If you read my blog on a regular basis, you’ve probably noticed that my posting has been sporadic and I haven’t been posting daily like I normally do. Admittedly my post quality is not the best I know it can be. I know that readers love giveaways too and I haven’t had many of those. Hopefully this will help explain why.
If you have been following me since last year you might recall we put our itty bitty condo on the market. Four people (me, my husband and teenage son and daughter), plus our mini-zoo are just too much for our tiny place. My kids have to share the only bedroom we have and my husband and I have been sleeping in the living room for 12+ years. If you have ever spent some time on a sofa bed you can feel our pain for sure. Not to mention there is no privacy.
Having one bathroom, a tiny kitchen and barely any storage doesn’t help either. We have stuff stored in my father’s basement and our neighbor’s basement storage unit, as well as ours.
Our condo is ideal for a single person, couple or a family with one child.
There is nothing wrong with it. We paid A LOT of $$$ to make up grades and make the place look the best that it can look – new sliding glass doors, new windows, flooring, updated bathroom… we did a lot.
After several months on the market we had no interested buyers so we took it off the market this past April.
In June we thought we’d give it one more shot. We put it back on the market and told ourselves if we didn’t have an offer by mid-August we’d take it off the market again. We would have to wait until spring 2015 to try again because the kids were starting school and by next spring our daughter will be heading into her senior year and the last thing we wanted was to move her to a new school in her senior year.
One neighbor (across the hall from us) had TWO offers and sold in a matter of four months. Their place was exactly like ours but with less upgrades. The only difference was their bathroom was slightly nicer than ours. Another neighbor (diagnol from us) sold in seven months. His place was a total mess and needed $$$$ in updates and repairs (it has the original stove from 73′!).
We had a few people look at our place then is stopped. No one showed up anymore. Our agent took us off the market for a week and put us back on so that we showed up as a new listing. We started to get a few more people to check out our place.
Because we have a dog I have to leave our home with the dog so people can come in and see it. A couple of weeks ago someone came on a Sunday when my husband was home (as well as our kids). My husband walked around with our dog and me and the kids sat inside our car in the parking lot (we parked so no one could see us). The agent some how knew it was my husband’s condo and walked up to him and handed him a business card, telling him that he forgot to leave it on the counter. The potential buyer was with him. My husband took a chance and asked her what she thought of our place. She said she liked it. Of course we didn’t know if she truly meant it or was just saying that to him.
Turns out she DID like it. So much so she came back a week later to take another look at it. A few days later she made an offer. It was a very low offer, which would have resulted in us having to pay our mortgage company $10,000 (it was $10K less then what we owed). We went back and forth with her a few times with counter offers. On August 14th we accepted her final counter offer – the mid-August point, where we said we would remove our condo for sale until the spring of 2015. The offer is less than what we owe our mortgage (blah!) but it’s “doable”.
The buyer is not messing around either. The very next day she had the inspector here at 9:00 AM!
Our place passed inspection but he forgot to check off the balcony. A few days ago the buyer returned with the real estate agent to look at our balcony. Structurally it’s perfectly fine. Cosmetically it could use some new wood.
I have a bad feeling she’s going to want us to replace the entire thing – or not sign the papers. Because it’s structurally sound (I wouldn’t let my kids hang out there if there was any reason to believe it might collapse on them!). We’re waiting on pins and needles to find out. She even had her agent take our By-Laws (condo complex by laws that tell you want you can and cannot do and what the condo complex covers and what is your responsibility).
Even just writing about this makes my stomach twist and turn. Not knowing what she has planned is making me lose sleep! I don’t know if I want to cry, scream or both.
We haven’t signed papers yet (waiting for our agent to get them to us). HOPEFULLY soon.
On top of waiting to hear what the buyer has planned (hopefully nothing), now we had to find a place to live! That opened up a whole other “can of worms” – one that involves toxic black mold, a house that made me DIZZY (literally – I had to leave right away) and other assorted tales.
Tune in tomorrow for Part II of How to AGE 20+ years in a few weeks. 🙂
Kimberly
Denise Taylor-Dennis says
I can’t wait to hear more what a saga, I can’t believe that you all lived in a one bedroom condo.
Ashlee Gonigam says
Every aspect of moving is stressful but you’ll never regret it. Best of luck, Kim!
Elisabeth says
Wow! I can’t imagine sleeping on a sofa bed for 12 years!
tiffany dover says
Holy cow! What an ordeal! I can definitely understand how that can make you age 20 years so quickly lol!
Sarah L says
Waiting is so stressful. I wish you luck with your condo.
Deb E says
Home buying and selling is so nerve wrecking. I’ve sold two of my own, with nobody to help me. The last time I went with a real estate agent since I was moving from Colorado to California. Hang in there!
Jackie says
So glad you found a buyer! Keeping my fingers crossed that it worked out!
Karen R says
I hope you get the perfect house! It’s so exciting!
Lauralee Hensley says
I’m hoping only good happens in both areas, the sell and a buy. Good Luck.
Anne says
I don’t know how I missed this when you first posted it. In more recent posts, you talk about moving, so I’m hoping everything went well. I can only imagine the anxiety you must be feeling! Off to read Part II…
melikegarfield says
Well, you got me hooked and I’m interesting to read the rest of the story in your other posts!