Two Houses.
Two Families.
One Home Now.
Jenna bought her own home in South Fargo while she and Mitch took things slow. Two years, four kids, and one blended family later, she sold it and moved into his, right down the road from a lake house of their own.
Buyer + Seller Story — South Fargo, ND
How It All Came Together
On Purpose Bought solo while she and Mitch took the relationship slow
Under One Roof Two blended families becoming one, room by room
Again “Wholeheartedly the right decision,” looking back two years later
Circle Sold the transition home, moved into Mitch’s, and added a lake camper together
A note from EricI’ve known Jenna a long time (almost 15 years), since I did the inspection on her first house near NDSU, back when she was 21. So when she came around two years ago, it didn’t feel like a new client. It felt like picking up where we left off.
This time, she and Mitch were building something together, just not all at once. They’d been dating about a year, both freshly out of previous marriages, both with kids, and neither of them was ready to merge two households before the timing was right. So instead of waiting it out in an apartment, Jenna bought her own place in South Fargo: her house, on her terms, while the relationship caught up.
Two years later, with four kids between them and a lot of practice being a team, she sold that house, and she and Mitch moved everyone into his place together. Here’s how two houses eventually became one family.
Two Houses, By Design
Jenna and Mitch had only been together about a year when she started house hunting. They knew where things were headed, but with kids involved on both sides, and only about six months of the kids actually spending time together, moving in together wasn’t the move yet.
So instead of staying in her apartment, Jenna ran the numbers. A whole house, with a yard, for not much more than rent.
“For a couple hundred dollars more on my end, I got a whole house versus an apartment. I thought about the money piece, the yard, all of it, and figured we’d figure it out. And we did.”
— JennaMitch, meanwhile, was doing the math from the other side and what it actually looks like when two people with two houses start building a life together.
“I didn’t think about two monthly mortgages, all the upkeep. Hey, we both have to snowblow. We both have to mow the lawn. Do we have eggs at your house or mine? Now all of a sudden we have three dozen eggs at my house and zero at hers.”
— MitchThe House She Almost Didn’t See
Before she ever moved into the house she called home for two years (and just recently sold), Jenna almost skipped the showing entirely. I'd sent her a few homes to look at, and she picked two she wanted to tour. There was a third one I thought she should see too, this one, but she said no. Why? Two words: boiler system.
“I was envisioning the old-school boilers you get in elementary schools. The ones that are so loud and obnoxious. I knew nothing about a boiler system. And the mini-splits, I’d only ever had central air or wall units. I thought it’d be the same.”
— JennaEric talked her into seeing it anyway, alongside the two homes she’d already picked out. When she walked in, she was pleasantly surprised that the pictures hadn’t oversold it. “The pictures were truthful,” she says. “It looked just how they did, and it was very well kept. You could tell the home had been loved.”
And the system she’d been dreading? Two years living in that same house, zero complaints.
“I never had a night in that house where I thought, oh my gosh, this is miserable, the mini-splits aren’t keeping up. They did a nice job.”
— JennaWhat the Yard Gave Her
After apartment living, the biggest thing on Jenna’s list wasn’t square footage. It was outdoor space. Going from a big yard to an apartment with nowhere safe for the kids to just be kids on their own had been a hard transition, and she wasn’t doing it again.
What she didn’t expect was what came with it: neighbors who became family.
“Gary and Nancy, the people to the north, at this point they’re kind of like extended family. I never worried about the kids being outside, even in the front, just knowing we had good neighbors like that.”
— JennaGrowing Into One Family
With four kids between two households, the two years weren’t always smooth. Whenever everyone was together, bedrooms and floor space got negotiated, sometimes loudly.
“We had to share bedrooms, share floors, share everything. It was fights to laughter to ‘I want to sleep in that bed’ — ‘No, I called it first.’ But the kids came a long way.”
— Mitch“That’s one thing we’ve pushed with the kids since day one,” Jenna adds. “We are all a team. If one member is being a jerk and not getting in line, it affects everybody.” Now, in Mitch’s house, every kid finally has their own room, and the team gets to just be a family.
100%, Wholeheartedly
Owning the house for less than two years, I had to ask Jenna the obvious question: looking back, was it the right call?
“100%. Wholeheartedly. I wish the previous owners would’ve sold it sooner, and I wish I would’ve been ready to buy sooner, so we could’ve had more time there.”
— JennaAsked what she’ll miss most, she didn’t hesitate: “The yard and the fence. The fact that the kids are contained.”
The Next Chapter
There’s a full-circle piece to this story. Mitch had just closed on his own house right as he and Jenna started dating. In fact, he was living out of a camper in a campground when they met.
“On our first date, I pulled into the campground, and he walked out of the camper, and the whole thing shifted. I thought, I may have made a mistake.”
— JennaNow that camper has a new job: family lake life. This summer, Jenna and Mitch added a spot at Star Lake, and all four kids have already spent nights there together. Two houses, four kids, and now one family, together in one place, with a second place to gather at the lake.
What They’d Tell Someone Starting Where They Started
Jenna’s advice starts with the practical: “Always go with a bigger garage, or outdoor storage.” Then it gets to the part that matters more: patience, and knowing your hard nos.
“Be patient. Trust the process. Work with someone you’re comfortable with, and give them your hard nos. They’ll respect that.”
— JennaAnd Mitch’s take, looking back at two years in a house neither of them expected to keep forever:
“Those two years instead of an apartment were worth it. If somebody’s looking for something, take the jump. Do it.”
— MitchReady to Write Your Story?
Whether you’re buying a forever home or just the right next step, let’s talk through what the right process looks like for you.
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