This won’t come as a surprise to you if you follow my Instagram, but if you don’t, hang onto your hat, for we are on the move again. I know our current house had all the hallmarks of being our Forever Home (capital F, capital H), but we have a (laminated) pros and cons list that led us to this decision. We had to actually write them down after every conversation started with a counterargument to the previous one and we stopped talking about anything but.
To catch you up, our main reason for moving was basically that our giant of a three year old, Jude, is outgrowing his room, so we could have chosen to extend or move. Although I think we would have recouped the cost of extending if we’d gone down that route, I couldn’t really get my head round the cost and disruption balanced against the outcome… when, at the end of the day, my heart is still in Howden. I did say it last time we moved! There were lots of reasons on the list, some silly, some not, but being able to walk to school with the kids without setting foot in the car and drinking with the mums are right up there.
On the cons front, the new house won’t have the character we enjoy here. Scarlett is very concerned about losing the quietness. She was a bit upset about leaving her rainbow but I think she’s over it now because I’ve promised her a flower mural this time. Jude doesn’t care.
Once we got the earworm, it snowballed VERY quickly. We went to see a few houses on the market, but there’s not been a lot that meets both our requirements and budget and too many compromises would have to have been made. So, didn’t see this one coming, but we’re moving back into a new build. This one has to be the one that lasts till the kids leave home – it’s the one we’ll downsize from.
There are three new build developments going on at the same time, which are going to grow the market town by a lot in a small space of time. We were looking at a house on the biggest development – it had the best choice for us, they were ready with their marketing literature while the others were writing things on scraps of paper for us, and we know people who have already moved in who have had a good experience.
On the selling front, we had an influx of viewings off the bat and almost everyone put an offer in of some kind or another, which was nice. There have been a few ups and downs so far, but THE most important thing is that the next owners are keeping the rainbow. I don’t even care if they’re lying, it will make me sleep better at night.
And, all of a sudden, it was done. This is it.
We’re about ready to exchange. My head’s still spinning and I can’t quite believe we’re moving soon. All we’re waiting on now is for the house to be finished. I’ve got a lot of floor plans and showhome pictures and Pinterest boards, a head full of ideas and a Google Drive full of spreadsheets.