Posts Tagged ‘House’

Selling Home Part III

{ 4 June 2008 @ 7:48 pm } · { Bitching }
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05/31/2008

Well, I am off line for a few more days but I decided I would write a blog while some of this stuff is still fresh on my mind. I guess today the category I’m going to select is bitching. Ha, Ha. Anyway, we moved just about everything into the apartment. Believe me this was not an easy move. First and foremost, I went from a single family house {by myself} to a small apartment. However, the apartment does give me access to the hot and stuffy attic. But it is nothing like what I had at the house. I had a full basement and an almost finished off attic. The attic could have been used as a room it was so nice. But anyway, this meant I had to do a lot of downsizing. I tell you this is very hard to do. You don’t realize how much you use things until you decided what you want to keep and what you want to get rid of. And believe me I got rid of a lot of stuff. Back in March I had a bunch of men from church come and empty out my entire basement. I had them throw away everything and I mean everything. The only thing I kept from the basement was my power tools. And the men did a wonderful job. The cellar was cleaner than when I moved in. It was totally empty. It looked really good. Other than that just for example I have gotten rid of a huge television, {I don’t watch TV anyway & I still have another one} I got rid of a huge air conditioner that was almost brand new at 12,000 BTU’s. I got rid of a cappuccino maker, a juicer, I mean you name it there’s something I got rid of. I gave away all my yard tools lawnmower and leaf blower/bagger to name a few things out there. So I really downsized. Now that I am in the apartment, I find I still have too much stuff. I brought a lot of stuff into the attic but I still have plenty more of stuff that I’m just going to have to part with. So, that’s the downsizing complaining.

Then there’s the move. We had to move a weekend early because the closing date on the house was Friday May 30th. And once you close on a house you have to be out so the only time I could get a crew to move me was the Saturday before. I was having the windows and eves painted by some college kids so I had to stay back at the house while the men brought the stuff here to the apartment. Whenever I took a ride over here and saw what I saw I almost freaked out. It was a total mess. It was definitely overwhelming and I had no idea where I was going to start. Once again Joe got me headed in the right direction. I would be lost without that man. He came over and we brought all known stuff up into the attic. Then from there he rearranged the boxes in the order to which I should unpack them. Don’t forget now I had to stay at the house an extra week, I had an extra six days to live between two houses so there was stuff that had to wait until the last minute. Like the dining room table, two chairs, my computer, the makeshift bed I was sleeping on and a bunch of other miscellaneous stuff. This meant that it was up to me and Joe to move. I am so out of shape with the emphysema and the bad back, yes it’s really a bad back I have two Titanium rods in my back. I am dieing right now. I have been dieing all week. I’m going to have to ask my doctor for cortisone shot because nothing else is helping.

Anyway, the story goes on and on and I am sure I lived through a move just like every other person who has moved. But as an adult this was my very first “real” move. When I was younger and moved to New Hampshire, I just took my clothes with me. I lived with my Aunt & Uncle I didn’t need or have anything else. When I bought the house and moved in, first I took a month or two to prepare the house so I was able to take my time moving. Plus I was 14 years younger. Plus I had nothing. Everything that we moved this time was a whole houseful of stuff that I have acquired over the past 14 years. Like a dining room set, a set of dishes, pots & pans, you name it. I didn’t have anything when I first moved into the house except a bed and my clothes; I think a TV and maybe a few small appliances. That’s it, so that really doesn’t count much as a move. So I am counting this is my first major move. And believe me being a SWM makes it very hard. I had to pack everything by myself, I had no help packing I had my nephew come over to do the attic but he really didn’t empty out the attic. He left a lot of stuff that still had to be moved. He moved two car loads of stuff and that’s it. I’m very grateful, but that’s all the help I had – about two hours worth. All the rest was up to me. And it’s the same with the unpacking. I have nobody to help me unpack. I have to do it all myself. And when you think about it, who can help anyway? They don’t know what I have or where I want to put it. It would be more of a hassle than anything else because they’d constantly be asking me “where do you want this?” etc…

