(Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post) 
 
 Looks like former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama are putting down deeper roots in Washington: After renting a Kalorama home for their post-White House stint, the couple have purchased the eight-bedroom, nine-and-a-half-bath home for $8.1 million, according to property records. In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, spokesperson Kevin Lewis explained: “Given that President and Mrs. Obama will be in Washington for at least another two and a half years, it made sense for them to buy a home rather than continuing to rent property.” 
 
 The Obamas have said they plan to remain in the capital while their 15-year-old daughter Sasha finishes high school at Sidwell Friends in Washington. After leaving the executive mansion in January, the family settled into a rental home owned by Bill Clinton press secretary Joe Lockhart and his wife, Giovanna Gray Lockhart, an 8,200-square-foot home that was built in 1921 and renovated in 2011. The Obamas have called the swanky Washington neighborhood (where neighbors include Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner) their home, but it’s really functioned more like a home base for the globe-trotting family.
– It's not the White House, but Barack and Michelle Obama clearly aren't too disappointed with their new Washington, DC, home: After renting it for several months, they've opted to buy it, reports People. The Obamas purchased the 8,200-square-foot home in the Kalorama neighborhood this week for $8.1 million, snatching it up from NFL executive Joe Lockhart, who bought it for $5.3 million in 2014, reports the Washington Post. Since the family plans to stay in Washington until Sasha, 15, finishes high school, "it made sense for them to buy a home rather than continuing to rent property," a rep says.