Questionable

What's it like to sell a house?

As much as J would like a condo, we probably wouldn't be selling the house right now if it weren't for his new job. A job that is a particularly good fit for him. So, all this work to clean out the house and then ready it for the market has been tough for me. Because it is all leading up to something I don't really want. I'm excited about the prospect of a new city and new opportunities, but I wish I could just move the house and the yard with me. I'll be fine once it is over, but watching my life-bubble dismantled piece by piece is unsettling.

I knew that selling a house this time around was going to much more difficult than the last time. Seven years ago we had eight offers, sold the house for well over asking price, and almost doubled the price I paid only four years earlier. This time, we spent about $4,000 just to get it on the market (painting, repairs, storage, staging shit like pillows and matching towels, etc.). The Realtor paid for a stager, professional pictures, 360-degree panorama shots, website registration, and more. We priced the house to sell and will not be recouping almost any of the money we put into it over the years. And I have to completely obsess about crumbs, hairs, spots, and the cats.

One of the most hilarious (in retrospect) examples of complete irritation with having a perfectly clean house came on Saturday night. J and I were racing around getting ready to leave because people were coming for a second viewing (these are the folks who made the offer). We had just placed the cats in their kitty cage (about four foot, by three foot, by three foot) when I noticed wet (clean) litter in the basement slop sinks. J had washed out the boxes but failed to completely clean out the sinks. Just as I picked up this wet mess of sludge, I noticed that there was dry litter on the floor that needed sweeping. I yelled for J to come to the basement and clean it up. I couldn't grab the broom because of what I was holding. As J made his way downstairs I heard one of the cats peeing. It sounded too loud to me. Sure enough, Ratty pushed her butt up against the cage wall while standing in the litter box. Instead of the pee going in the box, it went all over the floor. It was at that moment I realized I just wanted an offer, any offer. Keeping the house up is hell.

Technology is also different now. Sellers' disclosures and truth-in-housing reports are attached to the MLS as PDFs. Lots of pictures are available to potential buyers via the MLS and via the web (1492raymond.com). Also, agents have the ability to provide electronic feedback after a showing. Some things we've heard about our house:

Interested, can't act quickly enough
Really interested, but too tall and big for the shower
Wish all three bedrooms were on one floor
Concerned there is rot on one of the wooden fasica boards (the house is over 80 years old and this is disclosed; why'd you bother coming to see it?)
Great hardwood floors

One of the weirdest experiences happened yesterday after the open house. We returned home just as it was ending. A woman was still in the house waiting for her boyfriend to arrive to look at the place. Eventually he got there, they looked around and left. Then, last night around 8:30 p.m., my Realtor called me to say that the couple was sitting outside the house in their car and wanted to make and offer on the house. They hadn't talked to a banker or a Realtor and money was no object. My realtor told them we were in the midst of signing an offer from another party, but that he would call them if it didn't work out with the first party. A half hour later, at 9 p.m. they were still outside. J and I went outside to talk to them to repeat what our Realtor had told them and they were gracious. But, I still wonder how long it took for them to drive away. I'm calling them "creepy one" and "creepy two" and even if our current deal falls through, I'm not sure I want to get into a negotiation with them. Plus, the lady said she doesn't garden and wondered if she could hire it out. I suppose she could, but watering alone takes time. They're clearly not ready for this home buying thing. Maybe a condo is more their speed.

Buy Our House

The house is going on the market tomorrow. I've been working on it, almost every day, for just about two months. After J left for his new job, he came home and worked very hard all weekend long. It has been a slog. But we're much leaner now. We do have a storage unit full of stuff going with us, but the house is very empty. And, I still have a bit more stuff to sort through. I want to sell the dish set we got for our wedding along with a second set from my grandma and some miscellaneous dishes I've collected over the years. I also have an entire box of Nemadji pottery I need to get rid of as well as all my outside garden and lawn stuff. But, this is all going to wait until after we get an offer on the house. It looks good now and I don't want to mess around with boxes until after I don't have to worry about what it looks like every day.

I can't imagine selling a house in this environment with kids. Just watching the cats is a pain in the ass. The food smells, the litter boxes, the hair - it all causes a problem. I'd like to send them to Chicago but then J wouldn't be able to come home on the weekends. If this goes on too long, however, he may have to find a pet sitter down there.

It is all very anti-climactic. Hurry up and wait. Oh, I hope, I hope, I hope we get a reasonable offer (or two) quickly. I keep reading about how houses in our price point are selling, particularly those that are nice enough and in good neighborhoods. But, then what am I going to do with myself once this house is sold? Oh, I have plenty to do. Like find a place to live in Chicago, find a job, work on some articles (or, at least one article), and plan a party.

