Man, I LOVE me some Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. So many of their songs are where I started building my Spotify “chill” list, which currently has evolved to about 70 hours of music. Sunday mornings, long drives, anytime I need a mental reset – that playlist sustains me.

But, I digress; this post isn’t solely about Tom Petty, but rather about waiting. As you may have seen in April, I shared the news that we bought a house. As first-time homebuyers, we were overwhelmed from January to April, viewing potential houses and learning a great deal about the home-buying process. 

Now, the house is bought, and we are in contract. We worked with a great real estate broker who basically became our best friend this year and helped us find our dream home. Thank you, Lisa! 

We worked with a long-time friend and real estate lawyer, who expertly guided us through the process and answered every one of our 702 questions with such patience and professionalism. Thank you, Kristen!

We have our movers secured, and they will also be packing for us. Thank you, Mitko! We have our mortgage secured. Thank you, Dave! Thanks again to BNI 53, where I met both of those pros. 

Next, we lined up our vendors to do the deep cleaning and ISP install before we move in. I’ll finally have Fios!

“It takes a village”, indeed.

Now, we wait. We close and move in July, and there’s not much to do until then. I think about our new house daily, but it’s kind of in this opaque state for me right now. I ponder what our furniture will look like in the house, dream of watching the kids play in their new backyard, and on the trampoline we are inheriting. In relatively short order, we’ll get a dog, and I daydream about what it will look and act like, and what we’ll name it. (My 5-year-old’s idea so far is “Hamburger Kenny”)

I fantasize about the future projects we’ll work on in the house, both big and small. I contemplate where I’ll hang my dartboard, which has been patiently waiting for a home wall for over 20 years now. I consider the soccer net we’ll get for the backyard and the hockey nets we’ll get for the dead-end street. I visualize where my workbench and tools, our snowboards, and my golf clubs will all go in the garage, and I’m beyond thankful that our bikes will find a new home there as well, finally moving away from their current location – above my head in my office.

Can we knock down that wall to combine the kitchen and dining room? What will our new deck look like? What grill will I get, and how often will I use it? These questions, and so many more, spiral through my head regularly.  

In my gut, I know this is the right move for our family, and we’re all excited for the move. That said, we’ll miss Brooklyn immensely when we leave –  our community of friends, the kids’ school being ON our block, being across the street from Prospect Park, the ability to walk everywhere, and the wealth of fantastic restaurants. I’ve been a happy Brooklyn resident for 15 years, my wife has been here 20, and it’s all our kids currently know. We will never forget our time here in NYC’s BEST borough.

Soon enough, these musings of mine will be replaced by action items, the longest “to-do” list of my life, and all the incredible things that come along with living in a house you own for the first time.

But for now, I dream, I capitulate, and fantasize about what will soon be.

This month’s questions:
1) What’s the last thing you daydreamed about?

2) If you own a home already, what do I need to know?

Thanks for reading!