I'm getting married in December. I say this not to incite praise and high fives (although high fives are always appreciated, no matter the underlying reason), but rather to show (my parents) that I am growing up. My fiancé and I moved in together when I took the position with The Iron Yard at their Durham campus. We rented a rad little loft that reminded me of Brooklyn and we ate tacos out of food trucks and had lavender cayenne ice cream. But, Evan was commuting to his job every day back in Raleigh. So, when TIY decided to open a Raleigh campus it would have been pretty (expletive) of me to not suggest we move back.

Since then, we've been renting a single family home in SW Raleigh by Lake Johnson. It's nice. The neighborhood feels like a community and the lake is lovely. But, being (semi)adults we knew it was time to start looking into first time home buying. Unbeknownst to the daughter of a real estate investment and finance don, I should have bought a house back in 2012 when I had first moved back to the city.

IT IS A SELLER'S MARKET NOW. I get to say that because I googled it and it really actually applies to our situation. Raleigh is booming, and everyone (understandably) wants to move downtown. Prices are ridiculous, and even if you do find something within your price range you better gear up for a bidding war. And it's not like a cool rodeo bidding war. It's a war where you don't know if you've offered enough until someone else gets the home you have already pictured yourself spilling margaritas in.

One day I'm venting my frustration to my real estate investment and finance don of a father, and he drops that he has 13.5 acres...just south of downtown...across from a park...on a lake.

You don't say.

We pull out the survey and take a trip down to the property. It's amazing, albeit a few drawbacks. The lake is serene and small and surrounded by massive poplar, birch and pine trees. My chest expands with the thought that we might be able to develop a small community of lake front houses...or at the very least build a homestead for our family. And I still don't know what I'm doing, or half of what this is going to take. But I know I'm stoked. Stoked enough for this to be my first blog post in two years. That's gotta mean something, right? (she says looking longingly into the sky as doves fly out from behind her).