Exterior Reveal, Faux Boxwoods
It’s hard to believe those two photos above are just two years apart. As much as the house behind us changed, we’ve been through a lot of change, too–beyond aging very quickly apparently. We talked about why we’re moving to NC (back in this post), but we wanted to share the other sides of the story today.
When we made the decision to move to North Carolina (back in February!), we knew the very first people we needed to talk to was our amazing team. Beyond being a small team working together daily, we are a close knit group of friends and family. We didn’t want to do this without them, but we also wanted each of them to do what was right for them and their goals and future and their own well-being and we would support them in whatever that meant. My mom, our nanny, and our Propertee team–Derek and Jessica–decided to stay here in Idaho and we will always love and support them from a distance. However, to our absolute surprise, the rest of our team chose to relocate to Raleigh with us (we offered to move anyone that wanted to come). Today, I asked them–Victoria, Brooke, Tristan, Missy and Andi–if they would share their experience with this big change. Each of our experiences are so different, so I thought it would be valuable to hear from multiple points of view during this crazy real estate market! Take it away team!
The Seattle lake house renter turned first-time buyer (who used to work remote)
I’ve been the only remote member of the team thus far, but when Chris and Julia announced their move to Raleigh, I felt really compelled to accept their invitation to join the in-office team (they have the most fun anyway). As much as my partner and I are going to miss the lake house we’re renting just outside of Seattle, we feel really drawn to Raleigh. It is a creative, culturally rich, culinary town! We visited for less than 48 hours at the end of March, and we were smitten. We saw seven houses and fell in love with an adorable home in the Apex neighborhood. It has two front porches (one off of the primary bedroom), a formal dining room (where we can’t wait to host dinner parties), and a finished attic that I plan to turn into an art studio. We were thrilled to have our offer accepted in just a few hours (we were out to dinner in Cary, at the time, and we squealed and cheers’ed in celebration). The clincher came the next day when we were exploring Apex in the few hours before our flight took off: We stopped in a little cafe, where every person introduced themselves to us and asked where we were from! Raleigh made a warm and welcoming first impression, and we can hardly wait to get back. Our movers are coming July 2, and Helen and I are embarking on an epic road trip to our new city, with stops in Crater Lake, Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Tulsa, Nashville, and Asheville. I know we’ll arrive inspired and refreshed — and ready to nest.
-Victoria, Brand Manager & Publicist
New Graduates looking for a Big Change!
Tristan and I were so excited at the idea of moving. We said yes in a heartbeat. Truthfully, we’d follow Chris and Julia anywhere, really. I have worked for them for over 4 years and after Tristan and I got married almost 2 years ago–he started working with Chris on projects (he’s studying construction management in school). I graduated college in December and Tristan is finishing up his last semester. We are just renting an apartment right now and feel like we are in the perfect spot in our lives for a big change. We both grew up in California and while North Carolina is, quite literally, on the opposite side of the country, it felt a lot like home for us. The first time we flew out to Raleigh, we fell in love with and put an offer on a home that wasn’t even on my radar. The sellers decided to go with one of the other 17 offers. We were feeling pretty discouraged being first time home buyers competing with all cash offers. The next day, our realtor called and said he had a client that is selling their house and we would be able to buy it before it went on the market. So we would have no competition! We flew out the next week to see it. It all seemed too good to be true. Little did we know, it would have everything on our list and more. As soon as we walked in, I could instantly picture us living there. It was the perfect fit with a southern screened-in back porch, a formal dining room, and a nice fenced in yard (that Tristan can’t stop talking about mowing). We close the middle of July and will be road tripping across the country shortly after!
-Brooke, Social Media Manager & Tristan, Project Foreman
Selling and Spontaneous Offers Site Unseen!
When Chris and Julia made the very big and exciting decision to move to North Carolina, I had been working for them for a short while, but I knew my time wasn’t over yet. My husband John and I have 3 little girls and it felt like the best thing for our family, plus we were just super honored and thrilled for the opportunity to make such a huge life transition! Fast-forward to now… We are in the middle of EVERYTHING. John started work in North Carolina a few weeks ago so we have been working together from afar to make this move possible. He’s been house-hunting and FaceTiming me in, and I’ve been purging and packing like a mad-woman. Our Idaho house is under contract and due to close in 10 days (how is it that time already?). Soon after, me and the girls will fly to Raleigh, reunite with John, and hunker down in an Airbnb until we can close on a house there. We’ve put down 2 offers on houses with no luck, so just a few days ago we took a risk and put an offer on an adorable house, site-unseen! I can hardly recognize us with how spontaneous we’re having to be in this competitive market… but the good news is that it worked! Just last night we got the greatest news that our offer was accepted and that’s just the best feeling. In the meantime, I’m picturing life on the culdesac–family bike rides, lounging on the deck while the girls play in the yard, and evening hot-tub soaks. Just some happy thoughts to tide me over.
-Missy, Visual Media & Editorial Assistant
Selling a home and Renting in Raleigh?
Our family moved to Idaho Falls from Monterrey, Mexico in August of 2019 when I came on as Visual Media Producer. It was a drastic change for us in every way to go from big city to small town, from tropic heat to a long harsh winter. So when the proposal came to move to Raleigh, booming capital of North Carolina with, bonus! great weather year round, we happily obliged. Our Idaho Falls home was our very first house and although we only lived here for about a year and a half, I was so grateful for how much we worked on our house in a short time. (See our kitchen transformation here, and our basement game room here) It first went on the market at the beginning of May, and we couldn’t believe the response our humble home got in its first 24 hours on the market. The offers came in fast, and they were high. Almost…too high? In the past month our house was under contract twice, with both offers falling through for different reasons. We took a breather, reassessed, prioritized some more repairs, and just put it back on the market last weekend. (PS. Our lawn looked. so. good.) And now we are under contract, again! Third time’s the charm right? This one feels different than the other offers and we know it’s the one that’ll stick. It feels right. Because of the way the market is in North Carolina, our realtor has advised us to not buy until we have closed on our current house. With how competitive it is, contingent offers aren’t really standing a chance. It was a tough pill to swallow, but our plan is to close on our home in Idaho mid-July, then move to Raleigh and rent an Air BnB while we house hunt. Until then, I’ll keep daydreaming of Raleigh’s green trees, rolling hills, front porches, brick front stairs, and those big windows with shutters they do so so well.
-Andi, Visual Media Producer
Loveeeee! You will enjoy Raleigh, NC. I have lived here 20 years now but from Miami originally. Great place to have a family and raise your children❤️ Enjoy!
Welcome to NC! You are all sure to love living in the Triangle. I live just south in Pinehurst which has amazing golf courses if there are any golfers in the group. I enjoyed reading your house hunting stories and will keep my fingers crossed that those that are still looking find their new homes soon. This real estate market is insane!
I LOVED reading these! It’s amazing to see how the rest of the team is preparing for the move and to read how every journey is different. I’m excited to see more of the move, the transition into new homes, and of course more from the CLJ team!
Stephanie – http://www.spvliving.com
So excited for everyone to get here!
I love hearing these stories! I am from North Carolina (whole family is still there!) but I’ve lived in Los Angeles for 22 years and my husband and I always say we’re going to move back. The pandemic definitely got us thinking about it again and we even visited Raleigh, but felt like we couldn’t make such a huge decision to leave a city we love in the middle of a crisis. I do really regret not buying a house when we were there just to have because things have gone up so much in a year, but what’s meant to be will be. You guys are definitely making me more excited to take the plunge. I’m so overwhelmed by buying a house out of state, but you make it look so easy!