... I realize this is a long post, but I'm mostly doing it for myself. I know I won't remember these details in a few weeks. Along with keeping family and friends up to speed on what's going on with us, this blog also acts as my journal. Thanks!
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Over the last 15 months we've cleaned our house probably at least 60 times for open houses and showings... wondering if things would ever work out. It's crazy to think this all began before Kate was even born and she'll be one next week! The housing market has been terrible, but somehow we finally managed to make things work and we're so excited! We've been waiting for this time for so long and now that it's here... not really sure what to do! : )
The last couple weeks have been crazy busy with offers, counter-offers, inspections... so much paperwork back and forth. Now we just begin packing... and then pack some more... and pack some more!
The first house we saw back when our house was put on the market was sold within just a few months of ours going up for sale. That was a hard day... we didn't really like anything as much as that one when it sold. We weren't sure if we should keep our house on the market or not. We kept it on for awhile, but then decided to pull it off... very discouraged and unsure of what we wanted to do.
We continued to watch for other homes that we were interested in, but nothing really came up. Then we got a call in November of last year that someone was looking for a house and ours seemed to be a good match. The realtor we were previously working with asked if we wanted to show our house even though it wasn't really on the market. We agreed and before the people even came through we saw a new house that we liked. Thought maybe this would all work out perfectly. Well, the people came through and decided to go with another house... we've been through so many ups and downs. But, we still really liked the house we saw and decided to put our house on the market again. Timing was terrible as the holidays were approaching and it was Winter. But, we figured it wouldn't hurt... would just mean lots and lots of marathon cleaning sessions again. We were up for it.
Not much of anything happened at all through the entire Winter. Finally once the weather started to get a little better people started setting up showings. Of course, each time someone came through we were thinking they could be the ones. I've made so many cookies over the last 15 months... it's crazy (and maybe a bit disgusting) if I really do the math!! I made cookies for EVERY showing and open house except the one we had when I ran my half marathon. Just wasn't going to work out to make them before we left in the morning and I didn't want to put out day old cookies, so I decided to just put out some candy.
I ran my half marathon and later that afternoon we found out that the people wanted to come through again the next day. We had planned to have some friends over on Saturday after my run. We joked that we had to hang out in the kitchen only, so we didn't mess up our nice clean house. We had a great time with our friends and then touched up everything the next morning in preparation for what was I think our first second showing. I decided not to make cookies this time either. The people didn't get cookies their first time and were interested, so didn't think there was a reason to make them the second time. A little superstitious??? Maybe. : )
They came through and feedback was that they really liked it and there was a chance they'd put an offer in. They had to "figure some things out" before making a final decision. Come to find out they were also thinking about building, so met with a builder to get more ideas of pricing to build a new home. Not to our surprise... to build a home similar to ours would cost more... and no landscaping or probably finished basement. Our house was priced very competitively by this point in our listing. Started higher, but over the 15 months it was for sale we dropped a few times. It was hard to do, but felt it was necessary if we really wanted to move.
I went for a run a few days after we heard that they might put in an offer and saw a house for sale near us with an "Accepted Offer" sign. I knew it was similar to ours and my heart just dropped. I thought for sure that was the people who came through ours and had some interest. Thought we were starting over again and hoping for more people to come through our home again with interest. Again, the ups and downs. After talking to our realtor I found out that offer was not from the people who had interest in ours... so there was still hope!
The house we liked was still for sale, so this could work out really well... we just kept hoping for an offer. But, after everything we'd been through thought most likely things would just fall apart and be nothing... kind of got used to that.
Well, we got lucky, and after the third showing (again... no cookies!) the people did put in an offer. After a couple counters... we had an accepted offer on our house! Then we were hoping things would work out on the house we liked. We put in an offer immediately and after a couple counters... that was accepted, too!! We had to hold back our excitement because we had two very important inspections to survive. We were so nervous for them, but they both went pretty well. Another very up and down moment with our inspection, but all ended up working out fine... whew!
So, now our closing date is set for mid-June and we're so excited! The house we're moving into needs a lot of love (a lot of touching up and cleaning to do), but from the moment I walked in it... it felt like home. I'm able to look past all the hard work it's going to require and can totally see our family growing up there. There are some very little things we love about it... one being a flat driveway, so we can get a real basketball hoop!!!
Time to start packing! : )
[I have a couple friends that are in the same situation we were in... trying to sell a house in this market. I will continue to pray for you guys. Keep your head up and maybe don't make those cookies. : ) Thinking of you...]
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