I was blessed to purchase my first brand new home way back in 2002. I chose the lot, the floorplan, carpet, tile, and even paid $500 extra to get maple cabinets vs the stock oak ones that it came with. This house has always been very personal to me because all of the creative work that I put into it and I’m kinda surprised I’m selling it…but it was time.
I started thinking about moving a few years ago but I always got cold feet. There were some good reasons to stay put. This house was 10 years or so from being paid for. I refinanced during the pandemic and dropped my interest rate from 5.75% down to 2.5%, and it was a smallish house at 1463 sqft which means the costs for upkeep – painting, replacing flooring were relatively low.
Making Wise Decisions
As I move closer to retirement, not having a mortgage payment as I enter that phase of life can give me the financial freedom I want to travel and do other things. Added to that was the housing market went nuts during the pandemic with both prices and interest rates skyrocketing. It just didn’t seem like a sound business decision to me.
On the other side was the fact that I outgrew the house about 10 years ago due to my creative business interests. Working from home full-time only added to my space issues. Although it is a 3 bedroom house, I was living in it as a 1 bedroom house.
The main bedroom was my creative space:
The 2nd bedroom was my home office:
Several situations came up where if I had a larger home, I could have used it to help family and friends who needed it. My Mom’s house had a plumbing leak which required a complete gut and rebuild of the bedrooms for her, my niece, and nephew. They had to live in a hotel for about 3 weeks while the renovations were being done.
Another time a good friend who now lives in California and her husband called to ask if they could spend the night at my house as they would be arriving after midnight and they were not comfortable going to her relatives house who lives in the city. I’m out in the suburbs where there are less people around so they were more comfortable shlepping suitcases in at my house. They came. My friend slept on the sitting room floor while her husband who did the driving and is taller and bigger slept on the couch because I didn’t have a guest bedroom for them.
Another time there was a power outage in parts of the city that impacted some friends of mine but my power remained on. If I had the space, I could have hosted them.
Decision Time
I had a decision to make so I do what I always do – I prayed about it. The Lord gave me several scriptures as I meditated on this decision:
“Now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we can ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” – Ephesians 3:20.
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” – Philippians 4:6-7
A lot more things happened which I talk about in other posts. In the end, I decided to trust God to move just like I had to trust Him to buy the vehicle I wanted but wasn’t sure I could afford. More on that later!
Be Blessed – xoxo
