Looking Good!

Everything with the house sale is on track and proceeding without issue. We are very happy that we put all the effort into the house improvements that we did – it is paying off now! We had the appraisal today, and it sounds like it went really well. We now have a “pending sale” sign!! woot woot! By the time I got home from work tonight it was too dark to take a picture, but we will take some tomorrow.

And speaking of taking pictures!

Harry’s new “Happy Retirement/Merry Christmas/Selling the House/Gonna be Traveling around the Country” camera package arrived today!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Someone’s going to be enjoying himself this weekend….

 

 

Getting Down to Bare Bones!

Ok, this is starting to feel very real, and very exciting!

This evening one of my co-workers came by with a friend of hers. This friend has recently moved into an apartment and has no furniture. So they took just about everything in the living room – coffee table, end tables, rugs, loveseat, tv stand…all gone!

What do I need? I’ll take it all.

 

 

 

They will be coming back in a couple weeks to get the couch as well.

 

And we already have a taker for our bed. That’s all we have left for furniture – a couch and a bed.

 

The top of the coffee table and end tables were panes of glass – hopefully they all get to their destination in one piece!

 

Looking pretty empty…

 

And we love it!!

Ahhh, Relief!

Harry and I are having a nice relaxing evening tonight, and having a celebratory glass of wine because….our house inspection is OVER! And there were no problems!  Of course, there were some minor recommendations, but that’s pretty standard I think. The most important thing – NOTHING major!!

Do I look lighter? I feel it!

The next step is the septic inspection, which is Thursday. We are feeling much more relaxed about that one because Harry has always maintained the septic system. In fact, our last time pumping the tank was only a little over two years ago. So we are not really concerned about that one.

We are also waiting to hear about the appointment for the appraisal. But we are not worried about that one either. We believe this house is easily worth more than the amount the buyers are trying to finance.

We have more stuff heading out this week – the loveseat and some other items hopefully will be going on Wednesday. And our snow blower leaves on Saturday. This house is emptying out fast!

Feeling a LITTLE Calmer

We do feel a little better about the house sale, even though not one thing has happened since the last time I wrote a blog entry. We have been told that the buyer’s attorney most likely took the remainder of the week off for the holiday. And from what we understand, the fact that the inspections are proceeding as planned means that there is likely to be no issue with getting the response regarding the contract. So while we are not totally relaxed, we do feel better that the process seems to be going along in a way that causes no concern amongst those who do this all the time. Now, will we still feel better when the inspections and appraisal are over? YES!!

 

We have been continuing with our cleanout work. One of my co-workers came over today to check out our tv, and he is going to buy it. So another thing checked off our list. And Harry took a trip to the transfer station today with a few more things in the garage – some pieces of wood, and a big bucket that we used to keep our soda recyclables…so our garage is getting SO empty.

After I got home from work today, we took a quick trip to Camping World. That place is SO dangerous. We got out of there relatively easily today – we actually almost confined ourselves to our list! Our main purchase – a heated water hose – which we will most definitely need when we move to the campground in Catskill.

 

And speaking of heat…brrr…it was cold today!! And snowing!! Harry and I have a new mantra…in two months, we will be in Florida…in two months, we will be in Florida….

A Thankful Thanksgiving

It was a very low key Thanksgiving around here, but not low in the giving thanks department. Harry and I are still happily planning and preparing for the start of our journey.

 

 

The attorneys are still going back and forth with their adjustments to the contract. Our attorney sent his comments back yesterday afternoon, and as of the end of the business day, had not received a reply. So there we are – I will be very happy when we have an accepted contract. This house selling process is SO stressful. There’s always this feeling of “I hope everything goes ok” hanging over us.

 

Besides the accepting of the contract, we have the house inspection on Monday. We don’t expect any issues, but again, you never know for 100% until it’s over.

 

We are moving forward with our preparations for leaving. Harry sent in the paperwork to get us switched over to DNS (Distance Network Services) for Directv. I also called Alternative Resources yesterday and signed us up. We now have a South Dakota address!

We spent today working outside on the fiver. Harry repacked everything in the basement, and I worked inside arranging the drawers and cupboards.

