In my first post of 2014 I talked about a big change that was waiting around the corner for the Purple family. Now as we enter March, and spring creeps alongside winter spreading daffodils and sunshine, the change is getting closer. Last week it became official, as we exchanged contracts on our very first home of our own!

In our 15 years together Purple Dad and I have rented, six places in total. Around the time that Super Kid was born I started wondering about whether it was, perhaps, time to do the big grown up thing by buying a house. Then I investigated and discovered that in order to buy a house you need a mortgage, and getting a mortgage appeared to be as elusive as securing a place on the first tourist flight to the moon. As a stay at home Mum married to a juggler and stilt walker, during the economic crash,  strangely, it looked unlikely that we would ever be able to buy. So we resolved to rent,  try not to worry about it, and that was that.

Until last October when we received the horrible news that our landlady had decided to sell our beloved home of the last four years. With Purple Dad having retrained and now a hard working electrician we decided to have a word with a mortgage bloke, to see if we could possibly buy our home. Turns out that, oddly enough, as first time buyers we would be unable to buy a £300,000 house. I know, right, who would have thought it?

However, rather encouragingly, and with some massive help from various family members (we love you guys) it looked like we might be able to buy something. Buying a house seemed like the best plan, considering rising rental prices and wanting to secure a home for the children, so I developed a Right Move habit.

Strangely there didn’t seem to be much for sale, and definitely nothing we could afford in our immediate area. Firstly we’d decided to buy in a sellers market with estate agents struggling to find enough stock. Secondly we’ve been renting in a fairly desirable area, which we can’t afford.

Then a house appeared, within our price range, and only around 15 mins walk from our desired location. A compromise. A blessing. We tried to offer on it before we’d seen it, it seemed so much like an oasis in the desert. A house the right size for our family, with a nice sized garden. The location isn’t particularly great but I have a car, and we can drive to wherever we want. In a joyous moment our offer was accepted, and we sighed a big sigh of relief.

Then four months passed by. The vendor had to find a house, survey led to negotiation, solicitors had to eat cake, grass had to grow, paint had to dry blah blah blah. Finally last week exchange! With completion planned for Friday, we will have the keys to our very own front door, a home for the Purple family to make our own, love and appreciate because honestly getting here feels like a small miracle.

The view from the fields behind our new home.