Category: Moving (Page 4 of 5)

Still no news on why exactly they pulled out their offer.  Tim has been crazy busy at work this week so he hasn’t been able to really talk to our realtor.  He did say that she is working to see if we can see the home inspection report, but that there isn’t any guarantee that we’ll actually be able to see it (since we didn’t pay for it).  It’s so hard to not get emotionally invested in things like this.  It was a big disappointment for me.

But then came the overwhelming part of realizing we need to get the house ready to show at any moment again.  We had become relaxed over the past two weeks and you all know how quickly a house with two small children can get dirty!  We had entertained the idea that we were perhaps PAST the point of having to show our house anymore.  We went back to living comfortably.   So, I’ve spent the last 2 days scouring bathrooms and vacuuming every nook and cranny and washing all of our clothes… It’s just a mind shift that I have to get myself back into.

And now we restart.  We already have 3 showings lined up for tomorrow.  I’ll get back into the groove of keeping everything picked up and making sure the dishes are never left in the sink and we make our beds every morning.  That’s a nice and tidy way to live anyway, right?  🙂

I admit I haven’t been in the mood to write.  I’ve been stressed and bummed out.  I know God is in control, but it’s hard to just let things happen in His timing…

Well, our realtor just called and she said the buyers said:

“Upon further consideration, after the home inspection, we have decided to withdraw our offer.”

Bummer.

But we were asking for a clear sign from God.  This is pretty clear I would say.  🙂

Home inspection today.

Please pray that it would be clear (one way or another) and that we would be able to have peace.

It’s nerve wrecking having someone walk around the house scrutinizing every aspect of our very old house… 🙂

SOLD!

Well, at least we’ve accepted an offer!  I know that’s not quite the same as sold, but it’s still exciting!

Can you believe it?  The house was officially on the market for less than a week, and we had 13 showings and an offer.  We signed the paperwork tonight.  And it’s even better–the new buyer has agreed to allow us to RENT the house.  We still have to find out the exact details of the rental agreement but it sounds like the buyer is actually buying our house for the purpose of renting it out, so we would simply become the first tenants.  This is a HUGE blessing because at the moment there isn’t anything for sale in Shakopee that we love.   So, that gives us the freedom to keep looking until the perfect place pops up on the market.   🙂

Now, of course, this isn’t a done deal until after the inspection.  We are praying that if this isn’t God’s will that the inspection would fail.  And let’s face it–with a house over 100 years old, there are a lot of things that could go wrong… so we’re still on pins and needles until we have the inspection completed.  Our realtor said that should happen in the next 10 business days.

I’ll keep you posted!  🙂

So our house officially went on the market on Wednesday. We pretty much had everything ready (except the stucco on the outside which is STILL not fixed yet, although we’re hopeful it will get done this week!) but it’s definitely a new kind of stress level knowing at any moment we could get a notification of a showing. For the first day it was quiet. Then things have started to pick up. We have now had 9 showing in 3 days. Well, okay, technically only 8, because 1 cancelled–but they cancelled 30 min after they were supposed to arrive, so we were already gone.  Luckily we had a LOT on Saturday so we just stayed gone for most of the day.  Today we had one request to come in 20 min!  And wouldn’t you know we had JUST put the kids down for their afternoon nap… so we had to quick tidy the house, then throw the kids in the car and drive around for 45 min, and then come home and put them back down again… not an ideal naptime, but it worked out okay.  🙂

We’re going to get feedback from each of the showings but as of right now we’ve only received feedback from two of them.  One was very negative which is kind of a bummer–they didn’t like it at all, so much that they apparently didn’t even go upstairs!  Oh, well–you can’t please everyone.  And like my Mom has pointed out, we only need ONE person to love the house.  🙂  So, we wait.

P.S. As I was typing this we got another showing for tomorrow.  Now we have to figure out if we’re going to have showing while I’m teaching… hmmmm…  more stress!

P.P.S Did I mention Tim hasn’t started his work season yet?  Yup.  Usually he starts April 1st.  We’re all starting to get a bit restless and worried about finances the longer he is delayed in starting his season… and you put that on top of this work season being extra difficult with his co-owner (Nick) being deployed overseas with the Army all year.  Oh, yeah, and he had another co-worker quit unexpectedly 2 months ago.   That left Tim scrambling to find new workers for the summer…  I know God has everything under control, though…

Our house is officially on the market.  Yippie!

I don’t have the link to our agent’s actual website for our house, but here is the listing on Edina Realty:

http://www.edinarealty.com/homes-for-sale/MN/Shakopee/55379/604-Holmes-Street-S-88550224

Our agent is Cindi Segna, and her website is:

http://www.prudentiallovejoy.com/Cindi-Segna

Let the fun begin!

Stager Suggestion:

• remove some toys
• keep storage and bookshelf
• update light fixture

Before Pictures: Um… apparently I didn’t take any before pictures… at all.  But it looks pretty much the same.  The only thing is that we swapped the crib and her bed to make it look more spacious.  And we cleaned out a ton of the toys.  A.  TON.  🙂

After Pictures:

Actual work done:

• touched up paint
• painted trim
• installed new flooring
• installed new 1/4 inch round along baseboards
• painted door
• installed new light fixture
• staged room
• fixed popcorn ceiling above door

This one is the most impressive in the house (at least I think so!)  This turned out just like envisioned it in my head, so I’m pleased as punch.  🙂

Stager Suggestions:

• add lamps to bedroom for more light
• update bathroom flooring
• update vanity
• add cabinet or organizational shelving unit in bathoom

Before Pictures: (I should point out that these pictures a a couple of years old–apparently one doesn’t take pictures of their own bedroom and bathroom and closet much… I guess that’s not a big surprise!)

After Pictures:

Actual work done:

• installed new “accordion” doors between closet and bathroom to bedroom
• painted all trim
• painted walls (in each room)
• installed new wall light in bedroom
• installed new carpet
• fixed floor under old vanity since it was larger than our new one
• installed new linoleum
• installed new vanity
• staged rooms
• installed new 3/4 inch round along bedroom floor
• installed base trim in bathroom (it never had flooring trim before)
• removed all crazy “waves” ceiling and put up “orange peel” instead
• had all the cracks in the plaster repaired (trust me, there were a lot of cracks!)

These look basically the same… sorry no shocking reveal here!  😉

Stager Suggestions:

• move over recliner so the “real” front door can be used
• remove the curio cabinet
• put the smaller cabinet in the angled corner

Before Pictures:

After Pictures:

Actual work done:

• Painted walls
• touched up trim
• repaired damaged wall from chairs hitting the walls repeatedly…
• popcorn ceiling repaired
• restaged furniture
• replaced “front” screen door
• painted threshold