It’s (Almost) Official

The Sign Santa finally came around and left us a little present in the front yard. Just in time to update it to “SOLD” – Joe accepted an offer!

 

He was SO happy to hear it.

 

The Super Abbreviated Tale of Two Houses, Told by Leah

We placed a contingent offer on a house March 6th and were given until May 22nd to sell Joe’s house in order to get it. The deal was this: We have first priority on the offer. However, if someone else makes an offer, we only have three days before they can accept it and nix ours. So we’d have only three days’ notice to sell Joe’s house at the drop of a hat. We honestly didn’t think that scenario would even come to be… But it did.

Week 1 was painting and prepping Joe’s house to list it. Week 2 was endless showings and open houses. We averaged 1.5 showings per day. Here we were, without an offer yet and it’s almost Week 3. Rumor is, we might have some competition on our dream house. Uh oh. So Joe makes the decision to drop his asking price by $6,000. Not an easy decision when he’s priced it right and just needs more time. Sure enough, on Sunday someone else “calls” our offer out. Our worst nightmare came true –They made a higher offer than ours so we had three days to find a buyer. Ensue panic.

We had several second favorites and maybes. Our friend’s mom, who lives in California, was actually highly interested and thought about making a long distance offer. But none of this was concrete. Monday rolls around (the very next day) without much sleep. We actually have not one, but three offers on Joe’s house! But they didn’t look good. We’d have to make some sacrifices… The first offer was laughably low. The two others were a little lower than he’d hoped, but we were entertaining the idea at this point. We were banking on a lady who came twice and was supposed to make an offer that day, but she got cold feet altogether. There was still our friend’s mom from Cali who was interested, but she wouldn’t be here until Wednesday (aka Doomsday).

So we waited for our realtor Scott to come over, and we’d make some tough decisions that night. You could cut the tension with a knife as we waited. It didn’t help that we were sitting in this empty house, so quiet you could hear a pin drop, with nothing to do but make nervous chatter and twiddle our thumbs. Or arrange throw pillows and wipe down countertops for the umteenth time until he eventually arrived. Immediately we could tell that he had something up his sleeve – a good secret, we hoped. Slowly, one by one, he reviewed our options. We knew we’d have to accept a low offer or watch our dream pass us by. We were a mixed bag of emotions, but ready to face the facts.

Time was running out and we didn’t want to let this all slip away. Scott said that he spread the word that Joe received multiple offers to all the potential buyers. And that’s when he pulls out a counter-offer from one of them. For more than we’d hoped! Apparently one man was willing to offer almost Joe’s initial asking price. Rejoice! With one caveat – he wanted Joe’s beloved hot tub and garage cabinets. Annnnd a few other goodies around the house. Joe gladly accepted.

---

 

There are still a few loose strings to wrap up, but things are looking good for now! God is too good. We’ve got the whole month of April to soak up Joe’s house once and for all. But for old time’s sake, I want to remember this place. Queue the Sarah McLachlan, I Will Remember You as a single tear rolls down my right cheek. It’s been such an emotional roller coaster, you’ll have to forgive me.

Front of House

Entry

Living Room

Bathrooms

Kitchen

Dining

Laundry

Former Movie Room

Bedrooms

Back Yard

Sun Room

Panoramic

 

The Next Chapter

We are so ready for the next adventure! It’s going to be hard to sit still until then. We have cabin fever waiting around – It feels like living in a hotel. Kind of. At least we don’t have to be hyper-vigilant about cleaning now that showings are a thing of the past. It was like walking on eggshells. Speaking of eggshells, I’ve really missed being able to cook and make messes in the kitchen!

Until May, we’ll be living out of one box. Most of our stuff is packed away. Maybe a handful of unmentionables, toothbrush, you know, the basics. Will keep ya posted.