OK, so I've been missing again for about a month. I can only say that I've been horribly busy, stressed, & crazed. I was warned. Moving is a bitch. But in our case when I talk about the peaks & valleys, all I can say is that this has been a super-duper-looper. Xing Fu commented that I haven't written in a while & my response was, "what exactly could I write about other than the house situation." Actually there is a TON to write about--for example, sailing has begun once again & I'm on a new boat with a new skipper & all new crew--we're the initial team--I'm not subbing in for someone else. Someone else is subbing in for me....and I've got a new position. Which I'm hugely happy about because I get to learn even more & become more valuable as crew. But I digress, another post. Back to this house thing.
So settlement on my house is May 15th & the date is drawing near. I already miss my house! I sit at my dining room table & look around thinking that it is one of the last times that I'll eat in this dining room or when I pull up in the drive way I think that this is one of the last times I'll park here, etc., etc. Don't get me wrong, another great adventure is waiting for me around the corner but I'm a nostalgic kinda gal & this house has been mine & has protected me for 11 years--I will miss it.
While the selling of my house has been relatively straightforward (not trying to jinx myself here)--the house appraised at the right amount, the home inspection went well. The buying of a house has been anything but. We put an offer in on a house way back in late March when my house sold & well, the sellers didn't like the settlement date & took an offer for LESS money!! OMG--crazy! I didn't like my settlement date--I would have preferred early June, but the buyers offered me very close to list & who am I to turn down money because the date isn't quite what I'd envisioned....anyway, we panicked after that because everything we wanted in the area we wanted began to get snatched up faster than we could put in an offer & now I was out of a house & nowhere to go. Problem being the zip code--we needed to be close to schools for our children & close to Xing Fu's children's house. So we found another house which on the surface looked perfect: 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, clean & vacant so settlement date could be the same as the settlement date on my current house. Until, bom, bom, bom, the home inspection...ACK! Essentially, the house, built 15 years ago, mind you, isn't worth the ground it's built on. After following the home inspector around the property, I looked at Xing Fu & I knew what he was thinking--he wanted to walk. And so began our ordeal to get released from our contract. We sent our list of what we wanted completed or a $20K credit--that's how much was wrong with this place! And we waited, and waited, & waited for a response. And during that time we panicked even more because 1) it was now mid-April & my settlement date was fast approaching, 2) we had no other prospects for a house with 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths in our price range, & 3) these sellers were taking their sweet time in responding. But we went ahead & expanded our search to include a different zip code. Low & behold there it was: cheaper, bigger, & much, much nicer. We decided that three's the charm & went forward in making an offer on the house with the understanding that we'd be released from the money pit. And so, after waiting the entire time for a response the current owners offered us $2500. Seriously? Really? And such ended that contract. We are purchasing the third house--the home inspection went relatively well (anything's better than the money pit we walked from) & that current owner is fixing everything on our list. My son & I will live for a week with Xing Fu until the settlement on our new house on May 25th.
Woohoo! Not so fast--onto thee next adventure--packing & moving--for real!
We have a saying at work regarding our special needs children: "There are peaks & valleys." Often their skills resemble this oft-used phrase. Currently my situation with my house is quite similar--there are definite peaks & valleys. On Monday my house went under contract less than a week after I listed it--it sold pretty much at asking price too which in this market is huge. WOOHOO! Big top of the mountain feeling that day to be sure! How quickly things can go south--
Xing Fu & I had been looking at houses & found one, that although it was a bit beat up, really suited our needs nicely. It had been sitting for quite some time so we thought that we could look at a couple more houses before throwing our towel into the ring on that one. Wrong thing to do--we should've made the offer on Monday when mine went under contract because while we were deliberating someone else made an offer too. So the sellers had two offers to consider. We had the better & stronger offer but not the better closing date. Since I have to close so soon, on May 15th, because my buyers need to take possession before one of them is deployed, we lost the other house. So now we're back to square one & my son & I will be homeless as of May 15th. I think that is the scariest thought. As a result, Xing Fu, & I went with our realtor yesterday to look again--and there ain't much out there & what is out there in our price range & what we need in a house, is getting snapped up in an alarming rate. And we've had to lower our expectations--the stress of this situation is the valley...I just hope that it doesn't go any deeper.
I've always heard said that moving is a huge stress on even the best of relationships--I'm beginning to understand why. I have spent hours sobbing, next minute excited, the next sobbing again. I wear my emotions on my sleeve & I'm exhausted. And the stress is causing me not to sleep very well--woke up early this morning & felt like there was an open abyss that I was just about to tumble into--I haven't felt that kind of nightmare in a very long time--I hope I grab on to something or something catches me before I fall forever...I don't know how Xing Fu does it. My realtor said that he's like a duck--calm demeanor as he glides through the water on top with his webbed feet paddling furiously underneath. I must agree--I'm the ungainly puffin who struggles to keep up. Hopefully all this will work itself out & I too can glide through the water.
