I was just pulling into the driveway after work when my cell phone rang. It was our real estate agent, and she said, “I have good news.” The words I have been waiting to hear! “An agent is bringing me an offer on your house.”
And it’s a good offer. We are still countering, but it’s an offer we can work with. I was afraid it would be a ridiculous low-ball offer that would be insulting – but it’s not.
We’re still a long way from being handed a new set of keys. Our counter has to be accepted, our house has to pass an inspection, on and on and on, but we’re a lot closer than we were a few hours ago. And it’s just a good feeling to know someone else out there thinks your house is worth something. Because we sure do.
I’m trying not to get my hopes up too high because the deal is still in the works, but at least we have a deal in the works. We left the meeting with our real estate agent and drove by what we hope is our soon-to-be-new-house, and I couldn’t help but feel excited.
A prospective buyer came over earlier tonight, so Lee and I needed to get Millie out of the house for an hour. We decided to take her to the Savannah Dog Park. We’d never been before, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was very pleasantly surprised.
The fenced area is at the corner of Savannah’s Starland District, and the designers thought of everything. A mailbox at the gate was stuffed with plastic bags, which was a good thing because we’d forgotten one. There were two big bowls and a water hose. There were tennis balls strewn all over the lawn, remnants of many games of catch. And despite the fact that it’s a dog park, it seemed remarkably clean.
And the park wasn’t just designed for dogs. A deck was built under the shade of several large trees, and on it sat several comfy, wooden chairs and a grill. We settled in. It was very relaxing out of the sun with a breeze blowing, watching a half dozen dogs chase each other around.
Except, Millie always manages to stand out in a crowd. And not just because she’s so darn cute.
When we first got there, only one other puppy was in the park. After sniffing each other for a bit, Millie decided she was far too sophisticated for all this dog stuff, so she jumped onto the deck and jumped into a chair. As the puppy looked up at her and wagged it’s tail, she looked down as if to say, “Go along and play now. We humans are going to rest.”
She sat in the chair for a while, then finally needed to sniff around again. As more dogs came, she greeted each one with a lot of barking. As the other dogs wrestled and chased each other, she followed behind more slowly, barking loudly. It was as if she were saying, “Hey! Slow down! You kids are way too rowdy!” At least she wasn’t like that other dog, who kept trying to take a bath in the water bowl. A mud bath.
She had fun, and we had fun watching her. I was proud of Millie, my loud and pretentious bassett hound.
Lee and I were sitting on our sofa, watching a movie and eating popcorn, and trying to ignore the thunderstorm outside. There had been flashes of lightning all night, but suddenly it seemed like the lightning was in our living room. The flash was so intense, the noise was immediate and jarring. I flung the popcorn that was halfway to my mouth across the room.
After assuring myself our house hadn’t been hit, I stepped onto my porch. Car alarms were blaring, and other doors began opening and porch lights flickered on. Neighbors yelled to each other, checking that everyone was okay. It’s kind of nice to have a neighborhood where people do that.
The lightning is still flashing, and I’m still nervous, but the storm doesn’t seem as close. I’m still keeping my flashlight handy.
After many tense moments, negotiations, wrangling over words, and a moderate amount of arm twisting, the owner of the precious house pictured above signed a contract. The house is ours… oh if only it were that simple. First we must sell our current one quickly enough. I am so relieved to finally have a signed contract, but the pressure is on us now.
Someone came to look at our house today. We know of at least one showing this weekend. Keep ’em coming. Meanwhile, we’re headed to see my folks tomorrow. It’ll be good to be with them and to enjoy the mountains.
When I looked at our Tivo tonight and saw it was recording another episode of “sell this house,” I was not surprised. We’ve been watching an awful lot of that show, along with “designed to sell” – shows where people turn their crappy homes into real estate money makers.
Tips from the show inspired us to sell off some of our older furniture in a yard sale this weekend. We didn’t make megabucks, but we got rid of a lot of stuff.