If you want to see what our place looks like now, see this link. Here are a couple of nice shots that I took. I'll post a link to the listing once it is up.

Is there anything people won't take?

I put a bunch of free stuff on CL today. One item, a filthy desk chair, I included because I knew I could never ask someone to buy it, nor could I donate it. I figured I'd have to find a place to dispose of it. It was literally encrusted with cat hair. J tried to get the cat hair off but was unsuccessful. I included this information in the ad, but in less than an hour, the chair was gone. Seriously. Would you want this chair? YUCK!

Only a few more hours

Thankfully, the siege on my house is almost over. The handyman is finishing up a few final tasks, while the painter is rolling his last area. I CAN NOT wait until these strangers are out of my house. It has been two weeks since I've had this place to myself during the day. They are both doing excellent work, but it is a total pain in the ass to have them around. Plus, the projects I'm having done are just so messy. I really want to start the cleanup. We did a little this weekend, but the two bathrooms and the kitchen are filthy. Plaster (mud) dust covers just about everything. The floors are crunchy.

The Truth in Housing inspector is coming on Wednesday. Hopefully, he doesn't find anything that requires major repair. I really don't want to spend any more money or have another person hanging around all day while I try to remain pleasant. It is getting harder and harder for me to have a good attitude about this whole thing because the brunt of it is falling on me. J works really hard when he's home on the weekends, but he hasn't had to live in the filth or sort through every possession we have. It doesn't end at night, either. Remember the schnibble pile? I've been slowly going through it, bit by bit, after I drop, exhausted, onto the couch each night.

I know it will all be over soon. Once these guys are gone, I need to clean and stage. The first round of packing is essentially over. The storage until is almost full and everything that's left will stay until we move permanently. We plan to put the house on the market about April 1. It would be nice to get an acceptable offer within a few weeks. A gal can hope, right?

More stuff for sale

Interesting, unique slag glass lamps. Look like coach lights. 56" high. $200 for the pair. More pictures here.

Cute, brown decorative terrarium. Separates into three pieces: the base, the middle glass section, and the top glass section. 36" tall by 13" square. $25

Nice little cabinet/shelves/pantry/closet. 52" high, 12" deep (without handles), and 23" wide. $35

Do you mind if I sit here and weep?

This is exactly what I said to J when I called him last night. I know. I know. Shut up and quit whining. I didn't really understand that having a handyman here to do various projects meant having him take over the entire house. He is doing work in both bathrooms and the kitchen. So, all three spaces are a mess, plus he's taken over part of the basement.

Somewhere in my dense little brain, I thought he would work on each space individually, but that really doesn't make sense. While paint is drying in one place he works on the next place. Plus, he is messy and picky. The messiness bugs me, more than I thought it would, but it is my own fault. I knew what I was getting into when I hired him. But the picky I wasn't quite prepared for. Normally, I would find picky a good thing. But, we are in "get 'er done" mode. I don't care that a tiny space on the side of a cabinet needs a bit of wood filler. No one is going to see it.

The great art giveaway

Before I give this stuff to Goodwill, I thought I'd see if anyone wants any of these photos/posters/drawings.

Need a big area rug?

Carved Chinese yellowish or greenish area rug about 7x11 for sale. $95 or best offer. This has to go.

To blog or not to blog

I have to admit that I'm diggin' Facebook. It is an easy way to reach lots of people quickly. And, I really like using Twitter to update my FB status. These two marvelous inventions have contributed to my lack of blogging. It is really easy to dash off a tweet rather than compose an entire post. So, if you like my stuff here, I encourage you to also follow my Twitter feed (or join FB - I'm looking at you, Shan).

Lots of stuff has been happening around here, mostly to do with the move that deserve mention, but are going to get short shrift. But here's a few:

I sold my curio cabinet to a woman who sells antiques and home goods. She showed up to get it by herself, wearing a foot boot/cast. I don't trust myself enough to carry a heavy, glass-sided piece of furniture down my front steps. So, J helped her move with the assistance of my neighbor, who we had to call for help at the last minute. I was happy to get rid of it, but surprised at the woman. She told us she was planning on moving it herself.

As if you didn't know, Craig's List is full of scammers. $300 seems to be a sweet-spot for them. List something for that price or more and you are bound to get an email saying something about a cashier's check. I'm not so stupid, but I wonder how many people are taken by these scams.

Speaking of furniture, are you sure you don't need a big closet/cabinet or a bedroom set?

