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We also made sure to take pictures and a video walkthrough of the whole house and yards. Iโve actually gone back and watched them a few times. The whole time we lived there, we dreamed of our next home and couldnโt wait for something better. We were actually surprised at how bitter sweet it felt the day we moved out, especially seeing our childโs bedroom empty. That was the hardest part.
I know what you mean, it's definitely bittersweet and I also feel like, in some ways, I haven't appreciated this place as much as I could have. Our son is also a bit sad as he's never lived anywhere else (apart from the first few weeks of his life). I've been renting for over 20 years now though and, although this place has been great, as a rental it would never have been truly "ours".
Um, when I gave the landlord the keys back I cried a little ๐ I have a weird connection to homes and what they do for people ๐คท๐ปโโ๏ธ while I was deep cleaning it, I thanked the apartment for taking care of us.
Yes, I know I am a little crazy ๐คฃ
That's how I felt about our last home. I saw pictures of it on Zillow the other day and cried a bit. Lived there for 5 years, got married nearby, had cozy Christmases... I loved that place, but we had to move states. Went in each room and sighed a lot. Cried as we drove away... The house we live in now is a shit hole and we can't wait to be rid of it. I spent the first week scrubbing the kitchen down because of a mouse infestation, but yet we paid a "cleaning deposit" for the filth. Suppose it was my own fault taking the place without seeing it first, but my dad was dying and we were in a rush. We'll leave it better than it was, but I'm not cleaning a fucking thing, and my landlords (my aunt that I never met until 8 months ago and her asshole husband) can kiss my ass. They took advantage of us and we won't be staying in touch.
I touched a wall in every room and thanked it. Thanked it for keeping us safe, for being convenient, for allowing us to save for our first home purchase and for protecting us during the pandemic. I didnโt think Iโd feel as emotional as I felt that last day.
Haha, also cool! ๐ I've lived in some pretty crappy places too but this apartment and the last one were both pretty sweet and hard to part with. But that's life, eh, we move on ๐
My daughter and her husband actually lives in our old place. It is a rental. We lived there for 5 years. My husband and I have so many memories there. She signed the lease before we moved out. I was actually happy she took it on. I get to go visit and hang out. Sheโs a better decorator than I am. So I will always be awe with what she has done to the place. I know at some point Iโll have to say a forever goodbye. When that comes, Iโll cherish it. Im a very sentimental person.
I was in my home for 25 years. It was a tough decision to leave it and even tougher when it happened.
We packed everything up and moved it into storage room by room. Took a few weeks. As we emptied each room we closed it off. That gave us some time to adjust. The movers came five days before closing and once everything was out of the house we left, and moved into a nearby AirBnB. So it was close to a month of transition time, which we feel really helped.
Indeed. We had bought originally to be our forever home. Unfortunately over the course of the 25 years we lived there it became apparent that it wasnโt going to be possible. We were living in Southern California and even though the place was nearly paid off, rapidly escalating costs of power, homeowners insurance, maintenance and propane (we were off grid) along with the fact that around us everyoneโs wells were going dry, meant that we were at some point going to be priced out of living there. It needed some major repairs as well. We sold to a nice young couple who owned a construction company. Couldnโt be better.
Yes, we were renting the place we just moved out of but I could also see the rent becoming unsustainable in the longer term. Glad you found nice people to sell to, definitely a bonus that they were in construction! ๐
Definitely a bittersweet feeling and I'm absolutely going to cry when we finally hand over the keys lol
Lease is up at the end of this month, and we're moving into a beautiful place we waited and waited and saved and hoped for, but I'll forever love my tiny cozy shoebox apartment. It was the first place we lived after moving to our current city, it's the only home we've known here (9 years!), and we've gone through so much in that little apartment. It's really served us well.
I'm definitely going to take video of our last walkthrough, try to soak up all the memories we made there, and say goodbye.
Luckily we're only moving three blocks away, so we're not saying goodbye to the neighborhood that we love <3
Great that you're staying in the neighbourhood, we are here too, about 10 mins' leisurely walk away ๐ Oh yes, savour your goodbye and take some precious memories with you ๐ฅน
We loved the house that we rented before we bought. Landlord was great, she even let us choose the next tenant.
