We Bought a Condo: Keeping up with the Westerlinds

Four walls, a lot of love & the place we now call home.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a life update — and after a year-long search, countless weekends spent touring homes across the tri-state area, 10 rejected offers (no exaggeration) and many tears later, we bought a condo! Here’s a quick recap to get you up to speed :)

Covid was a blessing & a curse as we entered the housing market at one of the highest demand times. Richie & I gave up our lease in Weehawken, packed our bags and headed South for Florida — crossing our fingers + toes that every penny saved would help us beat our competition! We spent 6 months living between both of our parents’ homes before Richie was called back to his NYC office in June 2021. Without a home of our own to return to, we were fortunate to have family on Long Island offer a room as a temporary retreat. For the next 6 months my free time during the week was used to map out home tour schedules for the weekends. We frequented NY, NJ & CT open houses like it was our second job and Realator.com alerts pinged my phone at all hours.

A 4/3 with a white kitchen and lush, spacious backyard for Jake was all our hearts wanted. God had other plans.

One night after countless heartbreak, the idea of owning something a little smaller and more ‘short-term’ popped into my head. We reconsidered our needs and agreed to downsize our search. Suddenly the idea of a town home or condo on the Hudson river sounded much better than the sacrifice of a two-hour commute we’d have in exchange for everything on our wish list. That next weekend we had our suburb realtor get us in-touch with someone who could better assist us closer to NYC. Three units sparked our interest - the first we toured eventually becoming the place we’d call home.

Life’s interesting like that. The smallest change in thinking on our end unexpectedly opened the door to our next chapter.

If you’re searching for a home of your own, here’s my advice: trust in the process — you never know what blessings may come from an unaccepted offer! We may not have our dream kitchen or Jake’s perfect backyard, but it’s all ours & I couldn’t be more grateful to call it our home. One day, we know we’ll have our dream home but until then, we’ll love every minute we have here.

Wishing you the very best of luck + patience on your journey!

XO, Nicole