Mike and I bought our home 3 1/2 years ago in West Jordan. We are completely in love with our home. It fits us. It is like it was made for us. I have had no intention of leaving it anytime soon. But plans change...
As everyone knows, we have had a lot on our plate. Although Mike is not the biggest fan of driving nearly 2 hours a day to get to work and back, I am not the biggest fan of getting a house ready to sell, putting it on the market, having showings all of time for months, paying storage fees to store all of the extra crap so we can show our home, packing, packing, packing, shopping for a new home, crashing at someone else's pad while we find a new place, and moving. All while working and caring for a special needs baby. No, it was not going to happen. And Mike knew that. I wasn't ready to move for at least another year or two. At least.
We spoke with some neighbors a few weeks ago who have had their house on the market for quite a while. I knew how discouraging and stressful that has been for them, so I figured talking with them would confirm my fears about the idea of moving. It actually did the opposite. They were really encouraging, and after discussing specific details about our home and what they knew about the market, they were confident our house would sell. Wow. That was news I didn't expect to hear. Of course when I told Mike, he began rattling off facts about the low interest rates, how it's a sellers market, how the lots are going like crazy in Lehi and the prices are going up so we better grab one now, etc. We started looking at some homes on the market in Lehi in our price range. Slim pickins. Hardly anything. So we started looking at builders. It was crazy how much more our money could get us if we built opposed to buying something existing. I told Mike that I MIGHT be interested in putting the house on the market over the summer, not sooner. He decided it would be good for us to talk with some builders since it is quite the process to build. We wanted to be prepared.
We went out the next Friday to look at builders, get some facts and ask our questions. We had a very good idea about what we wanted and needed. We had to have a rambler. Jayson needs something that is a single level and wheelchair and walker friendly. We needed something clean and new to avoid germs. We needed something safe with a few upgrades to ensure safety. We needed his bedroom to be right across from ours, so when he is finally ready for his room we can easily get to him. We needed a master bedroom big enough to fit his cosleeper and eventually his crib. We needed hallways and bathrooms that are wheelchair accessible. We needed a lot of carpeting. Although hardwoods are beautiful and easy to clean, Jayson is going to be learning to crawl soon, and then he'll be learning to walk. He will be falling, a lot! We needed carpet with upgraded padding for our sweet boy. We needed an open floor plan for entertaining and to make it easy for Jayse to get around. We needed an unfinished basement to give us room to grow so this could be our forever home. We needed the stairs to be in a safe place that could easily be blocked to keep Jayse safe. We needed windows with lots of light to help preserve mom's sanity with all of the many many hours we stay cooped up at home. We needed plenty of storage space for all of the baby stuff and special needs equipment we have and will acquire. We needed it to be a place we love to be. We looked at several builders, and only one won our hearts-- Edge Homes. They were perfect, and they had floorplans that fit all of our needs and desires... in our price range.
We spoke with an agent in a model home. Problem: There were only two lots left in our price range. So I think, "Hey, it's okay, they will probably buy more!" Wrong. Mike is a city planner and knows what is coming. He knows all of Edge homes plans for nearly the next year. Their future plans were well out of our price range. Edge Homes explained that the demand was higher than the supply, and things were selling like crazy. Their next subdivision would be in the $300,000's and after they sell their first 5 lots, they will jump up another $20 grand. Wow. We did need to jump on this. We took a look at the two lots. Truth be told, I wasn't in love with either of them. One was right next to main street, and the other had a wall in the back yard to separate our property from the highway. I felt discouraged and needed to sleep on it. I knew I wanted an Edge Home. And I knew what floorplan we wanted. We walked through our dream floor plan for the 1418 home that night. Everything felt right. We just had to make a decision about the land. I called some family members and some friends. Mike and I talked all night. And we went back to Lehi the next day.
I knew I couldn't deal with the danger of the lot next to main street, so I tried to picture us in the lot in Lehi Country Estates with the wall in our backyard. I thought of the benefits... Hey, we won't have any creepy neighbors in our back yard. We'll save on the cost of building a fence. Stray animals won't be jumping over the wall to get in our yard. The rock wall is beautiful and will be kept by the city. The city technically owns 8 feet of land from the wall, but we get to use it and maintain it without having to pay for it! There seemed to be a lot of benefits, so it began to grow on me. But one thing needed to happen... I needed to meet the neighbors. Mike was shocked, but I got out of the car and went and knocked on one of the neighbor's doors. A young man answered and was so welcoming. He let me into his home, told me about his family, showed me the size of his back yard even with the wall, and told me how great the neighborhood was. He informed me of block parties, barbeques, and the great ward and community. I got the greatest feeling, and I was sold.
