Author

Shalice Noel

As you’ve seen on my social media, we are going through a housing transition in our family, again.  I want to share our experiences in the housing market.  Buying and selling.  How to work with realtors and how to make a final housing decision

We decided to strategically sell our last home for a number of reasons.  A major one was, Reid had a job offer back in California.  We also seem to sell after every kitchen renovation.  We do this because we feel our home has the most value while the newly remodeled kitchen is fresher.  For some reason, we deny ourselves the beauty of living in a new kitchen.  As designers, we love a new project.  We also felt the timing of our sale would be ideal late summer.

We listed our house in August and priced it competitively.  It seemed like the house was on the market for a while and we were extremely discouraged knowing all the work we had poured into it.  We did one price drop and finally got some better offers.  Ironically, many of the people interested in the house were from California.  We finally went under contract, but did not have another house for us to purchase at the time.  This was panic time.

Buying and selling is unavoidably stressful, so do not do it as often as we do.  We felt that we could not buy a home until ours closed, just in case something fell through in the contract.  At this time, we were planning on moving back to California and house buying is difficult and contingencies are not ideal for a buyer’s offer.  Therefore, we had our hands tied until our home closed. 

Once we closed, we made a house hunting trip to California, with the entire family.  The kids were grieving their friends in Georgia and I had a gut feeling of hesitation.  My gut is usually what we go with.  In summary, we could not find a desirable house in California for the right price, size or condition.  It was gut wrenching.  One house that Reid loved and would have made for great content had a squatter living in it.  Could you imagine?  The kids revolted and my gut finally said, that’s it.   We decided to pivot back to Georgia and Reid would work remote.

Fortunately, we were able to stay with family and neighbors for a couple weeks and then Florida, while we searched.  We focused our house hunt within a 20 minutes radius of our church.

What have we learned about making a final decision on a home purchase?  Here are five tips we’ve experienced.

1)     Location is always everything.

2)    Know the value of the home and don’t get emotional.  (Study the recently sold listings to get a sense of fair values.  We will go back to old listings that we put offers on or were interested in to learn that the homes sold for exactly what we thought.  The realtor will try and get you to pay the most you are willing to pay to secure the deal in their best interest, but you need to be confident that you are the market and you know what you are willing to pay for.  Remember, you are the ones making the payments, not the realtors.)

3)    As designers, it’s easy to think of ways you can change a home, but consider cost of labor and materials.

4)    You will not find everything you are looking for, so don’t expect it.

5)    Date the rate, but marry the house.  We were overly concerned about changing interest rates until someone shared this with us:  We felt rushed buying a certain home, knowing the interest rates would rise the next day.  This was a bad mistake because we didn’t really love the home or the value we were getting.  Therefore, remember this saying:  Date the interest rate, but marry the house.  Interest rates throughout financial history have gone up and down, typically in a 3 to 7 years cycle.

While looking for homes, we were always disappointed in something about the house.  We ended up finding a listing that was at the framing stage and ready for the new owners to select finishes and we jumped on it. More on our new home later and our experience with new construction.  This is all new to us, so stay tuned!

Xo

Shalice

Boxing day sales

by Shalice Noel

We’re staying in today, picking interior paint colors for the new house, cleaning pine needles from our dead tree, and texting family members. How’s your boxing day going? Some retailers are boasting 70% off! I linked some of my favorites below:

Alo yoga

Amazon

Anthropologie

Etsy

J.Crew use code BIGGERSALE

lululemon

Nordstrom

Mango

Modere

Madewell

Target

Varley

Odessa jeans – size up! // Boots tts in “chestnut // Chestnut faux shearling jacket XS

Black faux shearling jacket xs // Spanx in small // Shopshalicenoel modal tee in xs

Faux shearling jacket in XS // Natalie knit in Small // Spanx in size small

Sequin top // Jeans size up! // Jersey dress $35! Woody Chloe flats // Valentino belt shown in size 80 (fits like a size 4)

Knit sweater in small in taupe gray // Spanx in size small // Satin skirt // Chunky knit cardigan // Woody flats

I on occasion will go to H&M new arrivals and go crazy. Well, I’m being dramatic, but you get the idea.

Here’s 4 finds under $50 that I was pleasantly surprised by: this knit, black dress and sparkle top. Which is your favorite?

