Back in April or so when we first talked about moving to Austin, I think Nate and I cycled through excitement, worry, stress, and happiness, then we started over again. We got organized, got rid of stuff, and got the house ready to put on the market. Obviously, we didn’t foresee the mortgage and financial meltdown that came to pass, but even still, I think we made the right choice.
Sometimes you’re in a place, maybe it’s a job, a marriage, or another kind of relationship, where things just don’t feel right. For me it was a city. Dallas just never fit me well. So while I miss our old house, 'cause it was large and comfy and we got it to where we wanted it, I haven’t missed Dallas at all, and despite the uncertainty of the past few months I’m glad we’re in Austin.
We were really lucky in that we have some very generous friends in Austin who let us infringe on their hospitality for a while and it made our transition here much easier to manage. As Nate mentioned in a recent blog post, we decided to get an apartment and we moved last weekend. Our Dallas real estate agent is a very optimistic person and has been painting our situation in a very good light (continued showings, good feedback) but Nate and I knew it was time to get realistic. With the market the way it is we had to make some choices because we couldn’t stay with our friends forever.
We’re considering a price cut and there’s another open house this Sunday. But we have to accept that it may not be the price or the house, but the market. I’ve heard that people are having a harder time getting financing now and with all the crazy news lately if I were a person who could wait to buy a house, I just might until some of the nuttiness died down. But who knows? In some ways it’s an excellent time to buy and it’s hard to navigate all these unknowns. So in addition to lowering the price we’re also considering trying to lease our house and maybe wait a year or two and see if the economy improves.
I sort of feel bad for our old house, like we’re trying to unload it. But it’s a good house. I miss those old oak floors, all the light and bright colors, and the great yard. But what can you do? You either move forward or you stay where you are and I didn’t want to do that. Staying felt like stagnating and like we weren’t being true to what we really wanted in our lives.
The new apartment is interesting because we live near Zilker, about a block away from where Nate and I lived when we first started dating. The other night we took Zoe on a walk to the hike and bike trail and everything felt so surreal. We were back in our old neighborhood, seven years later. It was like time had zoomed forward and skipped over the three years in Chicago, the almost-four years in Dallas, and here we were walking where we had walked before, only now with a baby. Trippy.
We’ve never lived in a place like this before. There was the three-flat in Chicago, the house we bought in Dallas, and now we’re in a large apartment complex. It’s apartment living, with its pros and cons, but it feels like another adventure.
I've been feeling a little overwhelmed with all the changes so I haven't written much. But I’m glad to be back, glad Zoe will grow up here, and glad we made the move, despite the little bumps we've hit along the way.
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