𝙉𝙖𝙢𝙚:
Lauren C. 

𝙄𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢 𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙡𝙚:
@lfcarter409

𝙎𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙖 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚, 𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙘?? 𝙂𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙪𝙨 𝙖 𝙧𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙟𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙠𝙚𝙮𝙨! 𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨?

I started the process in April at the encouragement of my family and friends. I was living in a one bedroom apartment, single, and the isolation in such a small space was getting really difficult. I originally felt extremely guilty and struggled with feeling that I was taking advantage of a market that was impacted by the pandemic. It was a challenging time to start house hunting, both practically and emotionally, but I did quickly find a home that I loved (within about 2 weeks of looking). I put in an offer but was not able to negotiate with the seller due to structural issues found in the inspection. I was heartbroken when I pulled out during the due diligence period. Within another 2 weeks, I found two homes that I loved. I eventually settled on a little 1950’s brick ranch in Smyrna. The homeowners had flipped it themselves from the original owner who had the house since it was built. The look and location were exactly what I wanted and I was able to move in a little over a month later. There have been challenges and roadblocks as I learn how to be a homeowner but I’m thankful to have something else to focus on these days.

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙟𝙤𝙧 2020 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙪𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙞𝙛 𝙖𝙣𝙮?
I was heavily impacted by what was happening in the world while I looked for houses. I remember calling my mom upset that I felt selfish looking for houses when so many people were dying from COVID or at the hands of police. I had both family and friends lose their jobs and it just seemed wrong to be doing this in such a difficult time. While I still don’t feel great about it, I know I at least gave work and payment to the sellers, realtor, lawyers, inspectors and movers during a time when work is hard to come by. I’m just privileged and lucky to have been afforded the opportunity. 

𝘿𝙞𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙪𝙥?
Yes. When the first house didn’t work out, I absolutely took this as a sign that I shouldn’t be doing this and maybe I should wait. Ultimately I decided to keep looking in the hope that having more space would be better for my emotional ability to isolate in place if that were needed again. Isolating in my small apartment was so difficult and claustrophobic so I hoped that I was preparing myself to isolate better if the pandemic got worse.  Plus I knew having this distraction would help too. 

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙙𝙙𝙡𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙗𝙪𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙗𝙪𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜?
I would highly recommend having another $5k in cash saved specifically for if something major comes up after you move in. Two friends of mine bought houses at the same time I did. One had termites that the inspector didn’t catch and had to pay to exterminate and repair damage right out of the gate. The other friend had a plumbing pipe blow in their front yard which resulted in digging up the entirety of their front lawn to repair it. My roof started leaking which resulted in an $1k repair. That extra cash is very helpful, especially if you’re expecting a big expense up front. I was not as prepared for this so I highly recommend having that extra safety net.

𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 (𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙧 𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙢) 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮.
To those who have gotten sick, lost a job, lost a loved one, or have been otherwise impacted by this year, I am thinking of you. ❤️