Home Tour

Outside & Exterior Tour

Get outside and check out the exterior with these tours! I have plenty of garage space and am working on creating an outdoor space for entertaining in my backyard.

About The house

If you had told me I would purchase my first house across the street from my parents one day I would have told you that you are crazy. Today our house is more than the place across from my folks. Our house is our personal castle in the swamp. 

Growing up I always saw my house today while I played outside in my parent’s yard. We lived across the street my entire life. 

There was always something familiar and quaint about the house. I visited often as a child, but not to the extent of remembering many details. 

How I Became a Homeowner at 23

The story of how I became a homeowner at 23 starts in a post-covid world. I returned from college and lived in my childhood bedroom. I waited tables at a restaurant until I got my first job postgrad. I stayed at home with my parents all through 2020.

The whole entire time, I put 1 paycheck a month into my father’s gun safe. I was content living at home until I realized my long distance, cross-country relationship would never work out if I stayed at home. I convinced my boyfriend, Taylor, to pack up his life in Orange County, California to move to Gates County after a trip he made here in June 2020. 

All we needed was a house to rent. So with a deadline of September 2020 in mind, we started searching.

My mom called the older lady who lived across the street from our house in late July asking if I could rent their home. They kindly said no, despite the home being vacant for nearly two years. 

They did however say I could buy it. 

Making A Solid Purchase

A lot of my friends from college were honestly concerned for my well-being when I told them about my plans to buy a house in Gates County. I was not sure I was making a solid purchase until I was able to see the house in person in September 2021. 

We scheduled the only home showing the day after Taylor moved from California to North Carolina. I honestly did not know what to expect – with the house or living with someone else. 

I was flooded with memories as soon as we walked into the house that day. The house was cleaned and removed of many heirlooms except for a select few. I walked from the utility room and single bathroom to the kitchen complete with red countertops.

To my right, an open door led to the living room. I did not notice at the time there was no light in the ceiling. I was too taken aback by the plaster ceiling to even care. 

I peaked my head into the bedrooms and saw they had closets (be it small closets, they were still closets!). I turned and same the craziest stairs I’ve ever seen in my life. We proceeded up the narrow steps to find 2 additional, finished rooms. 

The space was genuinely to die for. I was sold before I even saw the rest of the fantastic backyard, informal living room, and attached and detached garages! 

Knowing the History of the Good Bones

The entire seller’s family was present during my home showing. Four siblings. Two brothers and two sisters. My purchase felt secure knowing the history of the house’s good bones.

The brothers boasted about how they finished the upstairs bedrooms in high school so their sisters could have a space to themselves. The sisters let me know that I could have all the furniture left inside the house. When I tell you they left me pretty much everything down to the utensils in the kitchen.

My Journey with Seller’s Financing

When I was initially approached with the idea of buying my house the first concern I had was financing the purchase. I had no idea the journey I would go on with the seller’s financing.

How could I imagine buying a home less than a year post-graduate? In April 2020, I was denied mortgage pre-approval with a credit score of 635. I had enough money for a down payment on the $170,000 home, but what about my credit score?

I knew my credit would not be approved within such a short time period, so I reached out to the sellers. After we explained the situation they offered to finance my loan directly at a rate that matched the national average. 

How the hell did I get so lucky? I was able to close on our purchase in January 2021. Despite the reality of the national housing market and abnormally hot real estate market in a post-covid world – I got the house.

Before & Afters

I feel extremely blessed to have the opportunity to live in a home so close to my roots. Several years later and we still find pieces of the past heavily interwoven in our lives. Here are some before & afters of us reclaiming the space in our house!