Welcome to the real White House tour.
Thirteen years ago, Garrett and I lost everything when the market crashed. Garrett owned a large mortgage company, and we held onto it for as long as we could, but ultimately lost everything, fired all of our employees, short-sold our 7000 square-foot home, had our car repossessed, and had to start over.
At the time, we lived in Utah, renting a home for a couple of years, barely able to afford rent. So, we decided to pack up and move to Arizona. Things had gotten so bad that we had to sell all of our furniture in our home in order to afford the move. We started fresh in Arizona, renting a home there for two years to get back on our feet.
This was actually the birth of both of our brands. Garrett launched Wake Up Warrior, and I launched Natural Beaded Row Hair Extensions.
We ultimately knew we wanted to end up in California, but seeing how expensive it is to live here, we took a pit stop in Arizona. After our lease was up in Arizona, we took the plunge and moved to Ladera Ranch, California. This area is about 30 minutes inland. I remember the first year we moved here, we came down to the current neighborhood that you'll see on this home tour.
There was probably only about three homes built. It was a newly developed area and one of the last beachfront areas that you could build on without completely tearing down an old home and starting over. I remember standing, looking at all the open lots, and I told my husband we're going move here. I'm not sure when, but this is where we'll be. So naturally, I started to google and find out pricing, only to find out I was looking at $20-$50 million homes. But I'm a big believer and dreamer, and I think that oftentimes we sell ourselves short thinking we can't have something without actually breaking it down and figuring out how to get there.
The next step was to move closer to the beach, so we actually found a home across the street from our dream neighborhood and rented another home. At this point, we were still working on paying off old debt and repairing our credit. Both of our brands started to take off.
My husband was hesitant to buy a home at this point, but we had been renting for almost seven years. We were making money, and our credit was repaired. I told him if he wants to keep his wife, he needs to buy a home.
I don't know if it was necessarily about the home, but more about the safety and security. and not feeling like we had to move every two years.
So we started entertaining the option of getting a home loan and figuring out where we could move. I still had my sights set on this neighborhood and knew we could figure out a way to get in.
We made the impossible possible!
We did some creative financing, and we were able to buy a home in our dream neighborhood!
But that's not the current home we are in…
There was a house being built two houses down from ours. It was incredible. I like to walk on the beach almost every morning, and as I would walk by this home, I just couldn't help but feel like it was my home.
Halfway through the building of this home, new builders came in and took over the project. They told me it was not for sale, but out of curiosity, I asked if I could still look at the property.
As I walked through this home, it made the current $8 million home that we are in look so much smaller. I thought I had made it, and here I was feeling like the poor kids in the neighborhood. I had a new ceiling and a new dream.
I told my husband that HOUSE would be ours in the next 10 years!
They finally finished the home, and somebody bought it as a second home in 2019, but in 2020 they decided to sell this home. Things were crazy, as we all know, and nobody knew where real estate was going to go. A lot of people were unloading property. So naturally, I was interested in buying this home.
In 2020 when it felt like the world was on hold, and there was so much scarcity, we decided to take a leap of faith and literally everything lined up. We got the house!!
We sold our other one perfect timing. We actually ended up making money on our first house based off the timing of the market. When things that seem impossible, all line up, I believe it’s based on your faith and belief. This home was a gift. When you have faith doors open, you just have to have the courage to walk through them.
So here we are in our dream neighborhood, in our dream home. If you would've told me 13 years ago as I was selling furniture out of my home and getting cars repossessed that this is where I would be, I would've never believed it.
Here’s what I can tell you entertain every possibility. What opportunities are you missing because you assume the doors is closed.
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