Many of you know that we have been working on relocating back to the Pacific Northwest, and that this project has been going on since July. That is when I finally received word from my company that they had authorized me to work remotely. Conditions on this included the requirement that I have a home to move into, with a dedicated office from which to work. Until then where I resided here in Indianapolis wasnt relevant, as I would continue to go into the office to work. Reasonable requirement, and easy to satisfy, right? Yeah, well, maybe. The project really kicked into gear in August, when our Indianapolis Realtor brought to our home a Stager who proceeded to tell us that everything had to go. Less is best was her mantra. The buyer must be able to visualize their own belongings in the space, and they cant do that if your belongings (and knickknacks and clutter) are filling up the space. So, that was our task - reduce, remove, recycle, donate, toss and sell as much stuff as possible to make the house presentable to a prospective buyer. At this time we still had our lovely Summer Girls with us, so we couldnt dive in too much. We also had vacation ahead of us, in Portland for Wess High School Reunion. However, in September the real work began. I think there were 14 trips to Goodwill to donate and at least a dozen to the local transfer station to throw things away. Some things were simply put into boxes and stuffed up into the attic. Professional house cleaners were brought in twice. Contractors were hired to repair some issues that we knew of, and we figured it was best to fix them ahead of time than to have them show up on an inspectors report. Finally, the house was ready to list! On September 22nd the sign went in the yard, the lock box was placed on the front door, and we had our first showing. The next Saturday, the 26th, we had our second showing, and an offer! After the standard negotiation, we had an agreement and a buyer! Plus, we had time, as the buyer didnt want to close until November 10th. Phew! Breathing room, now I can relax. NOT! The next phase of the project involved arranging...containers to move all the stuff we had left (yes, there was plenty, in spite of Goodwill and the trash dump taking so much). Transports for the three cars, no wait, two cars cuz we could sell my Mustang to pay for the transport for the other two cars. No, that wont work, because my Mustang wasnt running, and we wouldnt get much for her. Better to transport her, but first gotta get her running or it will cost more to transport. Boxes, and more boxes. The guest room emptied, nearly, and everything in boxes. Boxes filling up the living room. Oh, thats right, there are all of those boxes and whatnot still up in the attic. Spend the evening trying to move everything out of the attic, and realize its just too much job for the two of us. More arranging, this time trying to find someone anyone who could come in and finish this packing. Warning to anyone who is considering this option, it is.not.cheap! Our guy charged $35/man hour, and sent two men, so it was $70/hour. Oh, thats right, we needed a place to move all that stuff into! Requirement number one to relocate job to a remote location...find a home with office space. So, off I fly to Portland, and I spent a week working with Stacee touring homes and scouring websites looking for just the right types of homes in our price range (she will probably never, ever, ever again take on a client that Beau Weidman sends to her, but I am so grateful she is working with us, she is doing a fabulous job, in a very unusual situation). We searched and toured and rejected so many homes that week. Finally, we toured a home in Battle Ground. Fair home, was supposed to be remodeled, but the person selling it had left holes in the siding on the front of the home, the hot water heater was as old as the house, and the shower heads were old and corroded. I felt that for the asking price the home should have been a little more pristine, so we rejected that one and went to the very last home on the list. I was also running out of time as I had to fly back to Indy that night...red-eye style. This home was a nice home with no visible defects, and we made an offer on it. However, after we made the offer, several things like location, an apartment complex across a busy street and a really tiny yard were deemed unacceptable, so we decided to not pursue that house when the seller made a counter offer. That left us with the previous house. The one we have been working on trying to buy since October. Holes in the siding, the old hot water heater, painted-not replaced-cupboards in the kitchen, a badly repaired hole in the wall behind one of the bedroom doors. All pretty superficial and easily fixed, if a bit spendy for some of it. Inspection uncovered some other items, like wood rot in the man door leading from the garage to the outdoors, mold in the attic and water laying around the crawl space. So, as with any real estate deal, the negotiating started between us and the seller. Agreement was reached on what he would fix. And we wait, and wait, and wait, expecting that the seller would do the right thing and get it all taken care of. When we thought the repairs were finished or at least close enough, our inspector was brought in for a review of everything. Several items failed the re-inspection. Back to the seller, back to negotiating. Suffice it to say that while we are not completely happy with how this has worked out, we have reached the signing point in the deal, and most of the repairs that were requested will get done. On Monday, Wes will be going to sign all of the documents. Me? I am still here in Indy, in a hotel room, with a cat. Waiting for us to own a home so I can move. The Escrow Officer has a POA from me, authorizing Wes to initial and sign for me. So, long story finally wrapped up...if all goes well this week, I will be arriving at our next home on Thanksgiving Day. Our belongings (remember those containers I mentioned?) will arrive at the home on Saturday. Yes, its Thanksgiving weekend, and we know lots of people go out of town that weekend to enjoy time with family. However, anyone who will be around and is willing to drag boxes out of containers into the house, or who can help move the tool chests and washer and dryer and other items out of the containers (we have several types of dollies for this) and can come over - we would thoroughly appreciate your help in this last phase of the project. At least we left the refrigerator and John Deere in Indianapolis! I, for one, will be so glad when I can mark this project, Completed!
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 02:10:16 +0000
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