 

The garage is almost empty. I sorted out more on the shelves today, threw some stuff out, put some in a bag for donating, and brought a few things into the fiver.

We are so close!

 

I can’t wait until this house sale starts moving along – specifically the inspections being over and finding out that the buyers got their financing. Those are the two things I will be most happy to have over.

In the meantime, we will keep moving forward with our preparations.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Unexpected (and Unwelcome) Company!!

Well, we knew that our refrigerator repair (and especially the fact that they had to order a second coolant unit since the first one was no good) meant that our refrigerator was out of the fiver for a good period of time. But when we got home, we looked around the rig and everything looked fine.

Today, I went out to do a little rearranging and found a drawer full of “calling cards”. Grrrroosssssss!

Time to call in reinforcements!

Go get ‘em troops!

Moving Along!

Our house sale is progressing. We have started to hear about appointments for inspections next week. Haven’t heard about the appraisal yet, but we are assuming that will be next week as well. Today was the last day before contract acceptance, so as of tomorrow, we will officially have an accepted contract.

Our furniture is flying out of this house! So far we have two empty guest rooms and tonight the desk and office chair is being picked up, so the office is now empty as well.

We took four more bags of clothes to the clothes drop-off a couple days ago. I can’t believe that we still have clothes to get rid of, but we do. We will have at least another bag or two to donate when we get done with work.

I am still not sleeping too well. A little better than last week, but I am still waking up and staying awake longer than is normal for me. Just too much excitement! With Thanksgiving this week, I have two days off in a row and I am very thankful for that!!!

Our First Fulltiming Stop

Today has been a long day, seeing that we started it, oh, around 4 am. All week we’ve had the same issue. Go to bed, go to sleep (since we’re exhausted), and then wake up around 3:30 am. I usually do wake up in the middle of the night at least once, but normally I go right back to sleep. Not this week – this week, as soon as I wake up, my mind goes….zoom….where should I put this?…zoom…oh, I can put some pictures here…zoom…gotta remember to call and change this address…zoom…hopefully we won’t have any issues in the inspection…zoom…and on and on and on… Don’t get me wrong – I am SO excited…but I am also exhausted…alright mind – be quiet – it’s time to get some sleep!!!

 

Anyway, as I was saying, it was another great day! We started off with a trip to a local craft fair, where I picked up a few Christmas gifts. And then we headed to a local diner to meet Fran and Carol, a couple from MA that we met at a Heartland rally this year, for lunch. We had a great time chatting and catching up on each other’s news.

 

After lunch, Harry and I headed to Catskill to check out what will be the first stop in our fulltiming life – Brookside Campground.

We were really pleased with what we found. The roads are good, the campground is small but well-kept.

 

Jerry, the owner of the campground, came over when we arrived and showed us around. He and his wife have owned the campground for seven years and have made a lot of improvements since then.

 

All of the pictures in the blog today were taken on our walk around the campground property.

 

This is going to be the view from our front yard.

 

 

 

This is our site – a nice, good-sized, level site.

 

We are so happy that it looks like the campground is going to work out so well for our month-long stay.

Fun Fun Fun!

Today was THE day! I had to work, and then after I got home, we headed off to pick up the fiver from the repair place.  Both Harry and I were SO looking forward to getting her back.

 

 

And we got back into the driveway with very little problem! The last time was one of the best!

 

After dinner, we started bringing over a few things. It is so much fun to know that we are preparing not for a vacation, but for our new life!

 

 

 

Yay! This is so much fun!

 

 

 

 

Our fiver is toasty warm…Harry checked the temperature outside – which happened to be 27 degrees. (Eight weeks or so until we can head SOUTH!!)

 

 

Ahhhh!!!

 

 

 

 

 

We are having a great time!

 

 

Tomorrow we will be heading to Catskill to check out the first campground of our fulltiming life.

Pure Excitement!

Harry and I are on cloud nine! And lists galore…this is what we need to cancel…these things we need to start…addresses to change, items to get rid of… Ahhh! One thing we’re not doing too much – sleeping! We went from not being able to sleep due to anxiety to this much more pleasant reason. All of these details are running through our heads constantly.

