Our dream home journey started in 2013 where we had been looking for over two years to find the right piece of property. We decided that Moses Lake is where we wanted to buy land, so we spent countless weekends looking. We were to the point of giving up when late on a Saturday night Brenten found the Cayuse neighborhood. Prior to finding this property we had been looking right on the lake but couldn’t find the right fit. For the price of one acre on the lake we were able to purchase 10 acres with a view. We always assumed this would be for our retirement.
In March of 2020 many of our lives changed drastically as a pandemic hit the nation. We went from commuting to work every day and spending countless hours in traffic to working from home. After about a year of working from home we were starting to realize that working remotely was going to be an option permanently for us.
Fast forward to March of 2021 we started seriously discussing what if we sold our house and started building our dream home early. The housing market in our area had reached a point of insanity. Houses were selling within 3 days of being listed and buyers were paying $100,000 over asking and even waving inspection. Could we really cash out after 20 years?? Was this the right time to jump into the market??
During one of our trips to Moses Lake we learned the 7 acre lot in front of our 10 acres had just been sold back to the previous owners. We often thought about purchasing this lot because it has an even better view of the lake and now we realized that we missed out on the opportunity to purchase this property by a matter of 2 weeks. After chatting with the new owners of the lot, we found that they were willing to sell the lot to us, but they had to wait a year due to the recent sale.
At this point, things were in motion and we needed to sell our house in Edmonds to make this a reality. We spent the next two months killing ourselves to finish projects and getting the house ready to go on the market before schools were out for the summer so we could attract more buyers and strike while the market was hot. Our decision paid off in a big way with over 5-0 scheduled showings over the course of 3 days. We received several offers, but one in particular was hard to turn down so we accepted it and things started moving fast. We found a rental home north of our location in Maryville. Even though we spent the last few months purging we were not prepared to pack and move 20 years worth of stuff.
Our plan was to start our build process as soon as possible, however by May of 2021 the lumber Prices reached all-time highs and was out of control. We decided to pause for 3-6 months to see if things got better, unfortunately that stretched into January. Lumber prices had gone down, then back up again, however all construction materials have gone up due to inflation and distribution issues. At this point we decided to just wait until March of 2022 when we close on the 7 acre lot to see if things improve. At that point, not only were prices continuing to go up, so were interest rates, so we decided it was time to just start.
By March of 2022 we had everything in place to purchase the lot. Over the summer we had finalized our house plans and we were ready to pick a builder. After some research and talking with neighbors in Moses Lake we were very fortunate and found the perfect builder. At this point the construction of our home had gone up by around 30%, but we figured if we don’t start now, then when would it be.
We continue to joke that we have not had the best timing on everything. We could dwell on all the things that we might have done or should have done but you will drive yourself insane doing the “what if’s”. The real journey begins…