But now for the worst part. Instead of getting into all the details, the closing did not happen yet. It never took place on Friday like it was supposed to. I took my temper out on the paralegal at the Lawyers office. I was not very happy with the realtor. And I let these people know how I felt. I kind of feel bad today I shouldn’t have lost my temper but this leaves me in a very precarious position. I have two houses to watch over, I have to run from one house to the other to make sure stuff is “ok” plus I have to unpack and do some errands. It’s all a nightmare. What flipped my lid, what broke the camels back was when the paralegal asked me for my mortgage account number. Now how am I supposed to know that? And just where am I supposed to get that information? Everything is packed it could be anywhere. She then asked me if I could call the company. I told her no I cannot. If I don’t have the account number what makes her think I have the telephone number. I told her she has all my information, she asked me all kinds of bazaar questions plus for my social security number. I told her you know just as much about me as I do and you have the telephone number you call and find out what the balance is because I’m not doing it. That is your job not mine. And this should have been done weeks ago not on the day of the closing! Oh, I tell you I had had enough and I let her have it. At the end she said, “I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what else to say except have a nice day.” And she hung up. I kind of feel bad this morning for going off on her that sure wasn’t very Christian of me. But I only have so much patience and patience is not one of my spiritual gifts.

So now the realtor calls me and asks me to drive to a different city to meet up with her to sign a piece of paper for an extension. She told me the closing will be on Monday. I told her no it won’t be. She then said, Ok, well then it will be on Tuesday. I said no it won’t. She then asked me if I was going out of town. I told her no, but I have plans those three days. Monday I have to go to the hospital, Tuesday I have to go to the hospital and then wait for the telephone company to come in and install my new telephones. And Wednesday I have to work plus the cable for the modem is coming between 1-3 so my only available days next week are Thursday or Friday. She said ok fine, then the closing will be on Thursday. Now I could have made it for Wednesday and not gone to work but I am so pissy that I said no, they can wait for me this time. I did everything I was supposed to do I got it all done on time. I met all the requirements. I passed all the inspections. I gave the buyer everything she asked for; I did not haggle for one thing. Whatever she asked for she got without the batting of an eye. So, I don’t think it’s unreasonable for me to make them wait a few extra days and work around my schedule now. The closing was supposed to take place on Friday I had plans for the closing on Friday they screwed up now they can wait for me. Once again, the story goes much deeper than this but this is a good enough briefing on what transpired.

The blessing in all this is that I moved into my parent’s apartment. So, this has made things much easier. If it was a regular landlord they would not have been so understanding. I’ve been able to finagle things around and my parents are being very gracious about things.

So the night before last, I laid on my brand new bed for a few minutes at about 6:30 pm and didn’t wake up until 10 pm. I then got up took my medication and went to bed and slept until 4 am. Oh I swear what a nice bed this is. But I haven’t slept on a bed in months. I’ve been sleeping on the floor at the house waiting for the sale to happen. I couldn’t see buying a new bed only to move it. I figured I’d wait and let the store move the bed just once into the apartment. But last night I stayed up until 2 am working on organizing things. And then I decided to put the computer back together. It is what I missed the most. Of course it’s not the same without being online. But like this blog, there’s lots of stuff I can do offline until Wednesday and it’s just nice to see the computer set up.

So there you have part III of my selling home blogs, I don’t know if there will be any more. There might be one more once I have everything where it’s going and all set up and working, but that would be a short blog any way. I find these blogs are just like the way I talk, I just don’t know when to shut up and before I know it I’ve written pages and pages of stuff. LOL. Sorry ‘bout that folks it’s just the way I am. I have the gift of gab. Ha, Ha.

So, for now…

Selling Home Part II

{ 22 May 2008 @ 7:46 pm } · { Life }
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05/22/2008

