In Our Corner

Buying and/or selling a home is a very scary, very emotional process. I have learned how important it is to have someone who knows this process, inside and out, in your corner. We found that in our real estate broker, Marie Boatsman. She is absolutely A-MAZ-ING! Over the past 5ish years, she has helped us buy two homes and sell one. Each time, with patience, kindness, insights, and years of experience that were invaluable to us. We met Marie, when a friend recommended her, and have never thought to go with anyone else since. We would never enter into a real estate transaction without her help and guidance. With each of our situations, she went above and beyond in helping us end up with everything we were hoping for, and more.

When we bought our first home, we were looking for a fixer-upper so that we could buy in our prime location. When she took us to look at our first home, we were nervous. We liked everything about it: the size, neighborhood, overall location, layout, yard. You name it, we we were in love. But it seemed out of our reach. How could we afford something so perfect? She worked her magic, and within a few days, our offer was accepted. We not only got the best home available, but we were safely within our budget.

Five years, and two babies later, we decided that we were out-growing our beautiful first home. We turned to Marie for help, and she went above and beyond helping us to get our home in tip top shape. The house was on the market for less than three weeks when we received an offer, which we countered with a full price offer, and the buyers accepted it! It was extremely difficult to leave our first home, but Marie helped us feel comfortable and made sure we were knowledgeable about all of the steps of the process.

Fast forward a few months, and we were ready to being the search for our forever home. We, once again, turned to Marie. Not only did she help us find our dream home, in a not so great buyer's market, but she helped us to navigate a new home-buying obstacle......the short sale. We put an offer on our home, expecting it to take months to hear back. Within three weeks we had heard from the bank, and they had accepted our offer! Then came the next hurdle, the inspection. Because the house had been a rental for years, then sat empty for a bit, the house needed some maintenance. We were told by everyone (including the house's real estate agent) that banks don't help with these costs. Marie submitted a new offer based on the things that needed to be done, and a couple of days later we heard the amazing news. They had once again, accepted!

Marie made all of these deals happen. She used her expertise to help us to get everything that we wanted out of each and every transaction. Every one of these situations had the potential to be an uphill battle, with tears and disappointment at the end, but Marie is a miracle worker, and refused to let that happen. We couldn't be happier to have her in our real estate corner, and we are so so so happy to call her a dear friend.

If you are in the market for someone to help you find or sell a home, contacting Marie is the first step in reaching your real estate goals!
Here is a link to her Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/mbrealestatebroker

Buying a Short Sale

When we began looking for our new home, we had no intentions of focusing on a short sale or foreclosure, but it didn't take long to realize how great of an idea it would be. We had the perfect situation. We were renting a comfortable, nice home in a great neighborhood, we had the down payment saved, and we felt no rush to find a home or move. We were ready to find the perfect house, even if it meant waiting months to hear whether or not we got it. We also realized that the homes we were most excited about, just happened to be short sales. We found quite a few right off the bat, that we wanted to give a shot. The first house we made an offer on-we were out-bid. But were given "second place" position-meaning, if the first buyer's offer fell through, we would be next in line.

The second was a beautiful home, in the perfect neighborhood, but was a rental for years, so it didn't have the best up-keep, and needed lots of updating. We decided to put an offer in on that one as well. Our plan was to keep looking at any other homes that we liked, while waiting for either of the short sales to come back. We thought that news from the bank (one way or another), would end up being our timeline for finding something else. We thought we would have tons of time! Short sales usually take months. We had three weeks. The bank accepted our offer on the second home almost immediately (for a short sale), which floored us, our Realtor, and the seller's Realtor. No one expected that.

When we found out, we panicked a bit. We had just seen another home-not a short sale-earlier that night, and were trying to decide between the two. Luckily, the offer came on a Friday, so we were able to give ourselves a couple of days to figure it out. We decided, too quickly, to put an offer in on the new house. The second we signed the paperwork, I panicked. I knew instantly, that I didn't want the offer to go through. After letting Joe know how I was feeling, we quickly contacted our wonderful, patient Realtor, and rescinded our offer. I felt horrible, but I knew that it wasn't the house for our family. I'm so glad that I spoke up!

