On May 25, 2006, Sherry and I officially became homeowners. Three years have passed since we moved into our little house, and it still feels like yesterday. Between renovations, decorating projects, and even a backyard wedding, time has flown. To celebrate our anniversary at this address, we decided to share the story of how we ended up here — including how quickly our house hunt unfolded. Believe it or not, everything happened during a single weekend. Below is a timeline of key moments from that whirlwind search, along with a few photos from our first visits (all of our “before” photos were taken during the initial walk-through or on the day of inspection).
February 25, 2006: We left New York City and moved to Richmond, VA, driving down in my parents’ minivan with only a few essentials. We rented a one-bedroom apartment to get a feel for the city and pick a neighborhood before committing to buy. Our plan was to rent for a year before thinking about homeownership.
March 18, 2006: On a four-mile hike to the top of a mountain I proposed to Sherry. She jokingly says I made her work for the ring, but she said yes. Our engagement made our families more comfortable with the idea of us living together and starting the next chapter.
Mid-April 2006: Friends suggested it’s never too early to start looking at homes to learn what’s available and what we could afford. Sherry visited the bank to check how much of a mortgage 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 didn’t like the house, but we liked the agent and asked him to show us other options.
Saturday, April 22 — 8am: It was raining, but we set out with a stack of listings and drove through several neighborhoods to understand what our money could buy. A late-morning tour of a renovated two-bedroom felt new and appealing, but the location wasn’t ideal and we weren’t keen on paying for renovations we could do ourselves. Our agent suggested seeing one more house, a fixer-upper he thought might suit us.
Noon: We visited the second house. From the road it was hidden by trees, but the location immediately appealed to us. Inside, it was dated — the opposite of the renovated home we’d just seen — but the backyard and price caught our attention. The house was roughly $30,000 below our maximum budget, leaving room for updates. For the first time we started to see real potential. But we still hadn’t planned to buy right then.
1:30pm: Back at the apartment, Sherry said she loved the house and wanted to make an offer. I hesitated — we were supposed to be casually looking. She argued that the house had only been on the market two days and might go fast. She questioned whether paying rent for another year made sense when we could be paying a mortgage. After some discussion, I began to see her point.
2:30pm: We called our agent and said we wanted to put in an offer. The wait that followed was tense and exciting in equal measure.
4pm: The agent arrived with paperwork. We completed the forms and he left to submit the offer. Sherry was giddy and optimistic, while I paced and tried to stay calm.
Sunday, April 23 — 10am: Our agent called: the offer was accepted. We were stunned and thrilled. Had we really bought a house the same weekend we began casually looking? We phoned family members and tried to share the news without sounding completely impulsive.
Saturday, April 29 — 11am: We showed the house to my parents. They loved the backyard so much they suggested we get married there. We had already planned an outdoor ceremony elsewhere, but their idea stuck and by the time we collected the keys we had decided on a backyard wedding at our new home.
Thursday, May 25 — 4pm: The inspection went well, the financials checked out, and we met with our attorney to close. After signing stacks of papers, the keys were handed over. Sherry and I officially became homeowners and celebrated with an exuberant, seated happy dance in the car.
6pm: We started moving whatever would fit in our small Nissan Maxima that evening. We spent our first night on an air mattress in the new bedroom, despite having a bed back at the apartment — we couldn’t wait to be in our house.
Friday, May 26 — 9am: I returned to work while Sherry postponed meetings to start painting and decorating right away. She couldn’t sleep until she’d repainted a few rooms, and that weekend marked the beginning of many projects. That Sunday my cousin helped Sherry paint the living room for the first time — we’d driven back late from a wedding just so we could begin renovations the next morning.
And that’s how Casa Petersik came to be: a fast, decisive weekend that led to years of improvements, memories, and milestones. We’ve loved living here and celebrating each step of our homeownership journey. How did you find your home — a long search or a whirlwind like ours? Either way, happy anniversary to your home as well.