Hannah Morrison

Family, faith, fashion, home design, and lifestyle

Building a Home & Financial Tips

We are just WEEKS away from moving into our new home, and I am over the moon. We close on our current home next week and will prorate rent it from the owners (who happen to also be some of our BFFs hehe) until we get the keys to our new place. To be honest, this transition couldn’t be easier and I know it won’t always be the case if or when we ever move in the future, but dang I am thankful. It’s been so fun walking this building journey together, and I wanted to put the most asked questions here about it for a reference sheet in the future if ever you build.

I wrote about picking your builder and location here a while back. Today I wanted to focus a bit more on the logistics and financial side of it all! Of course, there are many different avenues in which you can buy and build, so do note as you read that this is just one of many. We are buying with an FHA and closing in advance on our current home sell so we don’t have any looming contingency clauses of any kind. Those aren’t bad by any means, but since we could sell to our friends with such flexibility it REALLY made this all so much better. If a seller is flexible, you can ask about a contingency as well for in between buying/selling. Often times, people will do a contingency with 60 days if they  put an offer on a home but need to sell their current one to be able to actually purchase the home. For us, we are stoked that we can pay off our current home loan, have our equity sitting in our account and pull the trigger the moment our builder tells us the home is ready for us to move in.

What did you have to put down? We had to put down 3.5% of the home as our earnest money. Your earnest money is essentially a down payment that you can’t get back if you back out of the build at any point. It’s securing your home and tells the builder you are serious about building. Fully custom builds require more down because it’s more customized and in theory tougher to sell if you were to back out of your contract. Make sense? The best part about it all though is we paid our earnest money (and over 3 months, which we totally didn’t expect the option for!), and instead of having a check written to us at closing of that amount, we are opting for it to transfer to the builder as our down payment. So when you buy an already built home, you need your down payment AND closing costs all at once. But, since we’ve really already paid our downpayment, we’ve had this entire year to put money away for our closing costs *which is far less than the down payment.* You tracking?

How did you save up for the home? We have been on a financial journey for a couple of years, and it’s actually been fun to be honest. I like to say we’ve been doing the Dave Ramsey-ish plan with virtual envelopes. Paul is far more educated on all things Dave Ramsey than I am. But, I took the envelope system and ran with it. You can read about our banking system here. It always has felt odd to me to talk about money, but I genuinely have learned I love it and have enjoyed helping my friends reach their own goals. This post about our banking hack has been one of my most read and asked for posts ever. I believe that says SO MUCH about you and this community – we mean business with our finances! So even though it feels taboo to talk about it, I have learned talking about money is really helpful for us. So, top thing, the banking hack has been HUGE for us. In addition to that, we started paying massive payments toward debt (appliances we’ve purchased/medical bills/cars/etc). This has freed up our monthly income as well as heavily spiking our credit scores. For the first time in my life, I have a credit score over 700 and I feel like I can take on the world hehe. To reach our goals, we’ve been living entirely on one income as best we can for over a year and putting all surplus into our savings.

So… I have a savings… now what? TBH this part is hard for me and where Paul is smarter. If it were up to me, I would keep my savings account untouched and save it for a rainy day. BUT, there are far wiser things to do with it. 

Investments

We have had money off and on in stocks, and it’s been a huge help as we’ve prepared for buying our new home. We basically start with a number and continue to invest that amount, sending the surplus to us as an income. Though we have chosen not to has investments running for a while due to the state of the market/world, we will be starting this back up once we move with some of the money we have saved up. Paul trades with MT Options.

Debt Snowball

Paul has a plan in place for us *with Dave Ramsey* to do what he calls the Debt Snowball. We have really big plans for our savings to put toward debts like paying off cars and school in the next 3-5 years. Ultimately, putting what we’ve saved toward those assets and debts will free us up from monthly payments early in life and be essentially worth more than owe. Two years ago, I would have thought the idea of paying off a car in two years sounded like insanity… now, it’s very digestible to think about when you follow the plan. *But… trust me, I would be lying if I didn’t challenge Paul on it multiple times a week because it DOES feel scary to pay such large amounts* But, honestly, it’s just true… Dave Ramsey is onto something. Our whole life shouldn’t be paying debt… It should feel weird that our society has made it so normal to live in debt and on payment plans.