We thought long and hard that weekend. We came out knowing that the short sale home was the one for us. We waited for the inspection, which came back with a few issues, but we had a plan. We asked for the bank to lower our price based on the repairs needed. Once again, we were told that dealing with a bank might be difficult, and the seller's Realtor was sure that they wouldn't accept our new offer. Three days later, we got news that the bank had accepted it. Yay! Once again, we waited for the appraisal to come back. Today it did. Once again, great news!

It has been six months since we moved into our rental, and here we are packing again. Short Sales are nothing to be afraid of. Although I know that our situation is not at all the norm, it is possible. Short Sales can offer buyers a wonderful home, for an even better value. This time, the move will be far less emotional, more exciting, and we can't wait to make our new house, our home!

Rental Life

We have been living in a rental home for almost 6 months now. It has gone by quite fast and has been a relatively easy adjustment to make. Although it has been easier than we expected, there have been some rough parts, some of which we didn't plan to be an issue. When we moved, we thought it would be nice to live in a home where upkeep was not our responsibly, where we could call the landlord anytime we had an issue. Well, that hasn't been as easy as we thought. Having a landlord to call when something goes wrong, means that you have to deal with a landlord. Ours has not been so wonderful.

When we moved in, we realized AT THE WALK-THROUGH (apparently, no one had any idea before that), that the fireplace and the stove didn't work. We could care less about the fireplace, but a stove is a bit of a necessity. When the issue was "realized", the landlord told us that it would be fixed before we were to move in a week later. Needless to say, that didn't happen. In fact, a week after we moved in, it was still being figured out.

Who figured it out? Oh, not the landlord. We did. We talked to HomeDepot, we had to be here for the handyman who took the old stove out, for the men who were to install, then the electrician, then the when the men came back to install it for a second time. All of which HAD to happen during a the normal work day, of course. Then there was the hot tub. When we moved in, we were told we had a choice: use the hot tub and be responsible for maintaining it, or they would pay to have someone come to clean and weather it. We chose the latter. It took almost a month for someone to take care of it, with the water sitting in it, running periodically.

All of these issues were made enough, but then came the realization of going from a house that is our own, into a house that is not. Our boys' bedrooms are plain, boring, and covered in scribbles and stickers from the previous owner, there are boxes of the owner's junk in the garage, that was left for us to find, pack, and store, but the worst part has been the drive. We only live one town from our previous home. It adds about 15 minutes to Joe's drive in the morning (because he leaves so early), but about 20-25 minutes more to both of my commutes and Joe's evening drive. This has been quite an adjustment both for our evening family time, and our wallets. It costs us about another $100 a month in gas to live where we are-a fee we didn't plan on.

Now that we are in the process of purchasing our forever home and we can see an end in sight, we can see our time in the rental for what it has been, a time to look for our real home, time to save a bit of money, and time to figure out what we are not willing to give up. Location, size, yard, and neighborhood. I'm sure that there will be time where we have fond memories of this house and our time here, but I'm not holding my breathe for that day.

Limbo

Selling our house was the best choice for our family, both financially and for our future comfort. Renting hasn't been as difficult as we thought. We really like our rental home, the neighborhood is awesome, and the space has been wonderful. The difficulty with the situation lies with this feeling of being in Limbo.

Before deciding to selling our home, our family had spent almost a year being 100% focused on reducing debt, budgeting, living on less, and preparing for our future. We did a very good job at it too. When we sold our home, things got busy, jumbled, lost in the shuffle. We have done a very good job sticking to our monthly budget, even through all the craziness. However, all of our extra money is no longer going towards debt, it's sitting in our bank account waiting to be our down payment.

I never, ever, thought I would say this, but I miss putting every extra penny towards our debt. It felt so amazing to know that with every month, we were one step closer to our financial goals. It was also wonderful to see the changes in our family while working toward these goals. My husband and I became closer, we are now a true partnership, and since money/things were no longer the focus, our kids benefited from more time/effort/attention. It was awesome!

We have still carried these priorities with us into the rental, but since our focus is different, it feels different. We are ready to get back on track, but to do that we need to find our home. This is a bit of a chore in that, we don't want to rush our decision, the buyers market is quite slim, and we are still very unsure of the area we want to live in.

Wish we could focus on both

We have considered staying in our rental for a year or two, to help pay down debt, really take our time finding our forever home, and figure out what we really want, but we have quite a few big issues with this option as well. The commute is horrible for Joe, our rental costs as much as our previous mortgage (especially with the added commute for both of us), and most of all, we want to be settled for our boys. Liam starts kindergarten in a year and a half, and we want to be where we are going to be by then. Also, moving has been hard on Liam. He still says that he misses our old house, he asks to paint/decorate is current bedroom, and he misses Sherwood.

