl! Everything will work out great, I know it! 🙂
Glad you’re home safe, and just breath through the whole house process. It is such a stressor, but one that is SO gratifying in the end 🙂
we are currently in the home buying process too. so tough to trust the process and hard not to be overwhelmed!
Is that a spinach and egg white wrap I spy? #IDEAmealoftheyearv 😉
Hahaha yessss! You’d think I would be sick of it by now… but no. 🙂
We just moved to st Pete beach, fl from Atlanta. Fortunately, we had our atl closing on a Thursday and had our fl home closing on the following Monday. So we were able to pack our stuff up in a uhaul and keep it for 5 days. Home buying is very stressful. Just remember it will be so worth it in the end 🙂
I just moved from NJ to Austin so a move out of state was stressful. Add buying a home on top of that and I am sure it is totally overwhelming. I think exercise really does help to manage stress so that is a plus no matter what.
Welcome to Austin!!! It’s the best city, but I’m partial 🙂 If you have any questions, feel free to let a stranger know haha
Thanks, Kelsie! I appreciate it. 🙂
Home buying is so fun… I mean, it can be but it can also be so overwhelming, frustrating and intimidating. We’ve purchased two now and both were so different because they were several years apart. Plus the second was a short sale which can be quite the headache. I will say that once it’s all over its so worth it! Hang in there! Before you know it you will be moved into your new home and loving it 🙂
I think pizza and beer with Ryan sounds like the perfect way to be welcomed home! That’s awesome about pure barre, my core could use some serious strength building!
Rest up! You’re not going to be in the house you have for very much longer so enjoy it while you can!
We just bought our home in April. The sellers were…interesting. Our closing was pushed back a week due to a $90k lien on the house that wasn’t found earlier b/c the seller legally changed their name! They also shut off the power to the house so we did the walk through the best we could w/o being able to check anything; at the closing we had the lawyer write up something stating that if something didn’t work they would still need to fix it and we wouldn’t release the money until we were able to check everything. And the sellers also showed up at the walk through, which is not normal. Buying a house is super stressful, but once it’s yours it is such an awesome feeling! Our experience was one of a kind and I’m sure you will find the same thing with your home buying journey. Best of luck!
What a headache! So glad everything worked out for you!! 🙂
OH man I feel you on the house buying/selling. We ended up falling in love with a house before being able to sell our condo….that was TOUGH and stressful..two mortgages…eeek…luckily we ended up being able to rent the condo out (damn you housing market!!!) But girl, just know that once you are in that house…it just FEELS like home! Enjoy every minute of the planning and ironing out…then it’s DECORATING time!!!! And just in time for fall, the best time of year to decorate (in my opinion)
“once you are in that house… it just FEELS like home” <-- this is the feeling I am waiting for!! 🙂
Dude- that piece of pizza looks AMAZING!! haha now I’m craving pizza 🙂
I saw so many pics that you were in at BlogFest but I still failed to meet you. Probably because I was only there on Saturday for about… 4 hours, ha! Glad you had fun though 🙂
So bummed we missed each other!! I would love to meet you!!
We bought our first house ten years ago this fall. We saw the house, fell head over heels, and had it under contract in about 24 hours. Talk about a whirlwind! Although we were only there 19 months, we loved it. We bought an investment property in Florida and decided to move and live there full-time. We sold our first home on the day I left my first job out of college…talk about lucky! We still live in Florida but have fond memories of our first place together. Good luck and remember to enjoy the ride…
Wow!!! That’s so cool. So glad you have such fond memories. 🙂
oh man, we are currently selling our condo/buying a house and trying to close both and get keys all the on the same day. Having a 19month old doesn’t help lol. In other words, I FEEL YA! Good luck lady – I have found that lots of prayer has helped the weight of stress on my shoulders 🙂
Janine
oh my gosh, and congrats!!!! obvs 🙂
To look on the bright side, one of the good things about the pushed back move in date is that you now have about a month to reprint, clean, and make any changes you want to make to the house before all your stuff is there. Congratulations!
My husband and I bought our house in Cincinnati not long after we had lived here and it was SO stressful! Our realtor was great, but it seemed like so many things were going wrong. The bank didn’t wire money for our closing on time, there were SO many things wrong with the house on the inspection (so many little things!), and our move-in day just happened to be scheduled when the local marathon was going on so ALL of the roads were blocked off for most of the day we were planning to move in. All I can say is that we are so happy to have a place to call our own and all the stress was worth it. You can do it!!
Oh my gosh, you are a trooper! So glad everything is going well for you now, Amanda!
Oh my gosh …. my house buying experience was a nightmare. My (now) husband and I bought a fixer-upper….aka, it wasn’t LIVABLE when we purchased it. Neither of us have ever done home repairs, so thanks to google and youtube we were able to instantly become DIY’ers! SCORE! But the process of buying the house was awful. We purchased our home from a woman that inherited the home and basically wanted to make as much money off the sale as possible. Considering the conditions of the house, we had a hard time negotiating a higher price and adopting some big ticket repairs (like a new roof, which was required in inspections). It literally took MONTHS to close on the house, and was thanks to us saying to the seller we didn’t need any more delays or stress from her. When she heard we were out looking at new places, she caved. I had to go month-to-month on a lease in another city, as well. It’s a bummer that our first home buying experience had more drama than a cliff hanger soap opera episode, but in the end we are very happy with our home. I still look at our before/after photos and am amazed by that whole process and transformation. So my advice to you is to find as much fun in the process! Get excited about paint colors and Friday night dates to Home Depot 🙂 My husband and I took a bad experience and look at each other and laugh, now. Congratulations on the home! Based on your photos from Pinterest loves, I’m anxious to see a few posts on decore ideas! I’m going through a redecorating phase and need some inexpensive ideas 🙂 Haha!!!