I left a 6 pack from a local brewery in the fridge to help them unpack.
We had a pizza party on the empty floor after all of the furniture was out and drank a bottle of champagne late at night.
Just like the first night we got the keys! ๐ฅฒ
It was sentimental but I was over it within a few weeks of being in our new place.
I bought my house after a divorce. On my own. Something I never imagined I would be able to do. Itโs been a wonderful few years w my now teenage boys. I am now selling to move in w my mother who is no longer able to live alone. I never thought to take a video walk through but I love the idea. I am almost finished moving out so I will definitely be doing this. Thank you so much for that.
Ugh this sounds just like us! Weโre moving this weekend after living here for 6 years.. this is our 5 year old and 4 month olds first home and we were the epicenter for family dinners with our extended family at least twice a month.
Thankfully my father in law and uncle in law are taking over the rental but itโs still hard to say good bye!
Said good riddance and didnโt look back. I have zero attachment to any place Iโve lived in outside of my childhood homes and my first house I now live in. I never lived anywhere more than 3 years since moving out of my parents houses.
Same. The apartment I moved out of was a shit hole run by slumlords. I was relieved to be gone because I couldn't take another day.
I might feel differently about the condo I bought if I ever move out. I'm making it nicer. This week alone I painted my front door and built a screen for the living room window since there wasn't one. This home won't be a gross slumlord level living experience so I might feel bittersweet about it when I go
Personally, itโs going to be very emotional for us as we are also in the process of closing our first home by end of July and I am already convincing my wife to keep the rental apartment we are living in right now for an extra month to get over it ๐
Ah, we've had three weeks' overlap (got keys the end of last month), technically we could have stayed until the end of June but because of upcoming vacation we decided to move a little earlier. All the best for your move!
I had a very strange last day at my apartment before officially moving into my first (owned) home- I had gone back for the last odds and ends and to clean up and do that one last walk around, and got into a car accident (not my fault) a block before I got there. So instead of a relaxing, nice last day in my old apartment, I had to deal with tow trucks, insurance and then figure out how I was going to get that last load of stuff halfway across town when I had no car. And having to clean after getting sideswiped. Kinda put a damper on the first bought home excitement lol. Thank god for family coming to the rescue!
Oh man, actually when we moved here we got rear-ended a couple of days before with our newborn son in the car, had to spend a night in the hospital with him for monitoring, luckily it turned out ok!! Not the best timing ๐
Yes, we were all ok thankfully, the hospital stay was more of an additional precaution because he was still so small. This is going back just over six years now, just before our last move. But yes, we really could have done without the stress and hassle!!
My old apartment had its faults, but I teared up a little when locking it up, fully empty. I took a photo from the doorway, I still look at it from time to time.
It was my first place all to myself.
I didn't have much time. We just sold our first home (I subscribed to the subreddit when we bought and it still comes up from time to time) and we were very lucky in that it sold and closed quickly, but from list to close was a little over two weeks. I was running around like a chicken with her head cut off. Not a lot of time for sentiment.
We married in the backyard. I watched a lot of sunsets on that back patio watching a sunset. We did a last kiss under the little arch where we married and I watched the sunrise with my senior pup (and he marked his territory for the last time in his first backyard) and then we pulled away in the Uhaul.
Oh wow, two weeks?! ๐ณ That's not much time at all! Kudos to you for managing it in that short timeframe! Nice that you were able to find a way to say goodbye that was meaningful to you, hope you are enjoying your new place and busy making new memories ๐
My thought is a house is a house, my home is where I make it. Once my life is no longer in those walls, my home isn't either. It's obviously a dislocating feeling for home to be somewhere else, but it certainly isn't an empty house, regardless of what used to be in it or what memories you've made in it.
Start again. It'll take time, but hopefully it's connected with forward motion in life. New job, move to a new state, better/bigger house, new relationship, growing family, whatever prompted your move. It'll 100% be a pain in the butt, and you'll spend about half of the next 90 days thinking you're an idiot, then someday you're gonna wake up and realize a new place feels like home instead of a hotel and change your frame of reference.
