It’s been a minute since I last posted on this blog. That’s my bad. I would make excuses, however there really isn’t any. I just haven’t felt like writing. Anyway, in the last few months I’ve had so much go on in my life that I feel that I need to write it down and to get it out for my sanity. Hoorah for readers.
I guess I should first start off with my current living situation and what in tarnation is going on with the housing market. In January of this year I put my 3 bedroom, 2 bath home up for sale. In all seriousness it was a great home. Beautiful and new. It was a new build when I bought it. However as a new home owner two years ago, there were things I did NOT know, and the realtor who sold me the home did not care to tell me.
I was not aware the taxes in my area were horrendously high. I also didn’t know there were other taxes you had to pay like for school districts and what not. I don’t even have children and I’m paying schools. How nice (not). I was shocked to learn that my initial first years payment would be my cheapest because it had not taken in the taxes on the new home yet. My monthly house note went up hundreds of dollars a month the following year and I felt lied to and stressed. I also had a Homeowners Association, or a HOA. Now usually I wouldn’t mind a HOA, but the one in my neighborhood was ruled by a third party committee and not even actual homeowners. You read that right, the HOA to my neighborhood didn’t even live in it. And they were biased and did not hold up their regulations to everyone equally- because they didn’t live there and didn’t see everything. I also lived in a cul-de-sac. I had homes to the left, right, and behind me. Y’all, I grew up on five acres of land and was used to space, now I could hear the house party two homes over and catty corner to me. Big. Nope.
I also didn’t think to go through my personal bank when financing or look into my own home owners insurance. The realator at the time sweet talked me into using their builders bank and had a card on standby with a insurance company that would “get me a great deal”. She laid on the “we will help you” real thick. Oh to know what I know now. I was so naïve and believed this realtor had my best interest at heart- being a new home owner who didn’t know anything. So two years after moving into my home and worrying if my taxes went up again if I could afford it, I placed it on the market in January 2021 post a global pandemic.
What. A. Mess.
It sat for about three months with no activity. My home was like new, two rooms never lived in and decently priced. I didn’t oversell my home like many people were doing in the area. I worked with a friend recommended realator who had been in the business for over fifteen years, one who knew the area and was actually invested in the person as much as the home. She actually, I felt, was informative and cared. We looked around my area and compared prices. But, with everything barely opening up again and people going back to work, it was just taking a while to get interested parties. Finally around the end of April and start of May I started getting showings, and boy did they start to flood in. I would have several in one week and then multiple on weekends.
Alas, it wasn’t until the end of June I received a serious offer. Now, at the beginning of June I had to have surgery, which will be another post in itself. But imagine, receiving an offer on your home while your trying to recover from surgery and then having to move all your things out, find a new place to live, find a storage place that was secure for your other things, and try and recover from surgery. To say I was stressed was an understatement.
I had been looking for another home to move into while trying to sell at the same time, praying I could do a sell and buy swap, but unfortunately that did not work out. Where my home was fairly priced for where it was, the rest of the housing market had lost its collective mind. Homes worth 160k were overpriced and selling for 210k or more! I look for quantity in a home and wanted more space outside and I refused to buy a home at over two hundred thousand dollars where I would have to remodel large areas. Some of these home owners putting their houses up for sale had to be delusional. I’m talking about a 1100 square foot home with no kitchen or incompletely built rooms on the market for 200k. It’s just offensive. Depending on where you live, that might seem cheap or it might seem expensive. Living near Houston Texas, a decent three bedroom/ two bath home on a little less than half an acer of land and in a safe area– well that’s the price range, if not more. So the housing market for buyers ? Completely inflated. Not to mention the cost of building materials.
The price of wood and building materials at the beginning of this year was heinous. People who had contacts with home builders where having their contracts canceled by the builders and new ones rewritten at an atrocious cost increase so the builders could cover the new costs for materials. Some buyers canceled their dream homes being built because the increase to their contracts were to much. The idea to building my dream home at a decent price? Well, not anytime soon.
The housing market was a joke, the building market was robbery, I had sold my home, and was stitched up from one side of my body to the other.
What a fun time.
Me and my realtor talked about my predicament. We both agreed that until the housing market went down, I should probably move into an apartment on a short lease, but continue to keep looking for a home. The money I gained from the sale of my home would stay in my savings (which it has- I pretend it doesn’t exist) and I will keep that until I find the home I’m looking for and can’t live with out.
I enlisted the help of family to help me move some of my furniture into a storage building, only taking a fraction of what I own into my apartment. Going from a three bedroom home to a one bedroom apartment means a lot of what you accumulate in a home has to go to storage. In square feet, I went from 1700 to 800. My parents helped a lot and my sister in law did as well, shout out to them. I still couldn’t lift heavy items due to recovering, so they really helped me. I also had my aunt and uncle assist when moving the last bit of my stuff from my home to my apartment. Apparently, solid wood furniture that is nice and good quality is heavy as hell. And I could only get a second floor apartment. No first floors were available. One of the brightest moments during my move was when I had some co workers show up to help! I was pleasantly surprised and they really helped in going up and down stairs and lifting heavy loads. Having people in your corner makes you feel warm and fuzzy I’ll tell you !
So mid July, I officially signed off on my home, moved into my apartment, and as of the first Friday in August I have yet to spend a full night in my own bed in my new apartment.
Because when it rains it pours, and I was not prepared for complications when I had surgery…
My journey continues,
Kaycee
Live Metanoia 
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