The Big Move... Drama and Delays

 Ok, so you are probably wondering why on Earth we decided to move during this dumpster fire of a year.... well, it all happened a bit accidentally. 

*Backstory: we liked our house on Smithfield but when we moved in 5 years ago, we knew it wasn't our "forever" home. It was the nicest house we could afford at the time, but it didn't have several things we really wanted in our forever home. We took out a HELOC loan and renovated the kitchen, the floors, added built-ins... all with the thought of "this will either help us sell this house, or this will help us feel like we can stay in this house longer." So long story short, we were not 100% invested in our Smithfield house.*

While working from home this Spring, I got in the habit of going for a walk every afternoon. I was walking through a new housing development near us, where the houses were very squished in, and along a really busy road. There was one house left that was unsold, so I wrote down the address and wanted to look it up when I got home, out of pure curiosity. What were these houses selling for? They sold SO fast and weren't in a good location. 

So Neal and I looked up that one house (wow, it was listed for over $600k!) and on Redfin... he noticed another house that popped up in the sidebar. It was an adorable farmhouse on property, right in Oregon City and at a good price. Interesting.... so that lit a fire under us a bit and we decided to go see it. 

We toured the house, loved it... put in an offer... and didn't get the house. There was a huge bidding war for it (which we figured would happen)... but that really made us want to start looking for a house with some property. We felt very squished in at Smithfield, and our neighbors were so close and so loud all the time. 

I'll make this short... we toured probably 20 houses (at least) from May to July. We put in an offer on one house on 2 acres that seemed like a DREAM and had that crashing down on us when it was time to do the inspections. The septic tank wasn't functioning and had seeped into the ground. The seller was unwilling to work with us, so we had to pull our offer. 

We took a break from looking for a bit in June, but in July started up again and found our house on Brandow. 

Now we REALLY wanted to move, REALLY wanted something different, something in a quieter neighborhood, more outdoor space.. so we were excited when our offer on Brandow was accepted!

Just because it was a bit ridiculous, here is a timeline of how this whole thing went down:

• July 13th- our offer on Brandow was accepted
• July 14th- Smithfield was back on the market
• July 14th through August 11th- nothing. No offers on Smithfield, despite multiple showings and us lowering the asking price TWICE. 
• August 12th- we find out there are three offers on Smithfield that our realtor wants to present to us when we are home from the coast (it was Owen's birthday)
• August 12th- finally accept an offer on Smithfield!
• August 20th- inspections on Smithfield and Brandow... mostly all good, with a few negotiations
• September 8th- wildfires break out all over Oregon, causing the sky to turn black. 
• September 10th- Oregon City is asked to evacuate, as the fires are getting close to the residential areas. We UNPACK several packed boxes in order to grab valuables and items we want to evacuate with. We leave our Smithfield house to stay with friends for a few days.. wondering what the heck will happen if Smithfield and/or Brandow burns down???
• September 11th- our 10th wedding anniversary. We sign papers officially buying Brandow. We can't officially sell Smithfield though, because our buyers are using a VA loan and the VA loan office suddenly wants a SECOND inspection to ensure the house didn't burn down. No one (our realtor, their realtor, or our mortgage office can get in contact with anyone at the VA loan to find out when this inspection will happen).
• September 12th- we get to go back home and try and repack boxes. 
• September 17th- we were supposed to move. Still no word from the VA loan office. 
• September 18th through 23rd- STILL NO WORD from the freaking VA office! We are mad, upset, confused and scared. What if this all falls through? 
• September 24th- FINALLY. Our buyer's realtor talks to the VA office. They want pictures of the outside of Smithfield, with a current newspaper in the shot, to confirm the house is undamaged by the fires. I rush around to get the pictures and email them in.
• September 25th- funding to officially sell Smithfield finally goes through! We are sold and recorded!
• September 26th- we get to move into Brandow. Finally!

The sky turning black as the fires got closer to Oregon City.

The skies in Salem, at Neal's coworkers house. It was so eerie, and like we were living on another planet.

Two cars packed to the brims.... we evacuated. It was scary and stressful, especially being in the middle of buying/selling a house. The boys weren't really aware that anything was stressful, they just thought we were on an adventure. 

Staying a few nights with the Foiles family. They really opened their house to us, and we will be forever thankful. 

Our 10th wedding anniversary. Tired, smelling like smoke, barely able to breathe outside... and singing paperwork for a house that wasn't quite ours yet. And trying to smile and stay positive through it all. 

The sky when we finally got to go back home. Looks like fog... but it wasn't fog. The smoke was seeping into our house and it made my lungs burn. And there wasn't anything you could do about it, which was the most frustrating. We just had to endure it.

Finally some clear air! September 18th, the day after we were "supposed" to move.. having cocktails and trying to no keep stressing out.

Finally! We're moving and the boys got a last bath in our Smithfield house!

Cleaning out every nook and cranny in preparation.

September 25th- our last night in Smithfield. A family movie, and trying to get rested for the big move.

Bye Smithfield! Thanks for the memories!

Moving day! The boys did a great job helping, and/or staying out of the way.

It was so fun having stuff EVERYWHERE. They think it's a playground, Mom and Dad thinks it's an anxiety-nightmare.

The new big backyard!

The woods we live right next to. All the wait and stress was worth having the peace and quiet of the woods right next door. 

Hello Brandow! I hope you are our forever home!

We have a lot of little updates to do on this house, and several tweaks we want to do over the years... but we feel like this could really be our forever home! Hopefully, because I never want to go through that stress again.