Meanwhile, the house showed about twice a day for the first week, but it has been quiet for the past few days. Boo. And we agreed on a sale price for the home we want to buy a week ago, but still don’t have a signed contract. The lady selling the house is going to give me an ulcer by the time this is done.
But on a positive note, I’m still enjoying my new job. The first week went well, and after a long holiday weekend and a day out of town in orientation, I’m looking forward to going to the office tomorrow.
But I’ll keep my personal cell phone handy. Maybe the realtor will call. Maybe it’ll be good news…
First days are always long – my mama told me so when I was in school, and the same is true for new jobs. Today was no exception, but it was still a very good day.
It started out a little crazy because there was some confusion as to where I was supposed to report and I was terrified of being late. But it worked out fine, and the first pleasant surprise of the morning was my introduction to my office. I’ve never had my very own office. Not only do I have four walls and a door, I have two great big windows, 2 desks, a bookshelf, another storage unit, and a tall filing cabinet. I know that’s not the most important thing about a job or career, but it was pretty freaking cool to shut the door and sit behind the desk in my office.
I was nervous and caught myself missing the comfort of a familiar place and people. But I met a bunch of new people, and they all seemed really nice. I accompanied my new boss to a meeting, which was a little weird. The meeting was full of people I’ve known through my previous job, and I think they were all a little confused to see me there. But once they figured out which side of the table I was on (literally and figuratively), they relaxed and welcomed me.
After more introductions and training, I spent a couple of hours ordering supplies and arranging my office. I was unpacking some boxes left by the previous occupant when a co-worker stuck her head in the door and said, “Now don’t work too hard on your first day.” I looked at the clock. 5:03. I decided to follow her out, and as I turned off the light and shut the door, I realized we were the only two people left on our hall. I’m sure there are plenty of days when people have to work a little late, but it was nice to be heading home at the same time of day that I’d be completely stressed out at my old job.
I think I will like this new career, but it’s too soon to tell. After all, I haven’t really done anything yet. Eventually, the newness of my office will wear off and the freedom of the 5:00 quit time will feel less special, and I hope that’s when I’ve gotten deeper into my actual work and I hope I’ll find it rewarding. Until then, I’m going to enjoy buying plants for my new workspace because I finally have room!
I find myself staring out our front window a lot tonight, watching the cars go by. All those cars are riding by our newly planted “for sale” sign. Holy cow.
Lee and I found the house we want. It’s a great two-story brick in the neighborhood we like. It was built in 1930 (it’s a whole four years newer than our current house!) and has a lot of those great old details we love. Two parks are within walking distance – including the park which is home to the Savannah Sand Gnats baseball team. We’re putting an offer on the house tomorrow. I’ve been telling myself not to get my hopes up because we don’t have a contract yet – but it’s too late for that. My hopes are up, and we’ve already been to Home Depot to research what new cabinets we want in the kitchen. It’s such a cute house, and it feels like home. It feels like us.
But that means we have to sell our house – and now. This afternoon, our realtor stuck the sign in the yard and put some info sheets in the box. Lee was outside doing yardwork, and within 20 minutes the first person had stopped by to snag a flyer. Several more followed.
Later, I looked out the window and saw someone talking to our neighbor, flyer in hand. I hoped the neighbor was saying all sorts of wonderful things about the area – which I think he will. He’s lived here for the last 400 years or something. He has been such a good neighbor and I felt bad telling him we were leaving, but he took it well.
Now comes the real test- can we keep this house in pristine condition for weeks or months at a time? It’s not like we live in a pig sty or anything, but now the house will have to be ready to show all the time. It’ll be good for us though, and maybe we’ll be even better housekeepers at our new abode.
As I’ve always said, it will be hard to leave this house. But I hope it can be a great home for the next owners too, while we work to make our next house just as special.
Four years ago today… Lee I and were in Cancun on our honeymoon. I feel bad that I didn’t write on our actual anniversary two days ago, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a very special day. June 23, 2001 was one of the best days of my life, and saying “I do” to Lee was the best decision I ever made.