Mike and I went to the model home to meet with the agent. We were anxious. The home was FILLED with young couples, all asking about the last two lots. I was ready to beat some of them down, but there was no need. They were still unsure, and we were ready to write the check! We put our earnest money down and worked out a deal that we could get a 100% refund for the next 3 months. We had 3 months to sell our home. What a bargain. Low risks. It was meant to be. And even more evidence? The 1418 home we loved was the ONLY rambler that would fit on our lot. Perfect.
We spent the next 4 days cleaning and packing like madmen. We pulled 2 all-nighters, but the house looked amazing. I had so much fun staging the whole thing. I felt like I should have been on HGTV, and that all my years of watching that station paid off. Our house went on the market on a Friday afternoon. We had 6 showings that day, and another 30+ the next. It turned out to be more of an open house since Jayson needed to be hooked up to his equipment. We couldn't leave off and on throughout the entire day. It was so much fun to show off the house we loved and to see other people admiring it too. There was a lot of interest. We had an offer Friday night that was well above our asking price and a couple of more on Saturday. It was really happening, and so incredibly fast. We asked for the highest and best offers to help us know which one to pick. We made our decision on Monday afternoon, and felt great about it!!! It wasn't the highest, but it was the best offer in our minds. A great family, a great price, and their hearts are golden. They were willing to let us do a lease back and rent our house from them so we would not have to spend the next couple of months homeless, crashing with family or friends. Everything was working out like a dream.
We went to our first design center appointment and designed the outside of our home and some of the interior details. Things were getting real, and exciting. Then we got the call. The bomb. The bad news. Our dream home wouldn't fit on our lot, as it turns out. None of the ramblers would. The only home that would fit on our lot was a two story with a basement. That wouldn't work. I seriously felt like I had been punched in the gut. We sold our home. We didn't have a place to live. Our dream home was taken away from us. We were lied to. We didn't know what to do, so we looked at our options. We looked more at existing homes. No, they wouldn't work. There were only 2-3 ramblers that were highly overpriced. We looked at other floor plans from our builder that could be modified, but that made it so they didn't fit our needs or safety requirements. I felt so angry. So much thought went into our choice. It wasn't something we settled on, and now we were in a situation where it was like we needed to settle.
Fortunately, I am married to a fix-it man. Whenever I have a problem, he has to fix it. He was easily satisfied with many of our different options, but he knew I wasn't. There was no way our home could be modified to fit the lot, so I picked our second favorite- the 1500. Mike studied the Lehi City laws and zoning guidelines. As an employee of the city, he knew the law. He found some loop holes, some ways we might be able to get our second house approved to build. Our lot was not tiny, by any means. But the zoning law required that each of the homes have so many feet between their house and the property line to ensure the backyards were good sized. Our lot was the smallest in the area, and our second choice home missed fitting those guidelines by a couple of feet. Our first choice home met those guidelines, but missed the guidelines for the sides of the home. Mike knew that UDOT owned the rock wall, and 8 feet of property in front of it. The intent of the law was met. If we counted the wall as our property line, the law was met. We took our case to the board of adjustments not knowing what to expect. They don't ever grant exceptions like this. Edge Homes Personnel were there to present the case, and Mike was there to explain how the intent of the law was met. He was so well prepared, that there was no way they could not approve it. They all unanimously agreed to grant us the variance!!!! Our home could be built. Yes, it was our second choice, but in some ways it is better. It is bigger, it has a bigger guest bathroom for Jayson, and a larger living area. This house even has an adorable porch. We had to completely go back through and redesign our home, but I think we both feel very good about our choices.
So that is the story. We are breaking ground on our new home next week. We should be closing on our current house in mid-May, renting our current house until mid-July, and moving in our new house mid- to late- July. This whole thing has been such a whirlwind, and I wasn't ready for any of it. I hope that our new neighborhood, ward and community are just as welcoming and supportive as our current one. We are leaving behind many dear friends, but know we will take them with us in our hearts. Here's to our new adventure, in Lehi City!
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