We don't know where we will end up, or where we want to end up, but one thing is for sure...it's not Limbo!

New Home Dangers

Yet another aspect of moving, that my husband and I did not consider before the move, was all of the hidden dangers that would pop up for our kiddos. When your babies grow into big kids, you tend to baby, toddler, and big kid proof as you go. Each stage brings new chores that will help your little ones stay safe in their home. When done this way, you don't notice just how many adjustments you make. When you move, those dangers start popping up again, but this time, it's usually when something dangerous has already happened. For this reason, I felt that I needed to share some scary stories, to help other parents who are on the move, to think ahead, and not deal with the high blood pressure and grey hairs (figuratively of course) that I have acquired.

When we were settling in, we did all of the obvious preparations to keep our boys out of dangerous situations. We installed a gate at the top of the stairs, anchored the hutch and the stove to the wall, put a lock on the cupboards housing chemicals, and plugged every outlet with a cover. However, it is quite obvious that we missed a few horribly vital things. Here are my horror stories.

About two weeks after moving into our new house, Liam almost feel from the top of our stairs. He has been more than capable of walking up and down the stairs alone for quite some time, so we didn't give the issue a second thought when moving in. However, after I caught him tumbling down, Joe and I took a second look. We realized that these stairs are steeper, and more narrow than our last ones. I know kids fall, and his little trip may be nothing more than that, but it's also good to be aware of these minor changes.

Also, in our last home, we had door nobs. Liam tried with all of his might, but was unable to open our doors. The new house has door handles. I'm glad that the house came equipped with out of reach locks, because Liam can open any door in this house. This was apparent a couple of days after moving in, when we found him skipping up and down the stairs leading to our front door, alone.

I have saved the scariest, and most horrifying tale for last. Just the other night, I was getting dressed after a shower, when I heard a huge crash. I ran to Liam's room (Joe and Nolan were playing in Nolan's bedroom). When his doorway came into view, all I could see was his tall six-drawer dresser laying on the floor. I have heard several horror stories about babies/toddlers being crushed by furniture falling on them. Of course, that's all I was thinking in the seconds it took to reach his room. This horrible feeling was made worse, when I entered his room, and Liam was no where in sight. I was sure that he was laying under it, critically hurt, or worse.

Then I heard him whimper, and he stepped out of his closet. All I could do was cry and hold him. All he could do was sob. It was the most terrifying moment of my life, and as it seems, his too. In our last home, we had anchored his dresser to the wall the second he started moving, but when we moved, this task was lost in the shuffle. We are lucky.

Don't make these mistakes! Check, and double check the safety of your new home (rental or not). I'm sure that there are even more precautions that we have forgotten, and I'm also sure that our active three year old, and our newly mobile ten month old, will be happy to show us the error of our ways in due time.

Tips for Packing and Moving with a Toddler and/or Infant

The past few months have been a stressful struggle for our little family. In July we decided to put our beloved first home on the market. We knew that it would be difficult, but it was the right decision for our family and our future. My biggest concern about the move, was keeping life as stable and normal for our three year old and our 8 month old. By the time it was time to start packing up the house, we had devised some plans to help make the transition a bit smoother for the both of them. Some of them worked out, some didn't.

Liam and His First Home

I want to share our experiences with other parents, because moving is a huge change for adults, but it is life-altering for little ones, and if we can help others make it easier for their kiddos, at least our struggles were not for nothing. Here is a list of things that helped our boys with the transition, as well as some information about the things that did not work out so well. I have also come up with some "next time" tips that we are hoping to implement when we move from our rental into our forever home.

What Worked for Packing/Preparing for the Move:

*Talk About the Move as Far in Advance as Possible: As soon as we had an offer on our home, we started talking to both boys (even the 8 month old) about the move. We were careful that every comment about the move be a positive one, even when we were not talking to the kids. If we were stressed out about it, we had that talk when the boys were in bed.

