Perhaps I should have written my most recent post about moving to Nevada a bit later in the day, because when I wrote that post on Sunday morning, we were waiting to see if our new offer on a house in Henderson had been accepted. Well, as things turned out that afternoon, our offer was accepted and we are beyond excited to be the proud new owners of a beautiful home in Henderson!
Essentially the way things went down was this: we viewed the house with our real estate agents on Friday afternoon, and we liked it, but there were several more houses that we were scheduled to see over the next 24 hours, so we decided to wait to see all of them before placing any offers. We left the house on Sunday Grace Drive (the one we ended up buying) and headed over to another house, but we knew before even walking into this new house that we weren’t interested. It simply didn’t compare.
While making the drive over there, Jessica and I couldn’t stop talking about the house we had just left on Sunday Grace Drive. It was definitely a bit dated inside, but the potential was amazing. It had 6 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, a 4 car garage, 4,000 square feet of interior space, and an amazing back yard. It’s also in a gated community in the best school district in Nevada. These are the types of intangibles that can’t realistically be fixed or changed regardless of what you do to the house.
Our main concern was that the house was at the top of our budget and the idea of buying something at the top of our budget that needed some work was difficult to swallow. However, we kept coming back to all the intangibles I just listed. Overall the house has so much character that we didn’t feel like we could pass up this opportunity.
So we sat outside at this other house with our agents discussing our options. During this discussion we realized that all 3 of the houses we were supposed to see the following morning were on a golf course, and we didn’t really like that idea. I like golf, but we don’t really want to live in a golf community, and our favorite house of the 3 was right next to a tee box, so you’d be hearing people teeing off all day long.
By the time we finished that conversation we had settled on an offer to submit for the Sunday Grace house, then Jessica and I ended up going back to the open house to view it a second time. Our offer was submitted the following day and our agent Rowena found out that there were at least two other offers competing with us. This was concerning, but I had a good feeling about it.
On Sunday afternoon, while texting with Rowena, I asked if we could go back to the house one last time before the open house was done for the weekend. She said yes, and that she would meet us there. Immediately Jessica, Nana, myself, and the kids, all hopped in the van and headed out there. We were literally eating our lunch in the van because we had no time to waste.
By the time we arrived Rowena was already there talking to the sellers, and she indicated to us that things were looking good. It was immediately obvious that our whole family loved the house, and within minutes the kids had picked out their bedrooms. My mom was pretty much floored by it, and I felt like each time we visited the house I liked it even more than before. It didn’t take long, but a little more negotiation ensued and we came to an agreement that secured it for us. The sellers were there, so once we agreed on a deal I went over to personally thank them and tell them how excited we were. I’ve been in regular contact with them since then and they are such great people. I honestly feel like we may have made new friends out of this deal, and they only live 3 miles away.
Finding out the house was ours was an emotional moment, and even though I almost never cry, having us all there in the kitchen celebrating definitely brought that side out of me. It was surreal knowing that this is where we’re going to spend the next long stretch of our lives. It’s such a beautiful place and I just couldn’t believe how things had turned out for us. Now that I’ve had a few days to process it, my main feeling is one of humility and gratitude. It’s not about showing off or soaking up a bunch of compliments, it just feels great for Jessica and I to have reached this level in our lives and be able to provide something like this for our family.
Looking at the calendar, tomorrow is July 1, 2021, meaning it’s the tenth birthday of this blog. We haven’t missed a month of doing blog posts this entire time, and I can’t help but think back to where we were when all of this got started. We were literally living in a back alley beach shack in San Diego, but at that time it was everything we could have wanted. In fact, I posted a video tour of that house on YouTube, which you can see below. Now here we are exactly a decade later and I’m filming a new home tour, just as proud of the moment and excited about our future.
Since having our offer accepted everything has been coming together really quickly. We were originally scheduled to close on July 30, which would have been the best 41st birthday present imaginable for me, but now it’s looking like we will be closing ahead of schedule. We just found out today that an appraisal isn’t even necessary to secure the loan, which is great. Jessica and I are staying busy shopping for new furniture and making plans for each room. We’re also meeting with my Uncle Terry and someone he works with at the house on Monday to discuss a couple projects we want to do before moving in.
As far as location goes, we’re in Henderson about 5 minutes southwest of Green Valley Ranch Resort & Casino in an area called Southfork. Our little community is called Chenango. I’ll be providing more updates as soon as possible, but for now you can get a good idea of everything by checking out the video tour below. Start planning your visits now because we have room for you!