I lived in 2 big cities before moving back to my hometown. I can finally afford a home — and I got paid $5,000 to do it.

We were renting in Nashville, and in Atlanta.

We shopped for probably a year in Atlanta. It’s obviously tough right now, with interest rates being what they are, but the price per square foot there is definitely more than double the average here.

We were looking at houses in Atlanta that maybe were 1,000 square feet and were pushing our budget.

In Atlanta, we paid $1,700 a month, which was a really good deal. We actually made a deal with the landlord: I would cut the grass and he shaved off $200. It would’ve been probably 1,000 square feet.

In Columbus, we bought something that’s 2,200 square feet and we’re excited and proud of. Your money just goes significantly further in what you can purchase here.

Our mortgage in Columbus — with insurance and with everything you have to put in escrow — is about $2,500.

If we were to have bought Atlanta, that would’ve been either the same and we would have a smaller house — or it would’ve been more, still with a smaller house.

We wanted to buy a house that we could be in for 10 years — that was our thinking. We couldn’t afford to do that in Atlanta.

The amenities in Columbus bolster the strong community

This is probably silly, but I grew up playing on these really nice clay tennis courts, and one of the memberships included in the program is a year membership to those tennis courts. It’s hard to find really good clay courts and they’re really fun to play on.

There are a ton of benefits, but it’s also the accessibility to things. There’s tons to do in Atlanta and Nashville, but they’re not necessarily accessible and they’re not affordable to live close to here.

We’ve actually run into probably a dozen people who have also moved back to Columbus.

Being close to my family has been really sweet. We lost my grandma in February, and so we’re getting to spend more time with my grandpa who’s here in this time when he’s grieving.

We went to lunch the other day and got ribs, and that’s just something I couldn’t really do as often from afar. I could call and check in, but getting to actually take him somewhere and hearing him open up about his time in the Navy and things like that — just being there for him right now is super important.

And showing the first house that you bought to your grandparents, for some reason, is really great for your self-confidence. It’s just the sweetest experience.

I’m coming back to Columbus as a very different person than I was nine years ago. I’m more forward-looking and have different priorities, and Columbus lines up with us, fortunately.