*Pack up Kids Stuff in Waves: We started packing about a month before the move, but we packed in waves, meaning the first time we packed up kids supplies, it was just the things that we didn't think they would miss or use. The next wave, we packed a few more toys, but still made sure to leave out their favorites. We packed clothes and blankets, but once again, not the ones they used the most. The third, and final wave, was done just a couple of days before the move, but we made sure to leave one box with the favorites of the favorites, open in the living room. That way they were "packed" and easy to grab when it was time to go, but the boys still felt like they could access them.

*Store Packed Boxes Out of Sight: Out of sight out of mind. If there are boxes all over the house, it will be a constant reminder that their life is changing. We kept all of our packed boxes in the garage, so that the boys wouldn't see them constantly, and they wouldn't get into them over and over again.

Helping Mommy and Daddy Pack

*Involve the Kids in the Packing: We gave Liam a box to pack every time we packed. He had so much fun choosing what to put into the box. He packed and re-packed the same box several times. It made him feel like he had some control over the packing process, and he felt as though he was helping mommy and daddy. I think that this was one of the best things we tried!

*Try to Help Them Understand: As the move got closer, our discussions about it got more serious. We made sure to keep it positive, but we were also very factual about what would happen when we moved, so that there were no surprises when the time came.

*Include Them in the House-Hunting Process: Every time we went to look at a possible rental property, we took the boys along. We asked Liam's opinion on each of the houses, let him roam the homes on his own, and talked with him afterwards about what he would like about living there and what he wouldn't.

*Reading on the Subject: We made many trips to the library to find books about moving. Liam loved ready the special moving books before bed and in the mornings. It was also a great way to start conversations about what moving would be like.

What Didn't:

*Taking Pictures of Liam's Old Room: We knew that leaving his beautiful, special dinosaur bedroom would be the hardest for all of us. We thought that taking pictures of the room and giving them to Liam may help him to remember his old room, however, so far looking at them just makes him sad. He doesn't seem to have a difficult time with the move, except when he looks at these pictures. So although, every kiddo is different, this would not be suggestion I would give.

*Bringing up the Move All the Time: We tried very hard to prepare the boys for the move by being honest and discussing it a great deal before moving day, however, there were times where it felt like that made it worse. My suggestion for this would be, talk about it often, but if your son/daughter is having a particularly sensitive day, don't bring it up. If they do, great, talk away, but don't push the subject on them.

Moving Day Tips:

*Farm Out the Kiddos: Although you definitely want the kids to be there for part of the moving process, it is stressful, and it may be better that they are not there when you are anxious. We were lucky enough to have great friends who took Liam to a birthday party for most of moving day. We still made absolutely sure that he was there for some of it, so that he wouldn't leave, then come home to a brand new, very strange situation. But it was wonderful to be able to move without the added distraction of a toddler, and I'm positive it was good for him to not see mommy and daddy stress about the move.

Saying Goodbye to His Room

*Make Sure that They are a Part of the Move: This goes along with the last tip. We had Liam help us load the truck until he was on his way to the party, and when he returned he helped once again. This made the transition a fluid one, not an abrupt change from the familiar.

*Say Goodbye to the Old House: The day after we moved most of our stuff, we went back to our old house, just the four of us, and took some time to wander the house, talk about our memories, and say goodbye. I think that this was key in helping Liam with the transition.

*Have Snacks at the Ready: Make sure that you know where some choice snacks are located at all times!

What Didn't:

*Expecting it to go Smoothly: Moving never goes as planned. We were extremely organized before the day of, but once we got going all crap hit the fan, and we all went into survival mode, including the kids. There were temper tantrums and meltdowns.

*Moving During Other Transitions: We made this mistake....big time! I'm a teacher, so I went back to work after months at home with my boys, just weeks before the big move. We also decided to put Liam into preschool the same month. I know that at this point, Liam has adjusted to being a big brother, but that's still pretty new too. This was the biggest mistake we could have made. Liam focused a lot of his transitional frustration on preschool, which resulted in almost a month pf daily tears, but once we moved and were settled in our new home, it was like a light was flipped. Every day has been fantastic since! Do your best not to make this mistake, cause it's a doozy!

Tips for Next Time:

*Bedroom Set Up: This is one we fully planned to do, but it got lost in the chaos of the day. Pack up the kiddos rooms last, preferably the day of when they are off doing something fun. Then make it first priority in the new house. Our goal was to have Liam's room completely unpacked and set up before he returned from the birthday party. Most of the big things were in place, but we lost some boxes in the shuffle, so next time, we'll be far more conscience of where things are going.