There is so much going on right now, some of it good, some of it difficult. But I’m a very lucky girl to have him beside me through it all. He’s my best friend, my husband, my everything. I love his smile, his big heart, and the way he makes me laugh. We spent our anniversary focusing on each other – sleeping in, holding hands through a movie, having a romantic dinner together. But I’m glad we don’t wait for anniversaries to focus on us – we try to do that every day.
I was just pulling the bathmat out of the dryer and dashing to toss it on the bathroom floor when the first of our potential home buyers pulled into our driveway. 5 minutes early. How dare they!? I needed every precious second even though all I’d been doing for the past 36 hours was clean, clean, clean. Or at least it felt that way.
Lee and I sat on the porch while they toured the house, wishing we could listen in. We’ve been watching those TV shows about selling your house – the ones where hidden cameras and microphones are set up during open houses so you can hear all the insulting things people say about a house. Did they love it? Hate it? I need feedback!
They stayed about 30-40 minutes, which I thought was a good sign. My realtor told me the house showed well, but alas, it doesn’t sound like a match. We only have one bathroom and (I found out WAY too much about these people) the girl has IBS and was afraid she’d need to use the john and it wouldn’t be available. Nothing I can do about that except offer her some immodium and my condolences.
Meanwhile, we looked at several houses earlier in the week and found one possibility. Tonight we’re going to look at another. From what I’ve heard about it and what I’ve seen from the outside, it has a lot of potential – but you never know until you get inside the house. And already there has been drama. It’s a “for sale by owner,” but the woman told us it was okay for our realtor to show it to us. Then our realtor called her to set up the showing and they got into a fight because while it was okay for our realtor to show us the house, the seller didn’t intend to give her any sort of commission. Blah blah blah. There are so many rules of etiquette with this real estate game – give me a break. Hopefully it’s a game we won’t have to play too terribly much longer.
It has been such a busy week – one with lots going on and not enough time to write about any of it.
Last weekend Lee and I went to Myrtle Beach. Our hotel was great, with a balcony overlooking the ocean. We played putt-putt, rented beach chairs and an umbrella for most of Saturday, then went to see The Killers at the House of Blues. The concert was incredible, and the venue was a lot of fun too. It reminded me of seeing bands in college – when you have to elbow people for a decent view of the stage, inhale way too much second-hand smoke, and catch glimpses of the performers between the swaying heads and shoulders in front of you. We managed to find a good spot, and could see and hear well, despite the screaming middle schoolers beside us who knew every word to every song and had choreographed dances too.
Tuesday was my last day at work, and it really hasn’t sunken in yet. There was a good-bye cake and a card (how many times have I signed those cards for other people? It was strange getting my own, but very nice), then we all ate Mexican food Tuesday night to celebrate. Mom flew down, and we spent most of Wednesday roasting on the beach. Thursday we looked at more houses and did a little shopping. Right now it doesn’t feel like I’ve quit my job, it just feels like vacation. I think it’ll really start feeling different when I begin my new job in a week.
Friday we all headed up to Atlanta to see my brother and his fiance and my dad drove down to join us. It was really good to see everyone – it had been way too long since we visited Atlanta. We got to see my brother’s new house, sit on his back patio and watch the fireflies. I swear there were so many it looked like the trees were wrapped in blinking white Christmas lights. Beautiful.
We also saw several other friends and their new digs. Speaking of new houses, we’re still on a mission to find our next hacienda. There have been 2 we’ve been close to putting an offer on, only to find out that someone beat us to it. The lesson we’ve learned is that when we find a house we think we want, we need to just go for it. Homes are getting snatched up so quickly.
Ours isn’t on the market yet, but we already have someone coming to see it Tuesday. The person is a friend of a friend of our realtor, and heard the house might be coming on the market soon and is very interested. How great would it be to get a good offer on the house without having to even put a sign in the yard and a lockbox on the door? Rock on.
We’re going to look at 5 houses tomorrow. Maybe one of these will be right. Fingers crossed.
And last but certainly not least – it’s Father’s Day and I’ve been thinking about my great dad. I am very lucky to be his daughter.
