House No. 3

I’ve been on the hunt for a new home for quite some time now.  There’s nothing wrong with our current house, but I’d like to make it into a rental.  Plus our family is growing, so it’d be nice to have a little more space.  Here’s our house history:

Our 1st home:

Sheena and I got married on March 8, 2008.  We went on our honeymoon, came back on a Sunday and signed on the house the next day.  Of course we had already planned it out before our wedding day, but it was that quick.  The house is on the outskirts of Pearland, off of beltway 8 and 288.  Really great starter home for us.  It was brand new and came with a bunch of freebies (washer, dryer, 2″ blinds, refrigerator) that the builder put in as incentives to purchase.  It was great because it was affordable, new and we didn’t have to drop additional cash on those major appliances.  Its a great home and we made a lot of great memories there.  The pic above is from the one time it actually snowed in Houston!  We didn’t stay there too long, but in that short time, we really enjoyed it.  Now its a rental property and we’ve got great tenants living there.  Being that it is a new home, there are minimal issues so the renters don’t call me much for repairs, which is great!

Our 2nd Home:

January of 2010, we moved into our 2nd home.  This time we moved into an older home in a more established area, Missouri City, TX.  It’s only about 20 minutes from our 1st home.  We have a ton of friends that live in the SugarLand/Missouri City/Stafford Area, so it was nice to be close to everyone.  In this home we made even more memories, the biggest being the birth of our kids, Layla and Ezra!  Its the perfect size for us now, but I think we’ve almost reached it’s capacity.  With an older home, you really become handy quickly.  From time to time I’d have to fix random things around the house.  The biggest thing I’ve learned is  to realize what you’re able to handle and let the pros take care of the stuff that are above your head.  In the time we’ve lived there, we’ve fixed the foundation, replaced the roof and replaced the A/C and heating system to name the major items.  In addition to that, we’ve done some other upgrades as well.  Although this house is “old”, it’s got new parts, so I don’t anticipate getting a lot of calls for fixes once it becomes a rental property.  I’m not worried about finding a tenant either.  It’s in a great location, walking distance to a highly rated elementary school and very close to shopping/dining.  Also, with low inventory on rental properties in the area, it is very desirable.  We’re really going to miss this house, but we’re excited for the next step.

Our 3rd Home:

We closed on this house on August 28th, 2014.  Its about 5 minutes away from our 2nd Home.  We really like the area.  Great schools, great community, great shopping, close to family and friends… it’s hard to complain.  This house is a little bigger, so it gives us room to grow into it.  I really didn’t anticipate buying a house this size at this point in our lives.  I was actually hoping to buy another house similar to what our 2nd home was for the chance to make it into another rental property, but the market is so hot right now in Houston that prices are climbing.  With that, houses are getting picked up faster than you can make a bid on it.  I didn’t want to be in a position where we were “stuck” in a home that wouldn’t fit our needs for the long haul.  Although this isn’t the “perfect” home, it’s pretty close to it and reaches 90% of our wants and 100% of our needs.

I feel very blessed.  God’s been great to our family and has carried us through a lot of things.  Its easy to reflect when you make a change in your life because it forces you to look back on what you’ve been through and blessed with (like this blog post).  I was told that being comfortable is a dangerous thing because you miss out on opportunities to grow.  Moving is a very uncomfortable thing, so I hope through this process, we’re growing!  If you plan on visiting us, gimme a holla and I’ll give you our new address!  We’d love to have you over!