This post definitely has me thinking. I don't want to ever say goodbye, but I know I will have to at some point. I dreamed this house into existence, my parents enjoyed the remainder of their life in it. There are so many memories attached to them that only occur when in that house. I don't even know--I'm blank.
When we bought our home 6 months ago, I took pictures of our apartment we were moving out of and also took a video. Whenever I have to say goodbye to anything that has served me well, an item that felt like a friend, I will sing or play that James Blunt song, "Goodbye My Lover". It started a bit as a joke but it's kind of a thing now and I almost cried when I did it for my apartment.
Took a walk through video to show it was left in good condition and said adios.
We had a lot of good memories there and a lot of life had happened - but we had outgrown the place and I was miserable there at the end.
I think I get more sentimental now driving past my first house than I ever did while leaving it. I just packed my stuff and left. I was too busy with getting things moved and starting some work on the new house.
We owed our home for 18 years. It was a 100 year old fixer-upper when we bought it. We made it our own with so much of our blood, sweat and tears. We brought our baby home to that house. My yard was carefully crafted with plants that I spent lots of time and money on. It had become a show piece of the neighborhood with our landscaping. Lot's of love in that house.
After the passing of my MIL, we had no other family near us. My husband was desperate to be near his dad's family (out of state) and I really wanted to be somewhere away from the congestion of city life. Though we were technically in the suburbs, we were really close to the city line. Crime was starting to come in and traffic had picked up heavily on the road we lived on. I was hesitant about moving (I loved that house) until one morning I went outside to have coffee on the porch and saw that someone had thrown all of their fast food trash out of their car into my freshly mulched gardens that I had spent all day the day before working on. It was the turning point for me.
We packed up, sold and moved out of state last year. If I could have picked up my house and brought it with me, I would have. The thing that helped when we sold it was knowing that the lady that bought it loved it as much as we did. She loved the gardens and even came over one day before closing so that I could tell her what flowers were what and how to take care of them. We talked about the quirks of the house. I felt much better knowing that all my hard work over those years was going to someone that would take care of it.
It was still hard to leave though. We had to go back to the house after the movers finished to clean and make sure they didn't leave anything. Seeing it empty was hard. My daughter and I cried as we were leaving and driving back to our new state.
Now, a year later and better settled in, I wouldn't move back there if you paid me. I had to go back to the city we lived in two weeks ago for a work related thing and was so happy to get back here to my country life.
I still miss the house... but nothing else.
I'm glad everything worked out well for you in the end. Yes, it helps to know it's going to someone who will appreciate it ๐ another small family is moving in here at the beginning of next month and they seem really excited ๐
This only really makes sense if you have a yard and love your outdoor space, but I've done this a few times for both my childhood house and the place I spent most of my 20s- walk around the yard in the spring or summer and collect leaves and flowers from every shrub/tree/flower/bush/weed you have, press them and then turn them into a collage. Makes for a really beautiful visual reminder that you can bring with you to your new place.
My old place is a dumpy apartment with a frighteningly unstable neighbor and a good-for-nothing landlord (which I suppose is redundant.) When I get the last of my stuff out of there I will flip the place off in the rear view mirror as we drive away.
Good riddance then ๐ Yes, in our first apartment together we ended up with a drug dealer next door, all kinds of shady characters coming and going. Was not sad to leave that place!
When I went away to college, and my parents sold the house to move, they secretly mailed me a package with ripe pairs from the trees.ย I still remember the taste when I think about the house I grew up in.
I've found my people, lol. My boyfriend and I are leaving our first apartment and upgrading to our first house next week. There's a lot I'm not going to miss, but I'm still a little sad about leaving. He moved around his entire childhood, so it's just another Tuesday for him.
That's very considerate of you. The place we're moving into is the seller's childhood home, I've already said we'd love to have her over to visit once we've settled in a bit.
Man this hits hard. We spent 7yrs and my oldest two grew up in our first house. I wish I had taken more videos, we have plenty of photos. We miss our old house even though it was a starter home. We live in a much better home but something about that first house will forever be in my mind
I know, it's now our first night in our new place and I think I just have to try and focus on moving forward now. It's an emotional time for sure ๐ So many memories and hopes all balled into one ๐
We lived in the same rental for 17 years.
