At Home in the New Normal

 

While some have struggled to juggle the demands of work, school and safety in the community, we have thankfully been spared a lot of the tricky transitions.  After all, distributed learning is old hat for us now, and Hubbs is well-versed in best practices while working from home.  We haven't had to venture out a lot thanks to grocery deliveries, curbside pick-up, and Jeff Bezos' little company, and my kid is a willing (albeit reluctant) mask-wearer in public spaces.  My work allows me to Zoom and do much of my job online and at a distance, and I happen to be part of a family of introverts and ambiverts who would rather stay in than go out anway.  We were comfortably social distancing, happy to exist in our own little bubble until the 'Rona situation died down or mass immunity via vaccine could be achieved.   

And then we got the news: our landlords, who have happily rented one of their many homes to us for the last 5.5 years, was looking to take it back; specifically, they were looking to take *our* home back, at the end of this lease period.  Their reasons legitimate and their notice ample, we were left with little choice but to honour that request.  Our content little world was being flipped on its side, and we would have to move.  

So now we faced a hard choice during a weird time in history: do we rent again, or do we actually take the plunge into real estate in the midst of a raging pandemic?  Hubbs and I were reluctant to risk an encore of this experience a few years down the road, so we opted for the latter; we decided to buy a home.

Now, maybe you've bought a home or two before.  You're probably a pro at it now, or have at least a fairly good grasp of the home purchasing process.  I, however, had never done it.  Neither had Hubbs.  We were both greener than the fake tree in our living room, and the thought of getting our own place - finally - was both exciting and daunting.  

Thank goodness for my auntie, an experienced realtor with many solid connections.  And thank God that we weren't doing this home-buying through our own initiative and understanding, but by a divine hand guiding us.  Okay, I realize how this sounds (read: cheesy AF and a total religious cop-out), but I don't say it lightly or as some feel-good Christian platitude; I truly believe that the events that transpired between November 21st and today have been nothing short of a miracle. 

Today is one month since the date when we were first informed that we would need to move out at the end of our lease term.  But today, we are already home owners. 

CHRISTMAS MIRACLE.

By the grace of God:

-we managed to secure a pretty nice mortgage rate over the course of a week.

-we were somehow able to liquidate sufficient investment funds for our down payment, also in a week's time.  

-we found a listing within our budget that was ideally-suited to our needs, and situated just minutes away from our current home

-we were able to be the very first folks to view this newly-listed property during their first open house

-we were able to make an offer (and have said offer countered, and then accepted) within 12 hours of that viewing

-we were able to get an appraisal and inspection scheduled and executed before Christmas break happened

Maybe this is the normal protocol and process, and it always takes just a matter of 4 weeks for a home to be viewed, bought and sold.  Maybe.  But, as far as we are concerned, this kind of boom-boom-boom succession of favourable events is a total God thing, and we are completely and utterly grateful, shocked and elated.  

And we will finally be at home in our new "forever" home (or "for a long time" home), in a matter of months.  While we don't love the state of our world right now, we are so thrilled for what 2021 holds, and welcome the experience of being able to shelter in place and hide from COVID in our own home in this new normal kind of world.