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We move J into his little studio this weekend. His new position starts next week. I'm hoping this house will sell. We are putting about $4000 into the house just to put it on the market for the same price we bought it for seven years ago. One bright spot is that sales seem to be up and my price range seems to be a sweet spot for St. Paul, but I'm worried. We had the electrician here last week and the plumber here this morning. Next week the handyman arrives followed by the painters the next week. The house is a disaster and I'm tired of living in the mess, but I guess this is how it has to be.

We moved our king bed into the garage this past weekend when I had a bunch of guys over to move things around. So, I'm sleeping on the futon in the guest room and J is in the basement on the bed that will move into our bedroom once it is painted. I can't sleep in the basement because of my allergies. I feel like a college student in my futon.

We've spent the last few weeks really cleaning out the crap and donating lots of nice things to Goodwill. We've also given a number of things away (more to come). And, are trying to sell the rest. It isn't a great time to be selling furniture because everyone seems to be doing it. Bad economy = selling things to make food money. My electrician, one of the highest rated ones in the city, was telling me just two years ago he had a crew of five. Now it is just him. His wife was laid off and they are selling everything in their house to afford college tuition for the kid. He just has no business.

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Finding J's studio in Chicago was interesting. We ended up with a tiny, but very sunny unit right in the Loop a few blocks from his job. One problem was trying to find a place that permitted a six-month lease. That limited our options. We ended up looking at three places in one building and one in another. The building he selected has few amenities, but is cheap, while the other building had everything under one roof, but was expensive. I rooted for the one he ended up picking because it is on a corner and gets cross-ventilation.

He'll be home every weekend for a while because he is teaching a class at the U, which has been move to Sunday nights. It was that or do it via video conference, which the students don't like.

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I am really beginning to feel normal. The more activity the better, but my stamina is still really not there. Moving, cleaning, and packing isn't the best way to get back in shape, so I'm looking forward to walking as soon as it is slightly warmer. I might even get in a short walk later today. One of the biggest problems I'm having (along with just being generally weak and inflexible) is with my feet. The one that I broke a few years ago is back to acting up and the other one has terrible plantar fasciitis. I'm thinking both of these things will go away (again) when I am walking more. I am doing my stretches, which is helping, but I need working feet. After trotting around all day in Chicago, I didn't go out at night because I couldn't imagine any further walking.

Earlier this month I went and visited the kids via the train. It was the first time I traveled by myself or on public transportation since I caught cancer. It was wonderful to see the kids in their own element again. I'll get the pictures posted to Flickr one of these days, but I have uploaded the videos to YouTube. There are a bunch under the username questioningyou. Here is a super cute one to get you started. Note that she has a cold so her upper lip is full of snot.




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Guess what? My entire family, sans J, is going to Disneyworld in October. My brother, the dad, really wants to do this trip so his tax return is going toward paying for their family. He is looking at it as a celebration of health and life. The kids will be 5, 5, and 3. Oatmeal is already suspicious of our plans. We speak in code, but she still figures out we're talking about Disney. She knows more about the place than I do.

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I liked the changes at the Oscars, particularly when the old winners came out and said nice things about the nominee. I also liked the first and later musical numbers. They were fun. And, I loved Kate Winslett's dress.

When we were in Chicago we watched Milk via on demand. I liked this movie far more than I thought I would. Two thumbs up for this one.

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J needs a new computer (he is using a laptop that I got almost seven years ago). So, I got a new MacBook Pro (bought with his student/teacher discount) and he is getting my old one. The coolest thing ever is how you can connect the two laptops and just move everything from one to the other.

That's what recycling is for

The keen observer will notice that I've added a new category - Moving. I am pretty sure we're going to try to sell our house this year. There may be something that happens which could change our minds, but for now I'm going with the assumption that it will go on the market. In order to make that happen, we need to clean this place out, do some minor updating, and then stage it.

The first order of business is to find a storage rental place near our house. Anyone have any feedback on:

AllAmerican Self Storage
The Lock Up Self Storage or
Minikhada Mini Storage

Second, I've decided that going through years of NY Times Book Reviews is foolish. They're going in the recycling today.

Third, I have to figure out how to file all my journal articles. I used to have a system, but got behind during my dissertation. Now I have stacks of printed articles, some of which are also in electronic form that need to get into binders or folders after being entered into a database. I also should reorganize my hard drive. Yuck. Know anyone that wants to help me? I'll pay them.

We also are going to sell a bunch of stuff. Watch here for a 9x12 rug, an Ikea closet, modern Morris chairs, a whole lotta garden schlock, and more.