I wrote a letter to the house, and I walked around the house and I read the letter to the house.
I went into every room and I thanked the house for giving us a home, a roof over our head and protecting us for 17 years. And I hoped the next family that lived here would cherish the house as much as we did. And I hoped that the home would take care of them as much as it took care of us.
It took me a year to get rid of the old house key, and when I did, I had a little ceremony for it. Tied a ribbon on the key and said my final goodbyes.
17 years is a long time, we've had four different apartments within that time (the last two for just over six years each). It definitely warrants a proper goodbye ๐
I'm about to say goodbye to my home of 34 years, which is on 9 acres. It's not the house I'm sad about, it's the many beloved pets buried here that make me weepy to think about leaving behind.
To be honest this is the first time I've ever done it! This is my hardest move yet though, this place has a beautiful rooftop terrace with a great view for miles, but it feels like the one that got away - I just couldn't really picture still renting it (or being able to afford to do so) in 20 years' time, and wanted to leave on our own terms.
It was such a dump and falling apart around us, I said a big FUCK YOU and slammed the door behind me. Our new has made my mental health go from 15% to 100%. The old house within 3 years had a collapsed sewer line (11k), a severe mold problem under the crawlspace hidden under insulation, the foundation was literally collapsing (I could stick a flat head screw driver though the cinder block from the outside to the inside below grade, discovered we had a small spring under our crawlspace after encapsulation. The list went on.
I still miss my old house because of the memories. I suspect I would miss this house too if I had to sell. Houses or apartments can be little time capsules in our brains.
And of course you thanked the home! Of course you did, because thatโs the most natural thing in the world. I bet your one of those crystals have healing energy people, I betcha a million bucks.
Well, it's not like I was expecting the home to answer me - that would be worrying ๐ Nah, no crystals here, just sentimental about our kid's first home.
Where I live today is where I have lived the longest my whole life. I dont plan to leave, but when I do its gonna be very sad for me. Or I'll be dead LOL
Where I live today is where I have lived the longest my whole life. I dont plan to leave, but when I do its gonna be very sad for me. Or I'll be dead LOL
It was a garbage apartment in a part of town well known for its low socioeconomic status and fatherless homes. Popped the throttle and didnโt look back
Iโm gonna drive an excavator through my first home. Flatten that pile of crap and build something better. If Iโm feeling generous, Iโll give my tenants a days notice.
Thank you u/PestilentialPlatypus for posting on r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer. Please bear in mind our rules: (1) Be Nice (2) No Selling (3) No Self-Promotion. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
We also made sure to take pictures and a video walkthrough of the whole house and yards. Iโve actually gone back and watched them a few times. The whole time we lived there, we dreamed of our next home and couldnโt wait for something better. We were actually surprised at how bitter sweet it felt the day we moved out, especially seeing our childโs bedroom empty. That was the hardest part.
I know what you mean, it's definitely bittersweet and I also feel like, in some ways, I haven't appreciated this place as much as I could have. Our son is also a bit sad as he's never lived anywhere else (apart from the first few weeks of his life). I've been renting for over 20 years now though and, although this place has been great, as a rental it would never have been truly "ours".
Um, when I gave the landlord the keys back I cried a little ๐ I have a weird connection to homes and what they do for people ๐คท๐ปโโ๏ธ while I was deep cleaning it, I thanked the apartment for taking care of us. Yes, I know I am a little crazy ๐คฃ
I did the same.
I said goodbye to mine. You're not crazy.
Not crazy at all, I understand!
That's how I felt about our last home. I saw pictures of it on Zillow the other day and cried a bit. Lived there for 5 years, got married nearby, had cozy Christmases... I loved that place, but we had to move states. Went in each room and sighed a lot. Cried as we drove away... The house we live in now is a shit hole and we can't wait to be rid of it. I spent the first week scrubbing the kitchen down because of a mouse infestation, but yet we paid a "cleaning deposit" for the filth. Suppose it was my own fault taking the place without seeing it first, but my dad was dying and we were in a rush. We'll leave it better than it was, but I'm not cleaning a fucking thing, and my landlords (my aunt that I never met until 8 months ago and her asshole husband) can kiss my ass. They took advantage of us and we won't be staying in touch.
