Home, Sweet Home: Finding Our Forever Home in Michigan

As you know, we are soon moving to Michigan. If this is news to you, then you really need to read my last blog! Upon my husband receiving the job offer in Ann Arbor, we immediately set our sights on buying a home. We had no desire to rent again and plan on making this our forever home.

During our visit back to Ohio last July, we discussed where we would live if we ever came back that way. I don’t think either one of us really believed it would happen. The thought of moving again felt really overwhelming, daunting and a little scary. But, just for kicks, we took a trip to Michigan to scout out a couple of areas we thought looked good on paper.

We visited Chelsea and Dexter and immediately fell in love with both places. Both are within 20 minutes of Ann Arbor and within driving distance from our families. They had nice, quaint downtowns, were safe places to live and appeared to be the perfect spots to raise a family. Fast fact: Jeff Daniels lives in Chelsea and created the Purple Rose Theatre there. Not that I need a celebrity endorsement or anything.

Fast forward 9 months later and we are headed to Michigan! We already knew exactly where we wanted to live so that part was easy. My husband went back there over the weekend and spent part of it looking for homes. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be ok with house hunting going on without me. That just seemed crazy. But when you live 2,000 miles away from your next destination, you have 3 children and limited time, sometimes you have to compromise. We picked our favorites online and I sent my husband to scout them out in person, having to trust his ultimate opinion.

My poor husband had a heck of a time navigating through the Ann Arbor area housing market. It is a beast! Houses going off the market in a day, bidding wars…it was not a fun time. But we knew of the challenges before he left and what house we really wanted. We had a couple of days of misery and heightened emotions (trying to pick a house with one of us not there proved to be very stressful). We entertained other houses and even other cities around the area. But we ultimately made an offer on our “dream” house. After some negotiation, our offer was accepted! Ain’t she a beauty!

It’s the country house with the acre of land that we always wanted. We’ve had enough of the cookie cutter houses stacked on top of each other (although my husband came across a really tempting one in Dexter). We just wanted a quiet little area to enjoy, knowing that if we wanted some hustle and bustle, it’s just minutes away. The bonus is that my husband’s beloved Michigan Stadium is only a half hour drive. I can see Wolverine football games becoming a part of our family tradition.

We still have to go through the inspection process, so I’m not in full on scream mode just yet, but barring any surprises, this is where we will raise our family and call our permanent home. I am very much looking forward to this next chapter in our lives!

Featured image by IIP Photo Archive