A cash gift from family for a down payment helped, too.
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Howd You Get That House?speaks to people across the country who are navigating a complicated housing market.
We were outgrowing our space.
But after having our second child, we needed more room.
Also, I work from home, but only had a tiny corner in my bedroom.
I needed an official office space.
We’ve lived in Forest Hills for four years and cant imagine being anywhere else.
A big part of manifesting is writing something as if it has already happened.
Suddenly things started moving.
After three months of looking at online listings, we toured three houses.
In November, we saw a home on a Monday and had an accepted offer by Friday.
The inspection showed that unfortunately it needed more work than we could handle.
There was evidence of brown mold.
A week later we saw two more homes.
We put in an offer for bothI actually used ChatGPT to write the offer letterand got one accepted offer.
I married someone who luckily has generational wealth.
I felt a little guilty, but overall so grateful.
Not that many people acknowledge it.
But receiving the money was definitely eye-opening about how difficult it is to buy a home without help.
We were not madly in love with the home because it needed a ton of updating.
I wanted a house that was move-in ready.
That ended up working in our favor.
It wasnt all compromises.
We knew we wanted a basement and two full bathsand the house had both.
Most importantly, it’s a chance to build equity and generational wealth for our children.
Our mortgage is high and the biggest monthly expense weve ever had as a couple.
Putting down the $3 bread for the $2.49 bread kind of craze.
Were also saving for repairs.
Wed like to update our kitchen in a year and the bathrooms in two years.
Lots of big dreams here, but one step at a time.
Read other stories from the issue.
Leave your ballet flats in your checked bag.
Uncle Harry for the gifting win.
From woven sandals to retro suede sneakers.
Years later, renovations are still going, but the financial freedom has made it all worth it.
“I didn’t want to ‘wait’ until I had a partner.”