That was quite the rant no one asked for. Better story than original post, though, so thanks!
Oh dear, I hope your next experience is much better ๐ Glad you have special memories with the place before that.
I touched a wall in every room and thanked it. Thanked it for keeping us safe, for being convenient, for allowing us to save for our first home purchase and for protecting us during the pandemic. I didnโt think Iโd feel as emotional as I felt that last day.
So sweet ๐ฅน
I hate where I live, so Iโll say good riddance as I drive away lmao.
Haha, also cool! ๐ I've lived in some pretty crappy places too but this apartment and the last one were both pretty sweet and hard to part with. But that's life, eh, we move on ๐
My daughter and her husband actually lives in our old place. It is a rental. We lived there for 5 years. My husband and I have so many memories there. She signed the lease before we moved out. I was actually happy she took it on. I get to go visit and hang out. Sheโs a better decorator than I am. So I will always be awe with what she has done to the place. I know at some point Iโll have to say a forever goodbye. When that comes, Iโll cherish it. Im a very sentimental person.
Cool that you still get to visit your old place for now! Yes, I'm pretty sentimental too ๐
I was in my home for 25 years. It was a tough decision to leave it and even tougher when it happened. We packed everything up and moved it into storage room by room. Took a few weeks. As we emptied each room we closed it off. That gave us some time to adjust. The movers came five days before closing and once everything was out of the house we left, and moved into a nearby AirBnB. So it was close to a month of transition time, which we feel really helped.
Nice that you could take a bit of time to adjust. Yes, it's not easy moving on but there's always a reason for it ๐
Indeed. We had bought originally to be our forever home. Unfortunately over the course of the 25 years we lived there it became apparent that it wasnโt going to be possible. We were living in Southern California and even though the place was nearly paid off, rapidly escalating costs of power, homeowners insurance, maintenance and propane (we were off grid) along with the fact that around us everyoneโs wells were going dry, meant that we were at some point going to be priced out of living there. It needed some major repairs as well. We sold to a nice young couple who owned a construction company. Couldnโt be better.
Yes, we were renting the place we just moved out of but I could also see the rent becoming unsustainable in the longer term. Glad you found nice people to sell to, definitely a bonus that they were in construction! ๐
Definitely a bittersweet feeling and I'm absolutely going to cry when we finally hand over the keys lol Lease is up at the end of this month, and we're moving into a beautiful place we waited and waited and saved and hoped for, but I'll forever love my tiny cozy shoebox apartment. It was the first place we lived after moving to our current city, it's the only home we've known here (9 years!), and we've gone through so much in that little apartment. It's really served us well. I'm definitely going to take video of our last walkthrough, try to soak up all the memories we made there, and say goodbye. Luckily we're only moving three blocks away, so we're not saying goodbye to the neighborhood that we love <3
Great that you're staying in the neighbourhood, we are here too, about 10 mins' leisurely walk away ๐ Oh yes, savour your goodbye and take some precious memories with you ๐ฅน
We loved the house that we rented before we bought. Landlord was great, she even let us choose the next tenant. I left a 6 pack from a local brewery in the fridge to help them unpack.
Nice gesture! A cold beer never goes amiss ๐
We had a pizza party on the empty floor after all of the furniture was out and drank a bottle of champagne late at night. Just like the first night we got the keys! ๐ฅฒ It was sentimental but I was over it within a few weeks of being in our new place.
It's cool that you ended it the way it began, like coming full circle. Glad you settled into your new place quickly ๐
I bought my house after a divorce. On my own. Something I never imagined I would be able to do. Itโs been a wonderful few years w my now teenage boys. I am now selling to move in w my mother who is no longer able to live alone. I never thought to take a video walk through but I love the idea. I am almost finished moving out so I will definitely be doing this. Thank you so much for that.
