At my open house yesterday at Clarendon 1021, we had about 35 groups come through. This is a 2 bedroom plus den unit, so you can imagine there was a vast spectrum of people looking at the unit. However, one conversation I kept having over and over again was from couples thinking about having a baby or newly pregnant or newly engaged and thinking about kids down the line.
Having gone through the child rearing process now twice, I have some interesting perspective on when, where and how to move with a kid (or more than 1).
My husband and I were in a 2 bedroom condo when my older son was born. Quickly, I lost my home office to the nursery and we lost our dining room to my office. Baby toys, swings, chairs, blankets, strollers, etc. quickly took over our entire unit (as a side note: baby stuff, no matter how big your house is, somehow makes it everywhere. It just takes over everything.) Once he was mobile (crawling, not walking yet), the place shrunk even more! I had to get out!! We moved out of the condo when he was 10 months old. We had to rent a storage unit to “de-baby” the condo to put it on the market. Dealing with nap time, cleaning up after everyone, specific showings hours, etc. can get to be a lot of stress. Luckily, the transition for him was easy because he was too young to really understand what was going on (and we were crazy enough to paint his new room the same color as it was in the condo). I think the toddler years may be a harder time to move a kid to a new house (I am not a therapist, just a mom who has read too many books.)
So that said…what would I have done differently?
I probably would have moved when I was pregnant, but we weren’t ready to give up Clarendon yet. Nor did I know as a first-time mom how small my condo was going to feel when you work from home and are bound to a baby!
We all do the best we can with the finances we have, so if you’re not able to move or unwilling to move, there’s no rush. Babies don’t know the difference until they want to run around outside for hours (and you want them to too!).
It’s interesting to be an outside and watch as life events help the real estate market. Engagements/weddings, babies, divorce, empty nesters, promotions, and more. Those big life events somehow tend to include moving and new real estate. Some of them are to be celebrated, others mourned, but either way buying and selling can be stressful times, even without a baby! Hire someone to help you through the process who has been there, or who understands what you’re going through!