Our NEXT big goal that I am dreaming about *and I mean dreaming, hehe* is to start property investments! We will see… it’s a very early stage thought. But, my BFF and I have some plans 😉

I hope this helps you navigate your own finances! What are your goals? Write them out and start taking steps TODAY toward them.

Anthropologie Finds

Anthropologie has their newest spring line out, and I am so giddy about it. My goal in the new house is to invest in pieces I LOVE and simplify my kitchen. Toss the random mugs and serveware from college and curate a display for hosting (while keeping my mugs with character still that mean the most to me!) My plates are the cream Levi dinner plates with the Currant shade as the side plate. I mixed in a different line of bowls and mugs for fun and texture. I am all about neutrals with pops of pinks and blues. These three serve boards are stunning and I think pair really well together, though all very different. I love mixing and matching, if you can’t tell. 😉

Shop my top picks below I have in my cart currently for the new home!

Master Bedroom Plans

Inspo Photo: @caraloren

You know, as we have walked through this whole home building process, it’s been oddly tied to our life. Funny how the Lord lines things up to teach us with such intentionality. We’ve been looking at building for over a year. But God knew exactly what would be happening when we would finally say “yes” to the dream. We have watched our builders take a lumpy lot and flatten it to prepare a way for the home. You can’t have the second part without the first. They had to rearrange things and remove rocks to fit in pipes that were then covered under the surface but offer life to the whole home. Then, the concrete was poured and structure was built. Walls have been put in and soon the pretty fixtures I so carefully chose will be installed. We’ve had a front row seat to watching something that was once just a distant dream become a very tangible space we can walk in, slide down the hallway in, and make ourself right at home within.

Building a home has been a spiritual experience. That home we’ve poured our lives into for the last 9 months is woven so intricately with our life. And the concept is so with yours, too. The Lord is sweet to till the ground, relay the foundation, rebuild the walls, and make us beautiful over and over and over. There is no limit. I don’t know about you, but I can recall many times it felt as though I was back to ground 0 and begging for an architect to come in with a masterplan and make me over. Particularly in 2020. At my worst, my ugliest, and my most broken. And then without hesitation, the greatest architect swoops in for work again, clocking in with his tool belt on. Just in the last year alone, I have watched God realign perspective, adjust my heart, and refocus things.

All this to say, I am sharing our master bedroom ideas today. I am so excited about this space. It’s the pretty part. The stuff that comes in after everything seen *and unseen below the surface* is carefully assembled. I am excited to share my vision for the space and hopefully help you cast vision for your own homes as you look to redo, redesign, or maybe you, too, are building entirely from the ground up right now.

As you start your new year, scrolling on Instagram and seeing people share their goals or intentions circled so often around the “pretty stuff”, remember everybody has work they are carefully assembling and assessing within. All the pretty stuff is fun to look at and be inspired by, but don’t compare yourself or your circumstances to somebody else’s pretty stuff that they’re comfortable sharing. And likewise, stop judging people for not sharing “the junk.” I think social media gets a bad wrap sometimes for being a “highlight reel.” And in some ways, it is. But stop calling people out for being too curated or or not “authentic enough” because they aren’t sharing all the messy details on a platform for the whole world to know about. The truth is, not everybody is called to share their junk online for the world to hear about. Let’s let people be themselves without the pressure to share more or stop sharing so much… let’s just be in this together. Yeah?