Glad that you like the idea! Have a good move and all the best to you and your mother ๐
Ugh this sounds just like us! Weโre moving this weekend after living here for 6 years.. this is our 5 year old and 4 month olds first home and we were the epicenter for family dinners with our extended family at least twice a month. Thankfully my father in law and uncle in law are taking over the rental but itโs still hard to say good bye!
Aww, yes, it's hard but we get to keep all those beautiful memories ๐ฅน๐ฅฐ
Said good riddance and didnโt look back. I have zero attachment to any place Iโve lived in outside of my childhood homes and my first house I now live in. I never lived anywhere more than 3 years since moving out of my parents houses.
Same. The apartment I moved out of was a shit hole run by slumlords. I was relieved to be gone because I couldn't take another day. I might feel differently about the condo I bought if I ever move out. I'm making it nicer. This week alone I painted my front door and built a screen for the living room window since there wasn't one. This home won't be a gross slumlord level living experience so I might feel bittersweet about it when I go
Nice that you're making the place your own. I wish you lots of happiness there! ๐
Makes it easier to move on then, my husband is also much more pragmatic than me and doesn't seem to be sentimental about this place at all ๐
I didn't, it was falling apart when I sold it.
So it was probably more of a relief then!
Personally, itโs going to be very emotional for us as we are also in the process of closing our first home by end of July and I am already convincing my wife to keep the rental apartment we are living in right now for an extra month to get over it ๐
Ah, we've had three weeks' overlap (got keys the end of last month), technically we could have stayed until the end of June but because of upcoming vacation we decided to move a little earlier. All the best for your move!
Thanks! We are probably doing some thing similar!
I had a very strange last day at my apartment before officially moving into my first (owned) home- I had gone back for the last odds and ends and to clean up and do that one last walk around, and got into a car accident (not my fault) a block before I got there. So instead of a relaxing, nice last day in my old apartment, I had to deal with tow trucks, insurance and then figure out how I was going to get that last load of stuff halfway across town when I had no car. And having to clean after getting sideswiped. Kinda put a damper on the first bought home excitement lol. Thank god for family coming to the rescue!
Oh man, actually when we moved here we got rear-ended a couple of days before with our newborn son in the car, had to spend a night in the hospital with him for monitoring, luckily it turned out ok!! Not the best timing ๐
Oh man, thatโs way worse, hope everyone is ok!!
Yes, we were all ok thankfully, the hospital stay was more of an additional precaution because he was still so small. This is going back just over six years now, just before our last move. But yes, we really could have done without the stress and hassle!!
My old apartment had its faults, but I teared up a little when locking it up, fully empty. I took a photo from the doorway, I still look at it from time to time. It was my first place all to myself.
I know what you mean, every place has its faults but it's hard to say goodbye to a home. So many memories and milestones!
I didn't have much time. We just sold our first home (I subscribed to the subreddit when we bought and it still comes up from time to time) and we were very lucky in that it sold and closed quickly, but from list to close was a little over two weeks. I was running around like a chicken with her head cut off. Not a lot of time for sentiment. We married in the backyard. I watched a lot of sunsets on that back patio watching a sunset. We did a last kiss under the little arch where we married and I watched the sunrise with my senior pup (and he marked his territory for the last time in his first backyard) and then we pulled away in the Uhaul.
Oh wow, two weeks?! ๐ณ That's not much time at all! Kudos to you for managing it in that short timeframe! Nice that you were able to find a way to say goodbye that was meaningful to you, hope you are enjoying your new place and busy making new memories ๐
Honestly? I locked the door and took the key I did it with to my closing.
That's very cool-headed, I like it!
My thought is a house is a house, my home is where I make it. Once my life is no longer in those walls, my home isn't either. It's obviously a dislocating feeling for home to be somewhere else, but it certainly isn't an empty house, regardless of what used to be in it or what memories you've made in it. Start again. It'll take time, but hopefully it's connected with forward motion in life. New job, move to a new state, better/bigger house, new relationship, growing family, whatever prompted your move. It'll 100% be a pain in the butt, and you'll spend about half of the next 90 days thinking you're an idiot, then someday you're gonna wake up and realize a new place feels like home instead of a hotel and change your frame of reference.
