When I reflect back on the year of 2021, I am grateful for everything that I was able to accomplish. As a single mother of 6, at the age of 38, I am now officially a homeowner. I was able to do it while working 3 jobs, 2 of them full time, and running my photography business. I did it on my own even though I had my best friend by my side. 2 years ago, I would've told myself that it was impossible but somehow within that time and with the support of my best friend, I shifted my focus and became focused on my goal. I was done with excuses.
My house hunting journey started in late August of 2020. We looked at over 50 houses. In September of 2020, I went under contract on a house. After 4 months, $1000 spent, And 2 denials, I was back to square one. There were at least 4 different houses that I had put an offer on. Even though each of them had different things I loved about them, those houses turned out not to be intended for me.
Even though I was anxious and eager to to find a house, I knew that I had to be patient for the right one to come my way. Fast forward to a year later, in late July/early August of 2021, the realtor, Jenny Hale, who I had used in the process of trying to get the first house reached out to me. She told me that she had found a house for sale right next door to the 1st house that I had put an offer on.
After going to look at it I knew that I wanted to try to put an offer on it. The closing process was a difficult one with my closing date being pushed back multiple times. My seller and I had multiple disagreements. I was so frustrated that I wanted to withdraw my offer a number of times and give up. I'm glad that I stuck it out until the end.
On October 14th 2021, I walked into closing with a cashier's check for my down payment. I have a sense of pride in knowing that I didn't have to borrow any of it from anyone. I had my four year old daughter, Treasure with me. Even though she didn't understand what was going on, I am so grateful that she was with me.
I took my camera with me to be able to capture this memorable milestone in my life. I am so proud to say that Treasure was able to take a few pictures of me using my camera while we waited for my realtor to resolve a last minute problem. Treasure will never know just how much I cherish those memories.
I had decided after putting in my offer on the house that I would not tell the kids about it because I didn't want them to be disappointed again. After closing, I decided to keep it a secret and remodeled the entire house with the help of a lot of people. It took about 2 months to do. Even though I'm still not completely finished, I surprised the kids on December 7th 2021.
I feel as if this house was meant to be because I found out that the lock for the new home could be unlocked by my parent's home key. Somehow, the same key that I had been using for years while I stayed at my parent's house could also unlock my new home! That to me was more than just a coincidence and let me know that everything happened for a reason and at just the right season in my life. I am looking forward to what I will conquer in the years to come.