One thing we are SO thankful we did! While it has been a challenge to live in an almost empty house (and people thought we were nuts when they saw our empty cupboards), it is paying off now. We basically have nothing to do in our kitchen – take out a few plates and bowls and we’re done.

A co-worker of Harry’s came over yesterday and took most of the two beds that we had in our guest rooms for her two sons. They will be coming back in a few days to get the last few parts they couldn’t fit in their vehicle last night.

 

It only took getting rid of those beds to empty both of those rooms out.

We are taking one last load over to my sister’s tomorrow – some pictures and a mirror that she wanted for her house. And next weekend, the snow blower is leaving for my brother’s house.

 

I listed this table and chairs and the office desk and chair on freecycle. I expect those will go quickly – people move fast for free stuff! Come and get it baby!! Everything must go!

 

This is our latest…we have found an open campground in Catskill, which is right near where my sister lives. It will be about a 45 minute commute for Harry from there to Albany. We are planning to move the fiver there  on…12/12/12!!! We are going tomorrow to check it out, but more for information than to change our minds – we don’t have a lot of options at this point.

We are also researching destinations and campgrounds. Our current plan when we leave is to head for Alabama, then over towards Jacksonville FL or maybe something a little south of that, then mosey along up the east coast with the goal of being in Lancaster PA by early April, as we have signed up for a Heartland campout there. After that, we will go over to South Dakota to establish our residency and get our drivers licenses. Those are the broad strokes of the next few months.

Our plans are coming together!

What a Week It’s Been!

Oh my! What a wild, crazy, whirlwind week it has been around here. After 68 days on the market, tonight we can say, the showing portion of our house sale is now over! Harry and I were a bit discouraged by weeks of basically inactivity. Many people told us, “it only takes one buyer.” That is so hard to appreciate when in the midst of the process. My sister told me, “when things start moving, they are going to move very fast.” Yes, she was right! (I think she wants that on an engraved plaque for her Christmas gift!)

So, yes, all these people knew what they were talking about. Because, wow!, this week things started moving! First of all, after weeks with showings trickling in one every 2 or 3 weeks, all of a sudden, my phone was buzzing with text notifications of showing appointments. We had FIVE scheduled showings in one week.

But the most exciting part of this week started with the showing that happened this past Monday. Our first inkling that something was different was the buyers going about 30 minutes over the scheduled hour. We came back two different times to find the buyers still hanging out. That’s quite all right…take your time!! And then, just one hour later, we found out that they had scheduled a second showing for the next day. Wow. We pinched ourselves, only to discover that, yes!, we really were awake.

Tuesday came. What happened on Tuesday in the rest of our lives, like WORK? We have no clue. We went through our daily routine automatically, while our minds kept racing back to the Monday showing, and forward to the shorter one scheduled that evening. They kept to the time the second time, and then came…the PHONE WATCH….the EMAIL WATCH. And oh! our excitement late Tuesday evening, when an email arrived that said an offer was coming.

After that, the past two days have been a blur…watch for offer, (hours upon hours of watching for an email or call), spend five minutes talking with realtor about counteroffer, and then return to the HOURS of waiting for the response… and then REPEAT the whole process AGAIN. But all good things must come to an end – THANKFULLY – and tonight we are basking in the glow that comes with a signed contract!!

And, guess what…I’ve started a NEW LIST!!!!

Quite the Process

Wow, this house selling process is such an up and down ride! We have gone from downs (multiple people coming in and loving the house, but not liking one detail) to ups…(at least one potential offer coming in), and it changed from one to the other basically overnight.

 

It was only five short days ago that we were feeling like this process was going nowhere…and fast! After all the work we put into the house, we found it really hard not to take buyers not liking this detail or that one personally. Even though most of those details were things we couldn’t do anything about – like size of the house, or size of the property, or the fact that we have electric heat.

 

And then – wham! Potential buyers! Wow! What a shot of adrenalin that is to the psyche! Now our thoughts are alive with much more exciting “what ifs”. 

So this is the latest…

We heard from the repair place, and our fridge is good to go. We will be going over there on Saturday to pick up the fiver, and hopefully that will be the LAST time we have to get back into this driveway!!