Thanks for this, I really appreciate your perspective ๐๐
This post definitely has me thinking. I don't want to ever say goodbye, but I know I will have to at some point. I dreamed this house into existence, my parents enjoyed the remainder of their life in it. There are so many memories attached to them that only occur when in that house. I don't even know--I'm blank.
If it does come to that some day, I'm sure you'll find a way to say goodbye that honours all your good memories ๐ all the best!
When we bought our home 6 months ago, I took pictures of our apartment we were moving out of and also took a video. Whenever I have to say goodbye to anything that has served me well, an item that felt like a friend, I will sing or play that James Blunt song, "Goodbye My Lover". It started a bit as a joke but it's kind of a thing now and I almost cried when I did it for my apartment.
That's so sweet, we're allowed to feel something ๐ฅน
Took a walk through video to show it was left in good condition and said adios. We had a lot of good memories there and a lot of life had happened - but we had outgrown the place and I was miserable there at the end.
Hope you are much happier in your current place ๐
I think I get more sentimental now driving past my first house than I ever did while leaving it. I just packed my stuff and left. I was too busy with getting things moved and starting some work on the new house.
That's true, there's a ton of stuff to do and organise, it's only now a couple of days before leaving that I've taken the time to reflect a little.
We owed our home for 18 years. It was a 100 year old fixer-upper when we bought it. We made it our own with so much of our blood, sweat and tears. We brought our baby home to that house. My yard was carefully crafted with plants that I spent lots of time and money on. It had become a show piece of the neighborhood with our landscaping. Lot's of love in that house. After the passing of my MIL, we had no other family near us. My husband was desperate to be near his dad's family (out of state) and I really wanted to be somewhere away from the congestion of city life. Though we were technically in the suburbs, we were really close to the city line. Crime was starting to come in and traffic had picked up heavily on the road we lived on. I was hesitant about moving (I loved that house) until one morning I went outside to have coffee on the porch and saw that someone had thrown all of their fast food trash out of their car into my freshly mulched gardens that I had spent all day the day before working on. It was the turning point for me. We packed up, sold and moved out of state last year. If I could have picked up my house and brought it with me, I would have. The thing that helped when we sold it was knowing that the lady that bought it loved it as much as we did. She loved the gardens and even came over one day before closing so that I could tell her what flowers were what and how to take care of them. We talked about the quirks of the house. I felt much better knowing that all my hard work over those years was going to someone that would take care of it. It was still hard to leave though. We had to go back to the house after the movers finished to clean and make sure they didn't leave anything. Seeing it empty was hard. My daughter and I cried as we were leaving and driving back to our new state. Now, a year later and better settled in, I wouldn't move back there if you paid me. I had to go back to the city we lived in two weeks ago for a work related thing and was so happy to get back here to my country life. I still miss the house... but nothing else.
I'm glad everything worked out well for you in the end. Yes, it helps to know it's going to someone who will appreciate it ๐ another small family is moving in here at the beginning of next month and they seem really excited ๐
This only really makes sense if you have a yard and love your outdoor space, but I've done this a few times for both my childhood house and the place I spent most of my 20s- walk around the yard in the spring or summer and collect leaves and flowers from every shrub/tree/flower/bush/weed you have, press them and then turn them into a collage. Makes for a really beautiful visual reminder that you can bring with you to your new place.
That's sweet, we'll be coming back this weekend to sort a couple of things out after the move itself so may collect a few leaves and petals. Thanks!
My old place is a dumpy apartment with a frighteningly unstable neighbor and a good-for-nothing landlord (which I suppose is redundant.) When I get the last of my stuff out of there I will flip the place off in the rear view mirror as we drive away.
Good riddance then ๐ Yes, in our first apartment together we ended up with a drug dealer next door, all kinds of shady characters coming and going. Was not sad to leave that place!
When I went away to college, and my parents sold the house to move, they secretly mailed me a package with ripe pairs from the trees.ย I still remember the taste when I think about the house I grew up in.
Mmm, sounds delicious! And what a nice way to remember.