Well, today is Thursday and I just learned that I have to move by Saturday! Nothing like loosing a week somewhere in there. I don’t know what happened but I thought I had an extra week. Now I feel screwed. I have two days to finish packing the rest of the house. This is exactly what I meant when I wrote the blog SWM, because I am single all the packing is left up to me and to me alone, I have no help. Well, that’s not true. I asked my nephew and he’s going to come help me for a few hours tomorrow. Joe and I moved over 20 boxes this morning. These are boxes that I had packed in advance, stuff that I don’t use very often. I should say Joe moved the boxes and I helped. I could not carry most of them up the stairs because I could not breathe and some of the boxes were just too heavy for me to lift. I can’t tell you how embarrassing it is to have a 66 year old man healthier than you are. I feel so bad. He kept telling me not to, but deep inside I was beating myself up. I felt so small standing there and watching him with some of those heavy boxes. This is what happens when you smoke for so long and come down with emphysema; the Lord is really showing me humility through all this. It is the first time in my life that I have had to depend on somebody else to do so much for me. And I don’t like it, but I cannot believe that God sent a man such as Joe into my life. If I did not have Joe I would still be sitting here thinking that I have to sell my house. But because of him the closing is next Friday. I can’t believe it. Of course it has not gone smoothly but nothing in my life goes smoothly and of course I had some very bad depression days but over all I think I’ve handled it all pretty good, so far. When all is said and done, I know I will sit down and have myself a good cry. This is all very emotional and I am blocking my emotions so that I can move ahead with whatever Joe tells me to do.

We managed to do everything that was requested of us. I did not haggle with this woman one bit. I gave in to all her requests. I just need to sell the house. But we ran into a huge snag with the painting. First my painter was not reliable, and then when he did show up he was being attacked by bees. So I had to call an exterminator which put off the painting a few more days. It all just turned into a huge mess. But Joe came to the rescue with his friend Dave. Dave was going to help out in getting me a painter, instead Dave is taking over and he is going to get the job done himself. I just wanted to cry but I can’t let him know how I really feel. I am not used to people being so nice to me. I really am not. It is so hard to accept. I am usually the giver and it feels awful being the receiver, I hate it. Yet, it is an amazing feeling that there are people out there willing to give up their time and energy to help me out.

I packed up the rest of the kitchen today in more boxes. Tomorrow I’m going to pack the bathroom and the linen closet in bags and hopefully I can get that done. If I can get those two done tomorrow I will be in good shape. The only real mess I still have is the attic and that is where I’m going to send my nephew. I hope he won’t mind, he’s a good kid and I know he’ll do a good job. I’m just going to give him the key to the apartment and have him take the stuff over there. I’ll have him use my car, it’s bigger, the seats lay down and it’s full of gas. I don’t want him to use up his gas. Sheesh! That’s a whole other blog in and of itself, these gas prices – aren’t they ridicules!!?? Anyway, that is where I stand on the sale of the house. We must, no choice, we MUST get the painting done by next Thursday. This is what you call stepping out in faith I am just trusting God with this one. I am sure Dave and his crew will beat the deadline and we will go ahead with the closing on Friday.

Everyone has been so good to me. There’s no way I’ll be able to repay any of them. Especially Joe, he’s an angel sent from heaven. I am sure, not a doubt in my heart, that he will get an extra blessing for this. Nobody is ever this nice to me, nobody.

Short blog for today.

So, for now…

Selling Home

{ 6 April 2008 @ 10:03 pm } · { Life }
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04/06/2008

 

Selling Home

 

Well, today I thought I’d write about my experience so far at selling my house. Due to circumstances beyond my control I found myself in a situation that I have to sell my house. I can no longer manage it in various aspects {long story}.

 

The first thing I had to do was swallow my pride and tell somebody. So, I decided to tell Joe I figured if anyone would have a solution Joe would. He came over and went through my house. He told me we can fix it up enough to sell it. So he proceeded to tell me what to do next and when I would finish he would tell me what to do next. Now he has been working along side me but he also is pushing me. If it were not for Joe I’d still be sitting here thinking “OMG I have to sell my house!” but that’s as far as I would have gotten. One of the side effects to severe clinical depression is that you know what needs to be done but you don’t do it unless you’re pushed to do it. Joe kept asking me if he was over stepping his bounds. He kept saying if he was to tell him to back off and he will. I told him no, what he was doing was exactly what I needed. I needed somebody to take control because I felt like I lost all control.