No one does luxe layers like Varley. I’ve been wearing Varley for a couple years, and have always loved their workout looks from chic sports bras, to incredibly chic fleeces. They continue to innovate luxury layers that I cannot seem to live without. As we’re in between houses, I made sure to include my favorite Varley track pants and coordinating zip ups in my “only the essentials” duffle. I’ve been living in their joggers and zip ups here in Florida. Afterall, cozy clothes don’t have to be frumpy. Move over crop leggings, meet the joggers, knit zip up and jacket of dreams. Tell me your favorites and shop them all below.

Outfit 1

Rib beanie // Natalia half Zip // Quilted Coat // Sweat Pants (wearing small in desert sand)

Outfit 2

Side Zip Pants // Knit half zip in small “taupe gray” // Belt bag (wearing a small in all pieces)

Accessories: Spencer socks

Thank you Varley for sponsoring this post! All opinions are my own.

Skirt in small // Boots (size up) // Belt // Oversized cardigan // Turtleneck // Fendi strap or HERE // Meadow Satchel (trapunto monogram) // Sunglasses //

I turn 40 and I still can’t believe it! There’s a lot of trial and error that Reid and I have been though. I rounded up some things I’ve learned over the years.

Don’t take things too personally

Use face tape (shalice25 for 25% off at checkout!)

Do the research

Be kind

Work hard

Your husband is your partner in life. Picture both of you in a potato sack, trying to win a potato sack race. You gotta work together.

Take care of yourself: drink daily, eat well, sleep enough

Don’t confuse care with control.

You don’t owe anyone anything.

Serve God first.

Don’t people please, it isn’t genuine.

Wear arch support shoes daily. (these use code shalice10 and these for home are faves)

Listen to life giving words and give life giving words. It’s healthy.

You don’t have to have it all figured out. Take one day at a time.

Have a lovely weekend!

xx

Shalice

Pet gift guide

by Shalice Noel

My kids love giving gifts to sweet Lucca. He’s age two in March, can you believe? My kids love showering our Mini Goldendoodle with toys! Here’s some of our personal picks. Which are your favorites?

1 Custom pet portrait

2 Squirrel Toy

3 OLLIE food use code SHALICE for 50% off your first box

4 Goliath bone

5 Faux fur pet bed- SO SOFT

6 Dog bowl

7 Dog food mat

8 Flag dog collar

How to hang mini wreaths

by Shalice Noel

Mini wreaths from Trader Joes Similar here and here // Commando hooks // Gas lanterns // Cardigan in small // Modal Tee (in XS) // Joggers //

I like to keep holiday decorating cheap and simple to avoid distraction from the real meaning of Christmas. Wreaths are a great way to add Christmas character to your home but can be expensive. I chose these small scale candle wreaths from Trader Joes and they fit perfectly on our french doors. The wreaths were $9.99 and were able to buy one for each door for a great balance to our front porch. We used 3M command hooks to stick to the door. The wreaths don’t weigh much, so any size hooks should do. The hooks hold up to 3 pounds. I want to avoid permanently damaging our wood doors, so the hooks are a great find. Some people have complained the hooks don’t stick in humid climates, but so far so good for us in Florida.

I also plan to place dwarf evergreen trees in our planters and add some exterior string lights. The front porch decorating budget was $100. See what you can come up with this season and show me!

Happy Cyber Monday! Who doesn’t love shopping from home in their pj’s? I love picking up some early Christmas gifts and home items like pendants and house slides. What did you score today?

Modere – Cyber Monday 10% off sitewide- free shipping!

Puffer vest

Golden goose sneakers lowest I’ve found 

40% off my Sherpa slides code CYBER 

Eames chair – I love in black and wood

25% off my tee no code. TIP: Size down

lululemon skirt 

Frame tv

Puffer jacket

Belt bag

ANTHROPOLOGIE

JCREW

SSENSE

CB2

LULU & GEORGIA

AMAZON (linked my amazon page)

What I’m wearing:

ANTHROPOLOGIE

ETSY

lululemon

REVOLVE (check out these Levi’s under $100)

SHOPBOP

ShopShaliceNoel

JUST INGREDIENTS (I buy our tooth powder from here)

LULU & GEORGIA (Love their pleated pendants)

MODERE (Black Friday shop their winter wellness kit with my favorite LIFE collagen)

SAKS OFF 5TH

WALMART (I love their Free Assembly and Scoop lines)

What did you end up getting?