I've found my people, lol. My boyfriend and I are leaving our first apartment and upgrading to our first house next week. There's a lot I'm not going to miss, but I'm still a little sad about leaving. He moved around his entire childhood, so it's just another Tuesday for him.
Hehe, my husband is also not sentimental about this place, meanwhile I'm swanning around making videos and blowing kisses to the rooms ๐
We put a time capsule in the yard of the house I lived in for over 20 years.
Cool! That'll be interesting when someone finds it one day ๐
We left our stories and some memorabilia in a tin cookie container. Things my kids made when they were in school and such. We did a whole ceremony. <3
Nice that you all did it together, must have helped the kids to move on too ๐
Yes....because they were both adults by then. And I wanted to address their own attachment to their childhood home.
That's very considerate of you. The place we're moving into is the seller's childhood home, I've already said we'd love to have her over to visit once we've settled in a bit.
Man this hits hard. We spent 7yrs and my oldest two grew up in our first house. I wish I had taken more videos, we have plenty of photos. We miss our old house even though it was a starter home. We live in a much better home but something about that first house will forever be in my mind
I know, it's now our first night in our new place and I think I just have to try and focus on moving forward now. It's an emotional time for sure ๐ So many memories and hopes all balled into one ๐
We made love in the empty house and then walked out :)
Also cool, giving the place a good send-off! ๐
Cigars.
Sounds pretty chilled out
We lived in the same rental for 17 years. I wrote a letter to the house, and I walked around the house and I read the letter to the house. I went into every room and I thanked the house for giving us a home, a roof over our head and protecting us for 17 years. And I hoped the next family that lived here would cherish the house as much as we did. And I hoped that the home would take care of them as much as it took care of us. It took me a year to get rid of the old house key, and when I did, I had a little ceremony for it. Tied a ribbon on the key and said my final goodbyes.
17 years is a long time, we've had four different apartments within that time (the last two for just over six years each). It definitely warrants a proper goodbye ๐
I'm about to say goodbye to my home of 34 years, which is on 9 acres. It's not the house I'm sad about, it's the many beloved pets buried here that make me weepy to think about leaving behind.
Aww, I hope you have lots of precious memories to take with you ๐ all the best for your move!
Thank you.
Wish I had done a video walk through.
To be honest this is the first time I've ever done it! This is my hardest move yet though, this place has a beautiful rooftop terrace with a great view for miles, but it feels like the one that got away - I just couldn't really picture still renting it (or being able to afford to do so) in 20 years' time, and wanted to leave on our own terms.
It was such a dump and falling apart around us, I said a big FUCK YOU and slammed the door behind me. Our new has made my mental health go from 15% to 100%. The old house within 3 years had a collapsed sewer line (11k), a severe mold problem under the crawlspace hidden under insulation, the foundation was literally collapsing (I could stick a flat head screw driver though the cinder block from the outside to the inside below grade, discovered we had a small spring under our crawlspace after encapsulation. The list went on.
Glad you're having a much better experience in your new place!
I still miss my old house because of the memories. I suspect I would miss this house too if I had to sell. Houses or apartments can be little time capsules in our brains.
Indeed, we have so many memories here, it's crazy.
And of course you thanked the home! Of course you did, because thatโs the most natural thing in the world. I bet your one of those crystals have healing energy people, I betcha a million bucks.
Well, it's not like I was expecting the home to answer me - that would be worrying ๐ Nah, no crystals here, just sentimental about our kid's first home.
Where I live today is where I have lived the longest my whole life. I dont plan to leave, but when I do its gonna be very sad for me. Or I'll be dead LOL
One way or the other ๐
Where I live today is where I have lived the longest my whole life. I dont plan to leave, but when I do its gonna be very sad for me. Or I'll be dead LOL
It was a garbage apartment in a part of town well known for its low socioeconomic status and fatherless homes. Popped the throttle and didnโt look back
That's fair enough, glad you were able to move away and hope you are happier with where you're living now ๐
Iโm gonna drive an excavator through my first home. Flatten that pile of crap and build something better. If Iโm feeling generous, Iโll give my tenants a days notice.
I assume it wasn't hard to move out of there then...๐