On May 25, 2006 Sherry and I officially became homeowners. It’s hard to believe three years have passed since we moved into our modest house. Between renovations, redecorating, and even a backyard wedding, the last few years have been full of change — yet it still feels like yesterday that we crossed the threshold for the first time.
To celebrate our anniversary we decided to share the story of how we ended up here. The timeline reads like a whirlwind: our serious house hunt began and ended in a single weekend. Below are the highlights from that fast-paced search, with a few of the original photos we took during our first walkthroughs (all of the “before” shots from our House Tour come from that initial visit or the day of our inspection).
February 25, 2006: We leave New York City and move to Richmond, VA in my parents’ minivan with only a few essentials, hoping for a slower pace of life. We rent a one-bedroom apartment to get a feel for the city and plan to spend a year renting before buying. (There’s even a video tour from that apartment era.)
March 18, 2006: I propose to Sherry at the top of a mountain after a four-mile hike. She jokes now that I made her work for the ring, but she says yes. Our parents breathe easier knowing we’re engaged and committed.
Mid-April 2006: Friends tell us it’s never too early to look at houses. We meet with the bank to find out how large a mortgage we could qualify for, thinking it’s smart to be informed just in case.
Friday, April 21 — 6pm: After work I come home to discover Sherry has scheduled a showing that evening. The house isn’t for us, but we like the agent and ask him to show us other options.
Saturday, April 22 — 8am: Despite the rain, we set out with a stack of listings to drive around and get a feel for neighborhoods and what our budget would buy.
11am: Most of the drive-bys don’t impress us, but we decide to tour one renovated two-bedroom. It’s nicely updated but not in our preferred location. We like the interior but don’t want to pay extra for renovations we believe we could do ourselves. Our agent then recommends a second house — a potential fixer-upper.
Noon: We tour the second house, which we’d only glimpsed through trees while driving by. Inside it’s dated and in many ways the opposite of the renovated home we saw earlier, but the price is appealing — over $30K below our budget — and the backyard and location immediately win us over. We laugh and cringe at some of the original features, but the place has serious potential.
1:30pm: Back at the apartment, Sherry declares she wants to put in an offer. I hesitate — we were only “looking” — but she points out the house has been listed only two days and another couple toured it earlier. She argues that paying a mortgage rather than rent makes more sense if the right opportunity appears. Her logic starts to win me over.
2:30pm: We call our agent and say we want to make an offer. I pace nervously while Sherry is giddy and optimistic, convinced the house will be perfect for us.
4pm: Our agent arrives with the paperwork and heads off to submit the offer. The waiting is agonizing and exciting at once.
Sunday, April 23 — 10am: The agent calls: the offer’s accepted. Shock and excitement wash over us. We can’t quite believe we committed to a house on the same weekend we started casually looking. We call family to break the news and try to explain our whirlwind decision.
Saturday, April 29 — 11am: We show the house to my parents. They love the backyard so much they suggest we get married there. We had already planned an outdoor ceremony elsewhere, but the idea of a backyard wedding at our new house grows on us and eventually wins out.
Thursday, May 25 — 4pm: The inspection goes smoothly, the financing clears, and we meet the attorney to close. After signing a mountain of documents we receive the keys. Sherry and I officially become homeowners and do a delighted, seated happy dance in the car.
6pm: We start moving what we can fit into our small Nissan Maxima that evening rather than waiting for a U-Haul the next day. That first night we sleep on an air mattress in the new house even though our apartment bed is usable — why wait to be in our own place?
Friday, May 26 — 9am: I head to work while Sherry delays meetings and starts painting and decorating immediately. She couldn’t stand to wait; she dove into projects that very day and hasn’t stopped since. I joined in too, helping with demo and renovations over the following months.
The photo above shows my cousin helping Sherry paint our living room the Sunday after closing. We drove back late Saturday night from a wedding so we could begin painting first thing Sunday morning — we were eager to make the house our own.
That’s how Casa Petersik began: a brief but decisive house hunt, an accepted offer within two days, and a rapid move toward making the place ours. We’d love to hear how you found your home — was it a long process or a whirlwind like ours? Either way, celebrating the milestones of homeownership is one of the best parts of the journey. Happy anniversary, house!