On May 25, 2006, Sherry and I officially became homeowners. It’s hard to believe three years have passed since we moved into our modest house. Between renovations, redecorating, and even hosting a backyard wedding, the time has flown, and celebrating our third anniversary at this address still feels surreal.
To mark the milestone, we wanted to share how we ended up here. Time seemed to rush between the decision and the move, but what surprised us most was how quickly our house hunt unfolded — all in a single weekend. Below is a timeline with photos from our first visits and inspection day (note: the “before” photos in our House Tour are from those early walkthroughs).
February 25, 2006: We left New York City and moved to Richmond, VA, traveling in my parents’ minivan with only a few essentials. We rented a one-bedroom apartment to get a feel for the city and decide on a neighborhood before buying. We planned to rent for a year before taking the leap.
March 18, 2006: I proposed to Sherry on a mountaintop after a four-mile hike. She jokes that I made her work for the ring. She said yes, much to our families’ relief about our living situation.
Mid-April 2006: Friends suggested we start looking at houses right away to understand the market and what we could afford. Sherry checked with the bank to see how large a loan we might qualify for, just in case.
Friday, April 21 — 6pm: I came home to find that Sherry had arranged a showing of a nearby house within our budget. We treated it as practice. We disliked the house but liked the agent, so we asked him to show us other options.
Saturday, April 22 — 8am: Despite the rain, we set out with a stack of listings to drive around neighborhoods and see what our budget could buy.
11am: Most of the drive-bys didn’t appeal to us, but we decided to tour one recently renovated two-bedroom. The location wasn’t ideal, but the interior was in great shape. We liked it but didn’t want to pay extra for renovations we could do ourselves. Our agent suggested seeing a different house that needed more work.
Noon: At the second house, which we’d driven past earlier and barely seen through trees. The interior was dated and the opposite of the renovated house we’d just seen. We laughed and cringed at several features, but loved the backyard and the price — it was over $30,000 below our budget, leaving room for improvements. We started to see its potential.
1:30pm: Back at the apartment, Sherry said she wanted to make an offer. I hesitated, reminding her we were “just looking.” She argued it had only been on the market two days, and what if another buyer acted first? She also pointed out that paying rent for a year instead of mortgage payments didn’t make sense. Her points made me rethink our original plan.
2:30pm: We called our agent and told him we wanted to put in an offer. I paced nervously while Sherry bounced around, excited about the possibility that the house would “love us back.”
4pm: Our agent arrived, we completed the paperwork, and he submitted the offer. The waiting made the day feel endless.
Sunday, April 23 — 10am: Our agent called to say the offer was accepted. We were stunned and thrilled — had we really bought a house the same weekend we started casually looking? We called family, trying to explain without sounding reckless.
Saturday, April 29 — 11am: We showed the house to my parents. They loved it and suggested holding our wedding in the manicured backyard. We had already planned an outdoor ceremony at another venue, but after seeing the yard, the idea of a backyard wedding at our new house stuck.
Thursday, May 25 — 4pm: The inspection went smoothly, financing lined up, and we met our attorney for closing. After signing a stack of documents, we received the keys. Sherry and I were officially homeowners and did a celebratory (seated) happy dance in the car.
6pm: Without waiting for a U-Haul, we started moving what fit into our small Nissan Maxima. That first night we slept on an air mattress in our new bedroom, even though our bed was still at the apartment. We couldn’t wait to be in our house.
Friday, May 26 — 9am: I headed to work while Sherry postponed meetings and began painting and decorating. She couldn’t concentrate until she started making the house her own, and she’s been updating it ever since. I joined in with demolition and renovation projects as they came up.
The photo above shows my cousin helping Sherry paint the living room the Sunday after closing. We’d driven back from a wedding in New Jersey late Saturday night so we could spend Sunday morning painting and getting started on the house.
That’s the story of how our home, Casa Petersik, came to be. It was a whirlwind from casual browsing to closing, but it was the right decision for us. We’d love to hear how you found your current home — was it a long search or a fast surprise like ours? Either way, celebrating homeownership milestones is something we still enjoy. Happy anniversary, house!