Yeah, so, we’re buying a house

When we moved to Hawaii, our plan was to rent for at least a year, maybe more, while we got to know the island and figured out where we wanted to live. We wanted to enjoy NOT being homeowners for a little while and be really thoughtful and intentional about where we wanted to live. That was the plan. But then, you already know how I feel about plans now.

It’s really cute, right??

Fast forward to today, when we opened escrow on a new house after the sellers accepted our offer over the weekend. I know I know. We’re insane. I’ve just accepted it and moved on. You should, too.

But really, what changed? A bunch of things.

• The rental market in Hawaii right now is terrible, ESPECIALLY if you have dogs and ESPECIALLY ESPECIALLY if you have big dogs. We got so freaking lucky with where we are now, and I have spent hours searching for a long term rental with a little more room with very little luck. And the ones we do find are incredibly expensive. By the way, I have a new pet peeve. Don’t put on your rental listing that you accept dogs and then tell me later on that the weight limit on dogs is 25 lbs. That is ridiculous. You know I’m partial to big dogs anyway, but we had a cat that was almost 25 lbs. That is not dog size. Okay, rant over.

• Remember how we sold all of our stuff when we moved? So that means we have no stuff, besides our clothes and very few other items that we either brought with us or were shipped in our Pod. But we only brought 1 piece of furniture and that’s a rocking chair. Needless to say, if we got an unfurnished rental, we would have to furnish it. And then when we bought a house in a year or so, we would have to hope that the things we bought for the rental would work in the new house. But there are VERY FEW furnished rentals that met our requirements.

• We have felt unsettled for a long time now. We only left our house on September 21st, but for almost 2 months before that we were mostly out of the house while it was on the market and then going through inspections, etc. The month of July we spent in complete upheaval trying to make the necessary repairs and getting the house painted. The 2 months before that was getting the foundation work done. All that to say, we have felt in limbo for over 6 months now and we were ready to put down long term roots here.

• We thought we needed time to really explore the island and figure out where we wanted to live. But, spoiler alert, Hawaii real estate is SUPER expensive. As in, there will be tear down listings that are going for close to $500k. We quickly realized that on our budget, we didn’t really get to pick what part of Oahu we would live in. Since we knew we wanted a single family home and not a condo or townhome, the west side of the island (where we are currently renting) was the only option. We also decided we really liked where we are, a town called Ewa Beach (pronounced “Evah”) so that made it easier (house we’re buying is also in Ewa).

• When we bought our house in Durham, I was absolutely convinced that we had to be completely in love with a house in order to live there. It had to be “the one.” I pictured growing old in that house, and I was only 27 at the time. With our changed outlook and perspective, we knew going into this house search that we weren’t looking for “the one.” We were looking for a house that we liked that would work for us for the next few years that we could be happy in. We’re not planning on growing old in this house. If we do end up staying here for 20 years? Great! It means we’re really happy there. But our plan is to be here for 3-5 years and then reevaluate. That took a lot of pressure off of us when house hunting.

All open living areas. Something we have wanted for a very long time.

So with all of that in mind. We started searching. We tried to be very open-minded when looking at houses. We knew we wanted 1000-1200 square feet, and no bigger. I don’t think many realtors are told that their clients won’t take anything bigger than 1500 square feet, but hey, we knew what we wanted. There were some things we thought we wanted that we did compromise on. Chris and I have never been subdivision or HOA people. We’ve always liked unplanned neighborhoods where the houses are all different. But, again, plans change. This house is in a subdivision and it has an HOA. But the houses don’t all look the same, they’re not crammed up against each other, and since the neighborhood was built in 1993, there’s lots of mature landscaping.

Our front patio that looks out onto a greenway instead of a street.

The house is 1100 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. All of the living spaces are completely open to each other, which I am very excited about. We have a big patio (or lanai as we’re supposed to say now) on the front of the house and a small one on the back. The side yard is very small, but so is about every yard here. It just means the dogs need walks at least once a day, which is good for us anyway since it keeps us moving.

One interesting thing about the neighborhood is that the front of the house doesn’t face the street. The street that is our address is actually more of an alley that runs behind the house and has the garage. The front of the house faces a greenway, or sidewalk, that runs between the 2 rows of houses. We’re hoping that means we end up meeting neighbors a lot easier. It also has solar panels, which lots of houses here have, which we really wanted.

Small side/backyard, but still so pretty. And look at all the solar panels!

And the 2 most important things about this house: it is a 12 minute drive from the beach, and it has a guest bedroom. I really wanted to be walking distance to the ocean, but it just wasn’t possible given our budget. Hopefully the next house we’ll get closer. And since we have 3 bedrooms, we’ll have our room, Chris’ office, and then a guest bedroom/my office, so come January we should be officially ready for visitors.

I also really wanted a house that I could work on and could try my DIY hand at. At first I was convinced I wanted a real fixer upper, but this house turns out to be perfect. It’s a great layout and is move-in ready, but the finishes are a bit dated. Whenever I feel like gutting the bathroom and redoing it myself, I can. As long as I can talk Chris into it. And make him help me.

It’s still early, since we just opened escrow today. So keep your fingers crossed for us that this all goes smoothly. The process of selling our house in Durham went so incredibly easily that I’m a little afraid we’re due some obstacles.

So there you have it. Another plan of ours that completely changed. And yet again, it’s a change for the better.