We had been renting a 1318ft2 three bedroom unit in a 4-plex for the last five years. We were already bursting at the seams of our home before the arrival of our newest member, with the babies’ arrival it became just plain stressful. With the Nursery in our living room sleep training was impossible. The windows were single pane making it stifling in the summers and FREEZING in the winter. We shared laundry with three other families, leaving Sundays as our designated laundry day. For a family of five none of this was ideal.
After the above description you are probably wondering why we stayed as long as we did. It was our home and despite its pitfalls leaving it behind is bitter sweet. It’s sad to leave certain aspects, we became a family in that house. We got pregnant in that house, my water broke in that house, we brought our baby home in that house. So many memories so many milestones. I mourn the loss of the structure not for its great architecture, or plentiful features, but the home that held our memories.
Adrian and I both grew up in our respective family homes for 20+ years so naturally we want the same stability for our kids. The kids have been through a lot of change over the last five years and our home has always remained a constant. As a result moving was a very serious decision that we didn’t take lightly. Living in a blended family and with the children rooted in their schools location was not negotiable, we were staying in Richmond.
With the current real estate market in Richmond, the dream of owning your own home has become exactly that…..a dream. We considered selling the condo we currently rent and using the proceeds to purchase a townhouse. However there were two issues with this idea. Four bedroom townhouses are not easy to find, and a townhouse wouldn’t provide us with much more space than the 1318ft2 we were currently renting. It would likely leave us with only one family area, (not much space for the kids to have friends over) and we’d be lucky if we had a back yard. Staying in Richmond and purchasing a house was completely out of our realm of affordability.
We loved our Steveston neighborhood and didn’t want to leave, but finding a large enough space that was within budget in the area seemed an impossible dream. But as luck would have it a house came up for rent with potential and more than enough space, the best part, it was just down the street.
Our new home is 2600ft2 it has five finished bedrooms, three bathrooms, two living areas, one unfinished room, a private backyard and our very own laundry room. Everyone in our family benefits from this new home, the baby gets a room, the kids have a place to hang out with friends, our teenage daughter gets her own bathroom, and Adrian and I get our room back. We’ve given the whole place a fresh coat of paint cleaned all the carpets, and we are 90% unpacked. The house is already starting to feel like home.
We don’t live in the property we own and perhaps we wont live in the next property we own, and that’s OK. It’s the memories and people that make a home, not the things in it or the structure itself. Owning it doesn’t change that.
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