I have never had a more whirlwind month than this one. I kept a very packed schedule in college, but it was always full of sorority activities, service projects, and schoolwork. Times have changed. Let's take a look by the numbers...
21- showings of our house
2- number of days before we had an offer
1- number of times we had an offer that backed out
14- number of days our house was on the market before we went into contract
5- number of showings AFTER we went into contract (one "second look" after they bought, one radon inspection, one home inspection, one termite inspection, and one radon pick-up)
15- number of days I had to go back to work while trying to keep a meticulous house and be somewhat of a mom/wife/teacher
4- houses we have looked at for ourselves
1- brand new air conditioners purchased when ours broke immediately upon dropping our list price
1- surgery needed for a luxating patella in a toy fox terrier from jumping off a bed when the pizza man arrived
Getting our house ready to sell was not too bad. It is small, and just took a day or two of REALLY deep cleaning, packing up clutter, and a few trips to the storage unit we rented.
Hands-down, one of the most exhausting and annoying things in the entire world was the showings. I think I wrote an entire post about it and I'll stop complaining, but it was a special kind of hell. Those 5 appointments after the purchase were the worst I think, because we thought we were done. And one night, I thought it was the home inspection, so we all left for the 3 hour appointment. And the next night the inspector, buyers, and realtors showed up while Matt was home alone with everyone. Good times.
The home inspection turned up a long list of items that we never knew needed "remedied". Thank God, nothing big. Things like "tacking down flashing around water heater" and a broken spring in a window mechanism. The inspector ordered an additional termite inspection, which made me cry (because...why not?) Amazingly after said inspector noted that he saw "flying termites" in our basement, the actual termite inspector said we were clear and those were drain flies. I truly learn something new every day. For instance, radon...Oh, radon. We get to buy a radon mitigation system for this house as a farewell present. Really, by the time you work in all these fixes, you better have quite a bit of equity in your house to even make it worth the sale! Luckily, we bought when the market was it its lowest and sold at its highest.
As far as finding our own new house, that has been a challenge. Housing inventory is so low right now, so we are having trouble finding something affordable in an area we love. I think we are close. More details (hopefully) soon...
Work has been fine, actually. The kids were excited to have me back and I had such a well-behaved group this year that coming back wasn't as traumatic as I thought. Thankfully, my mom is watching Rhys, so I don't have to worry about him while I'm gone. Report cards are due in a few days, and then we are out for summer!
Next steps??
We close on June 20th on our current home. Right now, the plan is to move into a rental house while we look for a home that fits the bill for us. It may not be the home we stay in for 20 years, but we hope it is close to where we live now, won't strain our budget, and will be a good place for our kids to grow and play for the next few years. If we go in under budget, we have some freedom to do a few wishlist items:
-hire painters
-hire movers
-create Larkyn'd big girl room
-create Rhys' nursery (finally!)
-pay off hospital bills (not fun, I know, but would save us a big monthly payment)
So that is where we stand right now. After I got the news about Zoe's surgery to fix her leg, I had to laugh (not at the expense of my injured dog). Like, what else could I possibly handle? Hopefully we are facing all of this at once because better times are coming. Thanks for all the texts, comments, and words of support. I am excited to share more positive news in the coming months...
21- showings of our house
2- number of days before we had an offer
1- number of times we had an offer that backed out
14- number of days our house was on the market before we went into contract
5- number of showings AFTER we went into contract (one "second look" after they bought, one radon inspection, one home inspection, one termite inspection, and one radon pick-up)
15- number of days I had to go back to work while trying to keep a meticulous house and be somewhat of a mom/wife/teacher
4- houses we have looked at for ourselves
1- brand new air conditioners purchased when ours broke immediately upon dropping our list price
1- surgery needed for a luxating patella in a toy fox terrier from jumping off a bed when the pizza man arrived
Getting our house ready to sell was not too bad. It is small, and just took a day or two of REALLY deep cleaning, packing up clutter, and a few trips to the storage unit we rented.
Hands-down, one of the most exhausting and annoying things in the entire world was the showings. I think I wrote an entire post about it and I'll stop complaining, but it was a special kind of hell. Those 5 appointments after the purchase were the worst I think, because we thought we were done. And one night, I thought it was the home inspection, so we all left for the 3 hour appointment. And the next night the inspector, buyers, and realtors showed up while Matt was home alone with everyone. Good times.
The home inspection turned up a long list of items that we never knew needed "remedied". Thank God, nothing big. Things like "tacking down flashing around water heater" and a broken spring in a window mechanism. The inspector ordered an additional termite inspection, which made me cry (because...why not?) Amazingly after said inspector noted that he saw "flying termites" in our basement, the actual termite inspector said we were clear and those were drain flies. I truly learn something new every day. For instance, radon...Oh, radon. We get to buy a radon mitigation system for this house as a farewell present. Really, by the time you work in all these fixes, you better have quite a bit of equity in your house to even make it worth the sale! Luckily, we bought when the market was it its lowest and sold at its highest.
As far as finding our own new house, that has been a challenge. Housing inventory is so low right now, so we are having trouble finding something affordable in an area we love. I think we are close. More details (hopefully) soon...
Work has been fine, actually. The kids were excited to have me back and I had such a well-behaved group this year that coming back wasn't as traumatic as I thought. Thankfully, my mom is watching Rhys, so I don't have to worry about him while I'm gone. Report cards are due in a few days, and then we are out for summer!
Next steps??
We close on June 20th on our current home. Right now, the plan is to move into a rental house while we look for a home that fits the bill for us. It may not be the home we stay in for 20 years, but we hope it is close to where we live now, won't strain our budget, and will be a good place for our kids to grow and play for the next few years. If we go in under budget, we have some freedom to do a few wishlist items:
-hire painters
-hire movers
-create Larkyn'd big girl room
-create Rhys' nursery (finally!)
-pay off hospital bills (not fun, I know, but would save us a big monthly payment)
So that is where we stand right now. After I got the news about Zoe's surgery to fix her leg, I had to laugh (not at the expense of my injured dog). Like, what else could I possibly handle? Hopefully we are facing all of this at once because better times are coming. Thanks for all the texts, comments, and words of support. I am excited to share more positive news in the coming months...
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