Well, we bought a fixer upper last month. It’s been quite a year already! So many new exciting things on the horizon! As with most scenarios since early 2020, this particular house wasn’t in our original plans. We had often thrown the idea around about moving to certain locations but there was always something that still pulled us in the opposite direction.

We listed our home of 10 years early 2020 (before the pandemic) and sold it pretty quickly. Our plan at the time was to find land, downsize our home living and build a barndominium. We had spoke to several people about this process and had even looked and walked potential land.

Then, Covid was beginning to stir. We didn’t have a rental and there was lack of rental properties where we were and so we ventured to our next option… an apartment. I had a list of apartments and started to compare driving distance (back to my studio and the kid’s bus pick up/drop off), size, safety, price, amenities and what would work best for us until we found land.

After our state (NC) and basically the whole country shutdown, we pulled the brakes on house/land hunting. We ended up parking our family downtown Winston-Salem, also where Austin works. (I’ll spare another post for our overall experience in downtown)

The housing market was/is a joke right now. We kept saying well… maybe it’ll get better in 6 months, after Christmas, after the new year, after election…. it just NEVER SHIFTED! If anything, the inventory was dropping! By this time, we had spent plenty of time in W-S that we changed gears and decided to stay in the area. We scratched the idea of land and building. During the pandemic and having to pivot in life, living and work — we saw things in a new perspective.

Funny how things workout – because things didn’t workout. We’ve been on a simplifying/downsizing journey for the last 2 1/2 years and this lead us to even more of that, being forced into an apartment. Even after purging and decluttering multiple times before actually moving out of our home of 10 years – we truly learned while living in a small loft apartment… that we can downsize and purge even more! We learned what is truly important and what we can live with and live without. That what is important to us may not be that important to others and vice versa. Where we see certain things as priority, others may not. And that’s OKAY!

When we decided to finally begin looking again for a house… we decided to go with a realtor we didn’t know and we had zero connections with. I know so many friends/client realtors (really good ones too) that I just couldn’t make that decision who to choose between. So, we were in a new town… and it was like a new canvas, a clean slate! So, we went with someone we didn’t know at all. I didn’t want any hard feelings but this was just a good decision, for us.

Fast forward… we literally lost count of how many different homes we looked at. After deciding on a location (Winston-Salem) we then were focusing on specific areas to look for homes. Which then, limited our choosing even more. As soon as the notification of a potential house hit…. the race to get a time for a showing and making the decision wether or not it was a right fit for our family or to make the move to make an offer or not… was all so chaotic over the last several months. Our realtor was ON IT though and made our experience pleasant even during the outbidding offers! She was so positive and reassuring even in such down times.

I don’t know about you but after raising kids in a house of 10 years and then living in an apartment and during a pandemic… it was quite an adjustment. Let’s not forget about Alex the Boston! THIS is when we have let our kids know… “look, it’s different right now, but there are things in this life right now that are far worse! We have each other and everything we NEED right now.” This too, shall pass.

The year plus a few months living downtown is something I will never regret! It has been truly a blessing in disguise. It brought our family even closer, we experienced so many new things, saw things we wouldn’t have had beforehand and made a lot of memories.

The new house came about so sudden. We weren’t originally looking in that particular area because we had our minds and heart set in other areas. But here we are. This is a new chapter. I look at this house as another adventure! A journey! It’s a fixed upper!

Yup! We bought a fixer upper. The smiling faces of two little boys when they first saw this opportunity was that feeling of watching them score their first hockey goal, soccer goal, or ace a test — it was like… this is the one! We know nothing about the area but it’s time and this is it. Let’s go for it! Since being homeowners again it has been all hands on deck. We are family and we’re in this together. This isn’t our “forever home” — and we’re totally okay with that. We’re over the “forever home” concept. The boys have been such a big part of this new transition. Our outlook on life as a whole is a lot different than before. It’s pretty cool to have their opinions and thoughts as a priority during this time too. It’s been a learning experience for all of us.

So, here we go… the Turners are taking on a fixer upper, in a new town! We have big plans for this house and can’t wait to share it with you. No matter where we reside, it will be OUR home! Our goal is to make this home SIMPLE and lived in… our way! Our priorities! Efficient, simple, comfortable and smart living! My book is getting lengthy… but I’m totally okay with that! Here’s to the next chapter! Hope you stick around and watch this journey!

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