 

Well, the first and hardest thing I had to do was to get rid of Sable. Now Sable is a Huge Pure Breed German Shephard weighing in at about 120 lbs and she was not fat. She was just huge. But I had her for six years, she was my partner, my roommate, my best friend, my company and my companion. There was no way I could put her down just so that I could sell my house and move. So I asked Fran if she could help me and she did. She told me about an adoption agency. I called the agency and they came and inspected and tested Sable and she passed the exam as well as the obedience test so they took her. I am not supposed to know this, but I do know that she has already been adopted too. This makes me feel good, I know she’s in a good home and being well taken care of.

 

Now, once I got rid of Sable the work began. Joe came over and we started our plan. His first plan was for me to clean up the house. He helped me to wash down the cupboards and he helped me with other things. He kept calling me and coming over and checking on me to make sure I was making progress. Once all that was finished he was very pleased with the way things looked and said the house was presentable and ready to sell. But I wanted to empty out the cellar first. So I rented a dumpster and Joe got a crew of men from church together and they threw everything in the cellar into the dumpster. The cellar is cleaner than it was when I bought the house. They not only threw everything away but they also vacuumed and swept up all the loose paint and dirt. A job that was just impossible for me to do was done for me.

 

Now I am ready to call a realtor. Joe had a name of a realtor so I called her. She made an appointment to meet with me and I told Joe. He offered to be here in the meeting if I wanted him to be. I was so relieved there just aren’t words to express how relieved I was. I said yes, I would love it if you would come to the meeting. I do not know the first thing of what I am doing. So he came over and sat in on the meeting. Then he asked some questions. One of his questions was is the house presentable for showing. The realtor said not really. She said it needed a “woman’s touch” and she suggested that I hire a cleaning woman to come in and really give the house a good lick and a promise. Once again Joe came to my rescue as he knew a lady who did just that. So he asked her and she agreed to come over and clean the house for me. She took two days but she did such a good job that I am afraid to touch anything.

 

She liked the house so much that she went home and told her sister all about it. I got a telephone call the next day wondering if she could bring her sister over to have a look at the house. I said sure that would be fine with me so they came and I showed the lady the house. She was real excited about the house and seemed genuinely interested in the house and asked for the realtor’s name and how to get in contact with her. So I gave her all the information she needed. Well, on that Friday the house was shown back to back to two people one of whom was this lady I showed the house to.

 

Then I got a telephone call and it was the realtor telling me that I had a bid on the house already and she wanted to know what my counter offer was. So, I played this game for a few rounds then I told the realtor that I thought haggling was rude so I made an offer and told the realtor to say that is my final offer. Which the lady accepted. So, the house is already sold. It only took two weeks and two showings to sell the house. I asked the realtor how come and she said because I did everything she told me to do.

 

So anyway now my job is to pack. I have so much stuff to pack that this is taking me forever to get anything done. It is harder than I thought I keep running out of breath. I have so many CD’s and so many DVD’s that it took three boxes just for them. Now I’ve been packing books and I still have one bookcase left to pack then the books will be all packed. All the house looks like now is just a bunch of boxes. The scenery around here is getting awfully boring with all these boxes to look at.

 

Joe has been such a help to me. He has done so many things and has done so much and I have called him so many times and he has come over so many times that there’s just no words to describe it all. I cannot believe how good this man is being to me. I cannot believe that there is actually somebody in this world willing to help me like this man is doing. And to be honest I want to pay him back but there’s just no way I can repay him for all he is doing for me.

 

Not only is he helping me with the house but he also is counseling me. He is literally counseling me one hour a week. Our relationship has gone from counseling to friendship and now it’s both counseling and friendship. He is just an amazing man.

 

Well, I think I wrote a lot and this is the short version. There are so many details that I have left out. I could write a book on all that has been going on. But again, I know if it were not for Joe I’d still be sitting here thinking that I have to sell my house. But because he has been so willing to take charge the house is now sold. The closing is scheduled for May 1st so that really doesn’t give me much time to pack. I am packing as much as I can a day and it doesn’t seem like much but today I was looking around and it seems I really do have a lot of stuff packed. There’s still a long way to go but I am making progress. And to top it all off I weighed myself and I lost 10 lbs!! Wow! I was real excited about that and I can’t wait to tell Joe.

 

So, that is me for now. I know I will have more to write about selling the house about packing and about moving. All this is going to give me plenty to blog about. Until then…