The Vision:

The vision for our master bedroom is airy, natural wood, and a neutral space for us to build on seasonally and for the years to come. I hope to add white shiplap to the ceiling to make it feel even higher than it is! The process to making over this room will be slow, simply because if I did everything I wanted to all at once… it’d be a bit much haha. I will likely skip the new bed for a bit because I really do love the one we have right now and it’ll go great with our black iron arch door we are having put in for the master bathroom entry. These side tables below are a far more budget friendly version of the ones I initially found at Anthropologie (these). I couldn’t believe the price difference when I found them!

New Kitchen Plans

AHHH! Okay, it’s really hard to say what my FAVORITE room in the new house is… but the kitchen is a top contender. Although, I feel like I am going to say this about every single room when I share it hehe. No doubt, our living room/dining room/kitchen space is going to be where we are majority of the time in the new house. It’s a spacious open concept, but each room will have its own personality and attention give to it. My kitchen is going to be a lot of white for just a clean slate. I feel like kitchens can feel dirty really quickly, so the “cleaner” the design the better my sanity. 😉

I chose skinny white subway tiles with some texture that will be laid herringbone style and a greige grout. I originally was going to do a black grout, but with the countertops we went with, the greige tone just looked really sleek and clean. A few other spaces in the house will have the black/white contrast tile and grout. 😉 Our countertops are a multi-textured quartz. It’s similar to a marble, but way easier upkeep with our on the go lifestyle. And lastly, I am tossing around adding a batten board black finish to the island. (thoughts!?)

I will be pulling in the black metal accents throughout the house with a black metal cabinet that I am really stoked about. I have a rather expensive version and a little less expensive one linked for y’all. I initially thought this would be going in the dining room, but the more I figure out the layout, it seems it will fit best on a blank wall in my kitchen. I am really excited about this, because I can fill it with special dishes and cute cookbooks!

I am not 1000% sure how that wall will work, but it will likely have art to the left of the cabinet and maybe a basket below. And then, I am planning on a tasseled chandelier over the island. I have two ideas, pending what I feel is best once I see the space and sizing. Or, there’s the potential of offsetting a smaller one in front of the pantry a bit more flushed style.

My two inspiration kitchens are seen below:

Cara Loren

Studio McGee

Living Room Inspiration

Y’all, I cannot believe how quickly a home goes up. Once they broke ground, this process has flown by. This home is, in a lot of ways, going to be a complete re-set for our home decor. Mostly because my style has changed pretty drastically over the years. I used to be a full on shabby chic farmhouse style. And… well, that’s basically nonexistent now haha. I am a lot more modern and minimalistic.

The next few months before our move-in date, I will be selling and purging a lot of items. I am basically going Marie Condo and saying if I don’t LOVE it – don’t bring it. We’ve been married nearly 7 years now and slowly have made every space we’ve lived in a little closer to our dream space. (We have moved five times… this will be our sixth home in 7 years.) Meaning, with every move, we’ve ditched a hand me down or two and replaced slowly with ones we love and bought with our own money. If you’re a newlywed- give yourself grace and time! Start small. I always have lived by the philosophy that I would rather spend my money slowly on quality items than on a bunch of cheap stuff that will not age well with us. (This goes for my wardrobe, too!)

For our new home, our living room is the first space I want to make perfect! We have a fireplace at the center with massive windows that extend up both floors. We have an open plan where the upstairs looks down over the downstairs space, and the kitchen and dining room are all connected. It’s a natural lighting dream (praise God… no more yellow-y tan photos inside my home…lol!) Our floors are going to be a very light wood, walls white, and we have black iron accents all over. EEEEK I am drooling just thinking about it. I have a photo below of our inspiration for the living room, and I have linked every item in my cart for this space/what we already own! Instead of a large grey ottoman, I am doing two white poufs to better fit our space. Whether buying or building, or just looking to re-do your current space, I hope this helps you navigate purchases wisely! Remember- quality over quantity. Start with staple pieces, like sofas, and work your way from there in your budget.

The Inspiration:

I included items (like pillows and throws) that are similar but all different price points! The love seat will be a camel colored velvet!

 

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