Buying vs Selling

Now that we have found a place to live, I've had some time to think about a few things...like which is harder, buying a house or selling a house? I suppose the answer is dependent upon an individual's situation. For us I think it was a toss up.

Our previous house sold in a market that was a sellers market and the competition was tight. In order to get a good price we had to make it look great. So we spent a lot of time, effort and money making it look good. And we had a pest inspection done before it went on the market in order to fix things that we weren't even aware of. Our previous house had some awkward unique features to it and we were worried that those things would turn away potential buyers. Some of the people who looked at the house called out those items. It only takes that one buyer that likes what they see and the house is sold. I would go on line, look at the comparable houses in the area, notice how nicely they were staged and I knew that I had make the house look the absolute best that it could. It had to stay that way throughout the time it was on the market to the day the papers were signed. We had a great realtor, it was priced right, and it sold before a week was up. But it was also a lot of work.

Buying a house in this area is also work. The market is very tight. The inventory is low and the buyers are many. We knew if we were to buy a house that we would be looking almost every day. Many of the houses we saw went for higher than asking price. It is the norm for this area. It seems like the sellers here know they have the upper hand and they don't put forth as much effort to make their houses look great in order to sell. So we had to look past the clutter to see the potential in many of the houses. The contingency period, that time where buyers and sellers negotiate the details of the transaction, was more difficult for us as buyers than it was being a seller.

In our case we are fortunate that we have a place to stay while we find a house. If negotiations didn't work out on a house we could back off and look for another one. So in our case being a buyer was just as hard as being a seller.

New house

After looking at over 30 houses, putting in offers on 3, getting turned down twice, we found that the third offer worked. Yes, we have a house but will be renting back to the seller for 3 weeks. So our move in date is early June. That's okay because we are welcomed where we are staying right now.

Our new home is 300 square feet smaller than our previous home and that's okay with us. I can only describe it to you as I haven't figured out how to post pictures off my iPad. I guess pictures will be coming later. It's 2 bedrooms, 1 den, 2 baths, one large living area that includes the living, dining, and kitchen areas. It has a small covered deck in the back yard, a nice addition to the wetter weather that we have here. It sits on a quarter acre with a few pine trees in the back yard, a garden area and some landscaped areas. Gardening is one of my passions so I can't wait to see how the plants grow. The house itself needs some work. The main things that need to be done before winter is the roof and flue, and the south siding and a few windows need to be replaced. We were able to negotiate the price down due to the repairs needed. So between the contractors and ourselves we will be busy but not so busy that we can't enjoy retirement. And before we move in we will be painting some rooms, easier to do without all the furniture in the way. And apparently I have a helper for moving in to the new house, my 5 year old grandson. He is very eager to move things around for me. More details to come.

Slowing Down

Since I've left my job, I haven't really slowed down at all. I jumped into selling a house, packed up a house, tied up all the loose ends of living in a place, and moved to another state. In my new state I've been looking at houses on line every day, almost every day we go to look at houses, and I deal with establishing new affiliations to meet our personal needs, i.e. health care, DMV, where is the grocery store etc. and have enjoyed the family time. So I haven't really experience retirement per se, and I might have to earn some income to help with our new expenses so I'm not sure actual retirement is in my future. It's a good thing that I like to multi task. I'm enjoying the change of focus and really enjoying the grandkids. So maybe I'll slow down eventually...

Without a home

We now have no home. We've left our previous home and drove to our new destination. We're currently staying with relatives in the area we hope to purchase a new house. But in the meantime, we are homeless.
The trip here was uneventful, just a long time driving-10 hours. However when we got here, they had just experienced the biggest windstorm ever. It's a very green area with many trees that aren't used to high winds. So when the wind blows that hard, many trees fall, and there were many downed power lines. So we spent the first few days "camping" inside a town house where we are staying. We left the previous home "camping" inside-although we had power and hot water. Now we were still "camping" inside but had no power and no hot water. Good thing we brought camping gear. Two days later we had power. Dependent on technology tho, in order to charge cell phones we resorted to charging them with the car chargers while we drove somewhere.
The housing market is tight here and we knew that going into this adventure. There are lots of choices that disappear quickly. Finding a house that both of us like is also a challenge. But as this first week has passed, we are refining our objectives, learning to listen to each other better, getting a good feel for timing in this housing market, and working with a great realtor team.
In the meantime we have been taking care of many other issues, like health insurance, drivers licenses, and getting the car smogged.
Keep you all updated as to the house search.  We have currently looked at over 30 houses.