Hi, I have been reading your blog for quite some time now and I just had to post on this one:) I can relate to the process. We live in Ireland in rented accommodation and have just purchased our own 2 bed apartment, we made the initial bid and won that back in mid April, and we are still waiting for the keys. I had been warned prior that the whole process can take months and I always thought it a bit over the top but now i see why…. we purchased a place that had been repossessed so it is sold through a bank and takes a bit longer… we have given our landlord a leaving date of 31st Aug and will not have the keys by then so time to find somewhere to live short term:) I am trying not to get stressed though as it should be an enjoyable time and I can not wait to begin the decorating.. although i do think I should not have been so eager and purchased new couch, kitchen, beds already:) woops….. anyway I wish you the very best of luck from across the seas…. love the blog by the wayxxx Katiexxx
We closed on our home last July. The close date was July 31st and that same day I was closing on the sale of my condo…so I was super stressed as I was afraid the buyers for the condo wouldn’t show up! LOL
We actually got married on July 25th and then closed on the 31st, talk about a busy week! The only had two hiccups we had:
1. The night before closing our lawyer called and told us we didn’t have enough money for our closing..that we still had to saddle up $6,000! Come to find out the buyers of my condo had a check with their real estate agent that was covering that gap! I will say, our lawyer wasn’t very good….I’ve heard that is common with real estate lawyers.
2. We were told that the closing was at 1pm so the morning of, we were doing last minute cleaning and packing up of the condo. Well at 1030am I get a call from my lawyer asking where we were, that they were waiting for us to close!!!! No one told us that the time had changed…so we had to rush out of the condo and over to the lawyers office!
Needless to say, we closed! And there was no better feeling than pulling into the driveway of our new home….best feeling ever! So any stress you do feel now will be well worth it! If all goes well you’ll be home owners in only a couple of weeks!! We had to wait 2 months to close.
Home sweet home. 🙂 Not much beats pizza n’ beer, but of course I’d say that.
Where did you get that pizza? It looks tasty!
The most stressful part of buying our house was going back and forth on the price. The seller would take every second of the 48 hours we gave him to respond to do so, and the wait was agonizing. But after 3 back and forths, we finally agreed on a price. Then of course there’s the 30 days to close, with the inspections, loans, and tons of paperwork. There was so much paperwork I couldn’t believe it!!! That was a pain. But in the end, when they hand you the key and you walk through the door of your own home for the first time, it’s all worth it!!
Brooklyn South Pizzeria. Delish!
When I bought my place the closing was set back twice. One time it was just an error in paperwork that delayed everything (not my fault lol). It was frustrating, but everyone I talked to seems to have some issues pop up so I think its just par for the course for any homeowner. Good luck with everything!
Ahh yes! The home buying process is pretty difficult! We had a contract with a friend of a friend to renovate our house for us. So we had already settled on a price and an estimated move date and my boyfriend was like well let’s just set our day for move out of our apartment as the week after we are supposed to close. (This was 2 months in advance and way before the work was done) suffice it to say the work took a lot longer than expected and before we closed we had to move EVERYTHING into a storage unit and sleep in a friends empty apartment that had just moved on an air mattress for a month, no internet, TV, nothing. Meanwhile I was just about to start a new job and we ended up having to move out of the empty apartment into our house before we closed and were inspected (thank god we knew the contractor and already had most of a contract drawn up) but we were basically camping in the apartment and our house for a total of 3 months. It was AWFUL.
To make a long story short, we are finally settled into our house a year later and slowly making it feel perfectly like home!
Congrats on the house!
We bought our first house last December… It started out rocky as we debated settling on a couple houses we liked but didn’t love, and then our amazing realtor called us about a pocket listing that she thought was perfect for us! The seller agreed if we put in a full price offer, the house was ours and would never hit the market. It was set to go on the market the next day, Friday, so Thursday afternoon we toured it with our realtor and fell in love with it. It really did check off almost everything we had requested!
Our realtor got a verbal acceptance over the phone before we even left the house! The seller actually took a small loss on the house, and we feel like we got an amazing deal on a house that probably would have gone for a lot more on the open market.
Our closing went smoothly, but we were so nervous we couldn’t seem to let ourselves believe the house was ours until we closed and had the keys in our hands!! We could barely even bring ourselves to tell anyone we were under contract because we were so nervous we’d jinx ourselves!! 🙂 We lived in a tiny, dark 900sq ft apartment for 6 years before this, so we feel very lucky that this is now our home!!
We’ve never bought a house, but we constantly (read: every single time we move) have to deal with one lease ending before the next one starts. It’s standard practice here in Boston, and it’s OBNOXIOUS. The best thing ever though, is just getting a POD. You pack it up (or have movers pack it up) and they take it away. A week later or two weeks or whatever, it reappears at the new location ready to be unpacked! SO much better than dealing with storage for a few days and all the packing and unpacking and repacking. Well worth it if you have to get your stuff our of Ocala before you can move in!