Relocating Across the Country

 If you’re reading this blog, I’m sure you never imagined in a million years that you’d relocate across the US. Nowadays, politics, finances and social changes have urged you to find a place you can grow together in a safe, comfortable lifestyle for your family. That’s what brought my husband, daughter and I across county. 

Almost a year after relocating, I’ve compiled a timeline and list of tasks we completed to relocate across the country within a 4 month period. Most of that time was renovating/selling our home so we would have cash to put a down payment on, since the real estate market is insane (March 2021). 

Here is our timeline for our move and how we relocated from our childhood neighborhood in California to Tennessee: 

November 2020 (week of Thanksgiving)- Met with our realtor to discuss relocating options (find a TN realtor to help us relocate, discuss budget, find a local mortgage lender to new area, etc.) and what renovations needed to be completed before we put our house on the market.  

December 2020 (day after Christmas)- Flew to TN. Rented a car and drove around the entire Middle TN for 2 full days to see what city we wanted to be in. Our TN realtor that our CA realtor found for us gave us a list of cities that had homes in our budget, so those are the cuties we drove around (which were all over Middle TN). 

January (end of month) 2021- Listed our home in California for sale on a Thursday. Showings were the following weekend (Friday - Sunday) and we accepted an offer the following Tuesday. 

February (end of month) 2021- Moved most of our belongings out of our home into a 28” enclosed trailer and the remainder was packed in our truck that was being driven across country with a car on a Dolly. 

March 8th, 2021- Drove truck, & car Dolly across country (3.5 days on the I-40) to Franklin, TN where our furnished apartment we short term rented was. Note- we found our furnished apartment through AirBnB, but had a rental contract directly with the owner and not AirBnB. Also, I flew out a couple weeks after my husband drove out here with our daughter and Mother-in-law. 

March 12, 2021- Drove around Middle TN with realtor to different properties for sale. Found and home we wanted and put an offer in ($13k over asking, “as-is”). The next day, the sellers accepted our offer. 

March 17th-19th, 2021- Pest Inspection and Homeowners inspection completed. 

March 31, 2021- Final walkthrough and signed closing documents for home. 🔑 Ordered appliances and internet/cable to be installed within the week. Note- we spent Easter in our AirBnB since we didn’t have internet or appliances (refrigerator or washer/dryer).

April 10, 2021- Moved out of AirBnB apartment into our new home. 

April 12-15th, 2021- Family drove out the 28ft trailer with our belongings. They arrived, we unloaded and they left the next morning (turn around trip). 

Thereafter- Settle into new house. Purchase furniture (most of which took months to receive), get acquainted with our surroundings, find a Moms Club for support (since we moved away from family and friends) and live happily ever after!! 

And just like that… majority of the environmental stress you’ve encountered your entire life disappears. Affordability isn’t folklore anymore. Your families needs are always first because they CAN be! I won’t lie and say it’s an easy task. It’s extremely intimidating, stressful and emotional when relocating away from everything you know. But once you’ve made the move and find your support system (friends, neighbors, coworkers, etc.), it gets easier everyday and you feel grateful for the growing pains you were put through. Trust me… it’s about the journey! - Julie