Will it all fit?

Moving pods are interesting things. Once I checked out the safety, reliability, costs, accessibility, and procedures, I chose the company I wanted to do business with and I was ready for my pod to come. Beyond navigating thru those issues, pods are also interesting because of the placing of the pod, what can actually fit in a pod, and removal of the pod.
My house has a slanted driveway and I was concerned about the placement of the pod. They told me that if I could keep my car door open by itself while parked in the driveway, that it would be fine. Only problem is not every car door works the same. So I was hoping it would work. And it did. We had an awesome driver. He backed it in thru a maze of cars parked on the street, placed it where he wanted it, chalked the wheels, and he was off.
We had help loading it. Mike G was a big help and within 3 1/2 hours we were 95% loaded. We spent the weekend finishing the job.
They say that the contents of a1500 square foot house can fit in this pod-minus the garage. My house was 1345 square feet. So I was hoping it would fit the house and the garage. I guess what one person deems acceptable for the possessions of a person's house is different from another's perception. Mr UAW and I have some hobbies that take up some space. And for some reason we have 6 dressers between the 2 of us. I never realized that before. It's not like we are clothes hounds because we use the dressers for things other than clothes, but 6! And we decided to leave some things here, such as the washer, dryer, fridge, huge oak desk and hutch, and 6 person glass picnic table and chairs, bar stools-thinking that it would free up some space for most of our things to fit into this pod. I think we planned pretty good. By the time we finished packing the pod with everything we could possibly fit into it, we were left with 2 truck loads of stuff. Those 2 trucks and their respective loads went to a nearby relatives house, they have room to store them for us until we find a house.
The removal of the pod was interesting too. The driver was pretty good. Our driveway has some uneven spots in it, so getting the loaded pod on the trailer was tricky. This driver knew what he was doing and handled it well. Then we watched our stuff leave.
I have a feeling that when we find a place, we will wonder why we took so many things with us. So maybe our load will lighten some more!

SOLD!

Yes, the house has sold! It was fast, only 4 days of showing the house. The buyers have done everything they need to do for the sale to go forward. We currently have 2 weeks left until the house closes.

And we have 4 days left until my moving pod shows up, then we can start loading that. So now we are packing up everything. And wouldn't you know it, as I'm packing I still find things that I really don't need. My pile to family, friends or the thrift store is growing again.

Packing is interesting. Mr UAW and I pack differently. He is busy doing the garage and I'm doing the house. One day I helped him with the garage. Because I've gone thru the house many times and have gotten rid of many things, packing is just putting things in boxes-except for things mentioned previously. Mostly I just put things in boxes. However Mr. UAW has not gone thru things in the garage until now. So for him to pack he has to sort thru things first. At first helping him was frustrating to me but when I realized he just needed to go through a process, I was able to assist him better.

I've spent the last 12 plus years managing inventory where I used to work. Organizing, sorting, labeling, packing, coming up with a plan to make it all work are things I'm used to doing. It's almost as if I've spent the last decade practicing for this move. I saved boxes and packing material from work that we were going to throw out. I've managed to save enough to move my whole house!

Now the only question is...will it all fit into the pod? Or do I need to come up with an additional plan? I've got a few options floating around in my head. One thing I learned from my previous job was to have a handle on the inventory, but to also be flexible enough to see different options. I guess the story is--to be continued.

Exercise

Mr UAW was worried about getting enough exercise when he retired. He used to be the sole owner of a lawn maintenance and landscaping business. He got plenty of exercise doing that but now that he's retired...not much exercise.

Mrs UAW wasn't worried about getting enough exercise when she retired. She retired from inventory management at a large horse hospital. It wasn't just a desk job, she spent much of her time visiting the various areas of the hospital and working on projects away from her desk. During her last year at work, she started swimming at a local park and rec pool, laps in the mornings before a few work days and water aerobics on one of her days off.

So now that Mr and Mrs are retired together, they spend time at the pool. Mr UAW is happy to participate in aerobic classes and finds it's easier on his joints. Mrs UAW is happy to go to the aerobic classes that she couldn't get to while working, and she's happy that she doesn't lap swim as much-she wasn't very good at it anyway.

The time at the pool has come in handy for showing a house, Mr and Mrs can shower at the pool and there is one less thing to do to keep the house super clean.

Between swimming and hiking Mr and Mrs should be good for a while. That is until they move. Then they will be spending all their time packing. Hopefully in their new residence there will be a pool nearby and they can participate in the exercise that they have come to enjoy.