Category: Selling Your House

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Multi-Tasking

So here we are, December 14th.  It is a Sunday, and I move a week from tomorrow.  This photo pretty much sums up what my life is like right now:  some wrapped up gifts for Christmas, which is coming very soon, some packed boxes, and my laptop bag – because I still have to work all week before moving.  Yes, it is a lot going on right now!

multi-tasking

 

Last week, I spent most of the week in Texas for the Dallas Digital Summit.  It was a great conference with some high profile speakers.  The content, which focused a lot on Search Optimization and Content Marketing was very relevant to my job right now.  My impression of Dallas was that it was just another big city – it reminded me a lot of Buffalo, actually, but what struck me was the sense of Southern Hospitality.  Yes, I was eating in restaurants and staying at a hotel, and that is the service industry, but honestly most of the people that I met and spoke with were very friendly and polite.  We got to spend some time exploring the Fort Worth Stockyards, and I really enjoyed that.  I bought a couple of souvenirs, and got a great deal on some Steve Madden boots, and flew back into a crazy snowstorm.

This week will be a lot of last minute work and wrapping up projects at my job before I take 3 weeks off to move and get into the renos.  My work and commute usually has me out of the house for about 11 hours/day, so I’ll probably be able to spend an hour or two per day, at most, getting ready for the move.  In all honesty though, I’m not terribly worried – I’ve gotten a lot done in advance in order to avoid a last minute panic, so I’m sure that it will come together just fine.

I’m excited.  I’m looking forward to being in my new home, to starting my renovations and to making it a space that I can be really proud of!

 

 

 

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SOLD

Well, sort of sold.  The super great news is that on Friday (November 21st), I received an offer on my townhouse.  It was about $4,000 below my asking price, and the buyer wanted to have a 90-day closing because she hasn’t yet listed/sold her home.  We compromised, agreeing to 6 weeks, and just $1,000 below asking (justifiable, because I now have to pay for bridge financing between the 2 closing dates).  After finalizing the agreement on the weekend, with just the conditions of a home inspection and provision of an acceptable status certificate, things are looking good.

The home inspection was scheduled for Monday morning, and found just a few small issues that we’re going to be able to work out.  Today, however, my agent advised that the status certificate that I provided (which is a package containing rules and regulations for a condo corporation, financials, etc.) didn’t contain the actual Status Certificate, which is the document that verifies that my account is in good standing, etc.  This is absolutely not true – both my agent and I reviewed the documents and this paperwork was included – and we didn’t remove the docs before handing over the package to the buyer.  Now, I’m waiting on the Property Management company to respond as to whether or not they can re-issue those documents.  Super frustrating.

Another lesson learned from the process of selling your house: you must have the patience of a Saint.  And, clearly, I don’t!

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Buy and Sell

If there’s one thing that I’ve already learned from this process, it is this:  If you are thinking about buying a new house, SELL YOUR OLD ONE FIRST!  I didn’t.

I found my “new” house in a very hot market.  I saw it on a Friday at 1pm and while I was viewing it with my agent, the listing agent showed up and said that an offer was already registered and would be presented the next morning.  My gut feeling told me that this was my house – that I needed to make an offer, too.  I did, and the next morning it was accepted.  I’d only been looking at houses for 4 days!  Not only was it accepted, the sellers wanted a quick closing, so I agreed to 60 days. Exciting stuff.

Then, reality set in: I had to get my house on the market as quickly as possible.  I have a townhouse, and in Mid-October, there were already 2 in my complex on the market and they’d been sitting on the market for about 2 months.  Not good!  It is now one month later.  Only 1 month before the agreed closing date… and I still haven’t sold.  I accepted an offer only after 1.5 weeks, but the buyer couldn’t get the financing approved, so we’re back to the start.

Here’s the place that I’m selling – take a look and share it with your friends!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9xG-QB9MBzU

Once this home sells, and I’m officially ready to move, the home renovation plans will go into high gear.  I’ve already done lots of research and planning and shopping – can’t wait to share my plans with you all.