Home Sweet Hannah

Here come the tears.

While my first property purchase was mainly motivated by a desire for freedom and independence in young adulthood, the story behind my second purchase isn't quite as sweet.

A little over a month after I had my long-awaited housewarming party and days after my 26th birthday, we got the news that my dad was terminally ill. Long, sad story short: I spent the following 10 months submerged in anticipatory grief and the two months after that faced with actual grief when my dad passed. As I went through the usual motions that any relative or loved one experiences in a situation like this, there was also colossal pressure sitting on my shoulders: as my family approached what could have been my dad's final moments, I didn't want the pressure of finances and housing to weigh on top of the unimaginable emotional toll that illness and death can bring for my parents.

So about a year ago I set a plan in motion to leverage the equity in my first home to buy a home where my parents could enjoy retirement and focus on making what could have been my dad's final moments on Earth as carefree as possible. Unfortunately, he passed before we were able to make it there, but I'm so grateful to type this today inside the home that I bought for my parents, even if one is now looking on from afar.

The day I received the keys was incredibly bittersweet, but it was also the day that I found the motivation again to get back behind my keyboard and share my stories to encourage others. This blog is to help anyone who may need it, but it's also in honor of my dad who helped me to get to this stage in the first place. When he helped me to build my first home, he also helped to lay the foundation for the rest of my life which eventually brought comfort to his life when he needed it the most.

I share this story not just because I'm a yap-aholic and should probably be sharing this with a grief therapist instead of real estate enthusiasts, but I see this is a lesson in being proactive: if I didn't take the first step onto that property ladder at 22, I wouldn't be in the position to help my mom, grandmother, and my own future family with this second property purchase. I hope that this can encourage anyone who may still be on the fence of homeownership to start taking those steps forward; you never know where life may lead you, or the people who may someday depend on you. Be sure to build a home for yourself to take comfort and seek refuge in, no matter what life throws at you.