Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Update On Our Move


Hello, cafe friends!

I thought I'd update you all on the progress of our "elective relocation". That's a fancy way of saying "We're movin' home, folks!"

We put our house on the market on the first day of spring. The first people that toured it made us an offer, and after a little back and forth, we accepted. We never had to show it to anyone else, and we are now under contract and progressing to a quick close on June 5th.

I've hated to even mention it because it seems too good to be true. Thank you, God! What a blessing!


In the mean time, we made three separate trips back to Michigan for house hunting with our sweet realtor, Julie.

And guess what happened to the market this spring? It became a super competitive sellers market, where folks are in crazy bidding wars for any decent house...offering sellers to live in the home rent free until they are ready to move, offering to make up the difference out of pocket when the house doesn't appraise for the sale price, offering their first born child. And yes, even offering to pay cash.


Cash! Who has that kind of money? Not us! The more we looked, the more we realized that our "contingent" offer was just not going to be accepted with an inventory this low. I read a report yesterday that said it's the strongest sellers market in real estate in twenty-five years. Great for the economy, and great for sellers. Not so great for buyers.


We could wait until after the close on our house. But of course, that means we'd be homeless. And on top of that, there are no guarantees that more houses will appear in the mean time.

So after much discussion, my husband and I started to talk about a house that we'd seen at the very beginning of our house hunt two months ago. It's a cute little ranch with a walkout basement in a great neighborhood, close to shopping and schools and library and family. It even has a craft room in the basement! We know that the interior needs a little help, and the landscaping can use some tweaking. Paint, flooring, decor...nothing we haven't been doing already for the past dozen years of house flipping.

It's the kind of house that I can picture us living in very comfortably for many years to come. Not a dream home, but definitely potential to make it ours. On paper, it had everything we were looking for...a downsize, main floor master bedroom and laundry room (yay!), no neighbors directly behind us, and one side of the yard runs along woods. A nice, secluded natural setting, with patios and decks and a small yard for Jemma.

So we put an offer on the place last night and are waiting to hear word today. Say a prayer for us! If this works out, then the timing of this move will be perfect.

Today, it looks like a modern ranch. But when I'm done with it, I hope to have it looking more like a quaint and cozy cottage.


The glitch in this plan (and the reason we hesitated on putting in an offer when we first saw it) is that the neighborhood does not allow fences. Hmm. That may be tricky with seventy pounds of Golden Girl Goof.


I spoke with my vet today, who also has a Golden, and she told me she uses an invisible fence with her dog, both outside and inside in areas where she doesn't want the dog to go. It may take some training, but it's possible. After all, she's not an old dog...she can learn new tricks, right?


Time to get busy on packing and organizing for the big garage sale!

8 comments:

  1. Just said a prayer for you and your family, Mary Rose!! Can't wait to see what you do with your new place!

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  2. My daughter had a positive experience with an electric fence as well. Keeping you and your family in my prayers for a successful move and easy training :)
    Lu C

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    1. Glad to hear good reports about electric fences, Lu! Hoping it's an easy transition!

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  3. Sending prayers your way. May God shower His blessings upon you and your family.
    Arlene L.

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    1. Bless you, Arlene! He has blessed us and continues to do so!

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  4. Thinking of you and hoping everything works out as it is meant to be! M.L.

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