Move and Modify: Part 1

It wouldn’t be a surprise at this point to reveal that Sean and I are what they call, “visionaries.” Seeing that a visionary is someone with original ideas about what the future for them could look like, it would make perfect sense that one of our favorite past times together is going for a walk and talking about our step by step approach to achieving a current goal. We have lists, game plans, and strategies to make a professional football team seem unprepared. Along with successful plans, we have crumpled up notebook papers filled with the ghost of expectations past that were once geared toward the future.

Hang around Sean and I long enough and you will hear one of us say, “Move and Modify” at least once. We first heard this phrase after talking to a mentor of Sean’s about married life when he and I were engaged. Sean’s mentor told us that life and marriage is incredibly and beautifully unexpected. Their family’s name of the game was to make plans but prepare to move and modify if or when the time came. We took this to heart immediately. We occasionally modify and tweak our plans and expectations toward achieving goals because, one, life is crazy and changing and, two, we have to be crazy and change with it. As much as we are decisive, we change our minds all the time. 

I should also mention, we’re wrong a lot. Yup, we’ve said it before and we will most definitely continue to say it again and again. We screw up multiple times on a daily basis. I think I understand why gambling is so enticing. The possibility of scoring big is the incentive behind the desire to continue to play. But losing is painfully inevitable. Yet, we keep on playing. Gamblers keep playing and enjoy the process of not knowing what will happen next. Essentially, losing with the possibility of winning can be addicting. Sometimes, Sean and I gamble in life with the knowledge that losing is scarily prominent. Amid the fact of life’s ups and downs, I like to think that we are stacking the odds a little more in our favor. We’re stacking hustle, research, resilience, experiences, and passion on our side. We have measurable goals, check boxes to mark, and professional's’ minds to pick. As long as you’re open to change, meet your goals, check in often, and most importantly, expect you will be very often inevitably and terribly wrong, moving and modifying plans and expectations will become second nature, I promise. 

Here are some of the long term goals that Sean and I have laid out for our business and life. With some grit and accountability, we hope to check off every one of these boxes. I want to reiterate that these goals are “live:” meaning that if we need to move and modify them then we will. They may grow and change as we grow and change on this journey but here’s the first of some of the dreams we have and how we plan to reach them.

Lago Mar House: A Possible Forever Home

We currently live in an amazing neighborhood in Virginia Beach containing a fun mixture of older and newer homes. The different houses range from smaller 1700 square feet ramblers like ours to over 2,500 square foot two story homes. We have a plan to live in our “Project Homebase” house for approximately 2-7 years. The goal is a minimum of 2 years for the sake of avoiding Capital Gains tax. If we stay longer than 5 years, we will have put enough equity into the house to be able to have a very nice down payment on our future forever home. When our house is complete, we will have put roughly 20-25k in renovations into the property. We bought Brigstock for 289k and the average/higher end comps for the neighbor are 350k - mid 400s depending the street. After 25k in renovations, we will be all in at 314k. If the market stays the same (or hopefully rises) and if we can sell for 350k or higher, we will profit hopefully over 20k and also receive the money back that we’ve put into the home. With the profit and our funds back, we will be in a very comfortable place putting down a down payment on a Lago Mar home.

Lago Mar is the name of the neighborhood in Virginia Beach that boarders ours. This enchanting location is an absolute diamond in the rough. First off, the houses are huge and most of them are spread apart allowing for space and privacy. The trees have to be several generations old and encapsulate the streets that run through the area. My oldest son fondly calls it, “The deep dark woods.” The homes benefit from having neighborhood community but also enjoy the privacy of forest views and larger backyards. Most have pools, in-law suits above the garages, outdoor fireplaces, and stunning curb appeal. My absolutely favorite thing about Lago Mar is the diversity and character filled homes. Not one is like the others. And not one is cheap, too. Down the main road of Lago Mar, there are old Colonials, extra large Victorians, Mid Century Mansions, huge brick ramblers, and brand new construction houses. These residents are well established and take pride in their community. Our family, God-willing, will be blessed beyond belief to grow up in such a gorgeous and unique neighborhood filled with charm and personality. 

We haven't really decided fully if we will sell our “Project Homebase” house. The houses rent in our neighborhood for pretty high meaning that to BRRRR (buy, renovate, rent, refinance, repeat) the property could be extremely lucrative. The trade off? Not have all of the money and equity back from purchasing the house because we’d keep it. We wouldn’t be able to have a downpayment for a Lago Mar house that would be double the size of the one we live in currently. The last option would be to squeeze 3 more years out of the house after living in it 7 years to make it to a total of 10 years in this house. The 3 extra years would allow us to be more intentional about saving up from our flips and BRRRR’s to be ready to place a nice down payment on our forever home. 

They say slow and steady wins the race, but one of my biggest flaws is my impatience. It would take no effort at all to picture several squabbling little voices becoming very fed up with a tiny 1700 square foot home way before a 10 year timeline is up. But with a little shot of positivity, I am capable of changing the channel to the melodious sounds of giggles and bonding obtained only from little people sharing close quarters for the first 10 years of their lives. Sean threw out the other day too that we could possibly add a second floor to our house! Lot’s more on that later.

Either way, our life is blessed beyond belief and I can’t complain in the least for the life we’ve been given and the world around us for which we had no part in creating. In part 2, I will be talking about two other dreams Team Wayne has for the future. I guess we’ll find out together how it all turns out.

Ann | DESIGN