We don’t know anymore about the offer at this time. Our realtor was going to see if she could get an ETA, but we haven’t heard back from her yet. Obviously we are really hoping to hear what they are offering today.

 

So, we are still playing the waiting game…but it’s a lot more exciting waiting for an offer than it is waiting for a potential buyer.

Yippee!

Just heard from our realtor…and…WE’RE GETTING AN OFFER! No details yet…but we are SO excited! Hoping for a good proposal!

Prayers and Good Thoughts!

Any of the above are most welcome at the present moment!

Just a quick update – we had a showing this afternoon that was scheduled for 2:30 – 3:30. When we headed back to the house a little after 3:30, the buyers were still there (that was a first). So we headed to a convenience store nearby and sat in the parking lot for another 15 minutes. When I drove over to the house at 3:55, they were just leaving. So that was promising. Now they have scheduled a second showing for tomorrow evening from 6:30 – 7:00.

In addition to those buyers, we have another showing tomorrow afternoon at 2:30, and one scheduled for next Sunday at 11:00. So lots going on – and we are really hoping that this week is going to be a good one for our house sale!!

Heading Through Another Week

It’s been a busy week so far. Not that we’ve been doing too much that is out of the ordinary, but the election added some busy-ness. I’m a politics junkie, so I’ve been spending a lot of time following the election, and Tuesday night I stayed up WAY past my bedtime watching the returns. And then, had to take a nap yesterday to counteract the late night – thank goodness Wednesday is my day off from work.

This morning I got up, checked my email, and was very excited to have an email from our realtor letting me know that she’s setting up a showing for the house, either tomorrow or Saturday. Every time we have a showing and it doesn’t go anywhere, we tell ourselves that we’re not going to get excited next time. But I think I’m realizing that it’s really impossible not to have that thrill of excitement when my mind thinks, what if? will this be THE one?

So tonight we will be back to the cleaning and pickup mode. Our trailer is still at the repair place (the first coolant unit was no good, so they are waiting for another one). So that means (on the positive side) that our driveway will be nice and open. But it also means (on the not-so-positive side), that we have to bring all our crap out to the car, and that our kitties will be spending a not so happy hour and a half sitting in their carriers in the back of the truck while the showing is going on. Definitely a little more of a challenge, but SO worth it! And, one of these times will be the LAST time!!

Just Checking In :)

Well, we are back to the days when there’s not as much to blog about on a daily basis. No house improvements going on, no trips coming up…

So what’s going on around here? Well, both Harry and I are still enjoying the fact that our projects are done. Even though the house hasn’t sold yet, it is such a relief not to have the TO DO LIST hanging over our heads everyday. Our bank account is happy too. For the first time in about four years, we don’t have a balance on our Home Depot card. Although thanks to their many buying promotions, we managed to have a balance on the card for those years without paying a cent in interest.

We haven’t had any showings since last Sunday, so we are somewhat patiently waiting for more. I am trying to look on the bright side. As we work, we are paying down our mortgage and saving more money. I also am going to hit my anniversary with my company in December and will be another 25% vested, so those are all bright sides!

We took the fiver over to Deiderich’s yesterday for the coolant system repair (replacement) on the refrigerator to be completed. They are going to work on that on Monday, and hopefully next Wednesday we will be heading back over to pick her up and bring her home. Although the weather forecast for next week looks a little iffy, so that could possibly have to wait until next weekend.

My most exciting news for today – as of this morning, I have lost over ten pounds! I started on October 1st with a website called “Lose It.” It is a very useful site – you register, put in some information, like current weight, goal weight, your personal stats, how much you would like to lose each week. Then it tells you how many calories you can have in a day to reach your goal. It has a log where I can keep track of what I’m eating and how many calories there are in each food, and there is an app for phones. It has been so exciting to me to see that I really can lose this extra weight I have been carrying around for a LONG time!

Another little bit of excitement going on around here is that Harry has been filling out his retirement paperwork and will be filing them in one month! He has 87 days left until his last day of work. After 32 years, there are just 3 months left! Yes, Harry is just a little excited about that! And of course, the next two months are also the holiday season, so we all know how fast that time goes by. His last day of work will be here before we know it.

Well, now you are all filled in on the exciting goings-on around here…

Have a great day everyone!