*Family Camp-Out: For the first night in our new home, we plan to have a camp-out in the living room. We'll make it as fun as possible to help make the new house feel like home as quickly as possible. As many ways as you can find to make it a positive experience for the kids, the easier the transition will be.

*Plan a Busy Weekend Outside of the Home: Plan for the kids to do fun things outside of the home for most of the first weekend. That way the house is set up and "normal" as quickly as possible, and you won't feel quite as stressed about unpacking. Once again, the less stress the kiddos see about the move, the better!

Our Last Family Photo in Our 1st Home

I hope that these tips help you in your moving, packing, and unpacking situations!

Goodbye Letter to Our First Home

Dear Our First Home,

Tonight is the last that I will be relaxing in front of your fireplace, looking out the big window that faces the big Oak tree. I have such mixed feelings about leaving you. I know that eventually, our little family will be too big to fit within your walls, and we would end up resenting your cozy charm. I never want that, which is why we're leaving while we are all on good terms. Although your size, and lack of shared space is why we feel the need to move on, there are so many things that I will miss about living here.

I will miss taking a bath under the skylight, watching the clouds, rain, stars, etc. I have such wonderful memories of talking to my unborn babies, while the warm water comforted my achy back. I will miss the beautiful bedroom that Joe and I designed for our first born. New paint throughout, colorful dinosaurs on the walls, chair rail surrounding the room, a huge walk-in closet complete with built-in drawers and shelves for all of my boys' clothes. The kitchen with it's wide, open space, refinished cabinets, and lovely grey paint. Our newly enlarged backyard, where my sons played in their pool and water table, enjoyed pancake picnics, and hosted countless BBQs with friends and family.

I will never forget the first week Joe and I spent in this house. A stormy evening, when the power went out. We cuddled by the fire and discussed our wonderful future here. That first winter, when we had a huge snowstorm. Walking to the store in feet of snow to get ingredients to make molasses cookies and eggnog as a surprise for Joe. Then the next spring, bringing baby Liam home from the hospital. His first Christmas, first, second, and third birthday, and his first day of preschool. Just this past winter, welcoming our gummy bear. There are so many amazing memories here, and I hope they stay with us forever.

As we told Liam, we'll make new memories in our new house, but we'll always love our first home! We will miss you.

Love,
The Brooks Family

Finding a Rental

One of the most difficult parts of selling your home, is timing it/finding the right place to go when it is no longer yours. Our situation required finding a rental property to live in for a bit between selling our home, and finding the perfect house to buy. This is not an easy task when you are used to living in a nice home, in a good neighborhood, with a yard, have a lot to store, two kiddos, a dog, and two cats.

Although we knew it was going to be hard to find something that would make us happy, we thought that we had pretty reasonable/easy to find requirements. The only things that a rental property needed to have was a garage (we have a '52 Chevy pick-up, which we need to store), at least two bedrooms, be pet friendly, and a small yard for our dog to do her business.

We thought our budget was pretty reasonable for our "needs" as well. We were willing to go as high as our mortgage payment, but were hoping to get something a bit cheaper to help us save for a down payment. Other than that, we were pretty flexible. We were hoping to stay in the town we live in, since I work here, Liam's preschool is here, Nolan's daycare is here, and it's convenient for Joe work-wise. But even that was negotiable for the right place.

Because a house sale can fall through all the way up to the closing date, our Realtor suggested that we wait as long as possible to sign any paperwork on a rental and/or pay any fees. If the sale were to fall through at the last minute, we would not only be out of any money we had already put down, but also the cancellation of the lease fees, and (of course) any money we had put into packing/moving. Because of her advice, we didn't really start looking until we hit the three week until closing mark (we're super happy we took her advise, because we did hit a snag or two, but that's another post...).

Unfortunately for us, the three week mark hit right about the same time as school starting, so people stopped listing rentals-apparently, everyone wants to be settled by the time the school year begins- so our list of options were dwindling fast. Also, finding pet-friendly housing is much harder than we thought. Everything within our price range and desired locations, was opposed to doggies and kitties.

Fast forward a couple of weeks to yesterday, a week and a half before closing, and we still hadn't found anything that would work. Joe and I decided that we would just have to make whatever met our requirements work, no matter what the downsides. We needed to have a place to go, and the decision needed to be made by the end of the day.

We reviewed our list, and had two possible options: a small townhouse in a town a few miles away from our current home, which would save us a lot of money monthly, or a house with more than enough space, in the same town, that was near the top of our budget. After a lot of discussion, running the numbers several ways, and a pro/con list for each, we decided to go with the bigger home. We don't know how long it will take to find the perfect house, and we don't want to feel rushed into it because we're so uncomfortable in the home we're living in.

We are so happy to finally know where we are going, and be able to plan our near future. Being a mommy with no plan for your babies, is a tough place to be, and I'm so so glad we won't deal with that situation again!

Boxes, Wine, and Tears

Today has been a tough day for me. Joe and I spent our morning walk talking about our limited rental prospects. With thirteen (now twelve) days until our closing date, I'm feeling the pressure to find an acceptable place for our boys to live, within our budget, and with a couple basic needs met. Although we have been looking for a rental for weeks, we have been holding off on signing anything until our home sale was as sure as can be. Now that we're ready to go, the rental pool has dried up. We're still searching. With the stress of finding a new, yet temporary, home for our family, my afternoon was filled with frantic and frequent craigslist checks.

I decided to try to take my mind off of our possible homelessness, and decided to to tackle the boxes, and boxes, of packing that we still have to do. When I began, I was fine. It was a good distraction, and everything was going well. Then I started packing the pictures on our walls. Smiles from family and friends, baby and wedding pictures that have hung within view, making our house, our home. A tear or two may have fallen as this point in the process. However, the river began to flow when I walked into Liam's room to pack round two or three. Bad idea!

An emotionally exhausted and fragile mommy, should never assume that they are able to pack up her first baby's first bedroom. I tried to make the situation easier, by adding a glass of wine to the mix. Also, a horrible idea. Now, I'm curled up on the couch with, yet another glass of wine, my eyes are red and puffy, and a Bones marathon is the only thing keeping me from laying in the fetal position while sobbing uncontrollably.

Selling our house, renting/saving money for a bit, then buying our forever home is the best thing for our family. I have never once doubted that. But there are feeling and stressors involved that I never imagined would be so strong. I will miss this house (especially while we are renting). I will miss the dinosaurs, that two wonderful friends and I, painted on Liam's bedroom walls. I will miss the fireplace where Joe and I cuddled, just days after moving in, when the power went out. I will miss our kitchen with so many wonderful memories of cooking, baking, and eating with friends and family. I will miss our backyard, where Liam first felt grass (and was terrified). I will even miss the vent in our dinning room, where poor Mr. Frog met his end.

I will miss so much about this house, but I have to believe we will be just as happy, and make just as many memories (hopefully, even more) in our next home.

The Inspection: A Nail Biting Experience

After we accepted the offer, the next step in the process was to have an inspection done. Joe, our Realtor Marie, and I were a bit nervous about this step. From the beginning, we were concerned about the roof as well as the furnace, not because either were causing us problems, but the fact that (as far was we know) they are original with house. When most roofs are considered to have a twenty year lifetime, and your house is nineteen years old, it make you worry a bit.

The inspection day came and went. Joe and I felt on the verge of panic waiting to hear the news. We were sure that there would have to be some negotiations, and we were worried that something would make the deal fall through. A couple of days, and several glasses of wine later, we heard the news. There was a small list of repairs to be done, but nothing too difficult, too expensive, and (happily) no deal-breakers.

We were able to do quite a few of the projects ourselves, and we hired my Dad and his good friend (who is also a contractor) to finish it up. It took some time, a bit of money, and about a week, but we are done! We are one step closer to our close date, and eventually, our forever home.

The Offer

Seventeen days into having our house on the market, and it was beginning to wear on me. Keeping the house spotless, toting two small boys and a dog everywhere I went, and checking my phone on a constant basis, hoping for news of another showing or an offer, was getting exhausting.

Of course, the day came when we were hosting a dear friend from out of state. I was taking her to Portland to meet her sister for an afternoon of family time, when the text came. "I would like to show your home ASAP." Being in NE Portland at the time, I freaked out a bit. I had not brought the dog (the one and only time I went anywhere without her in those 17 days), our house was a disaster, and our office was set up as a guest bedroom, complete with a air mattress and suitcases.

Emily was kind enough to take on the job of texting the realitor back to let him know that it would be a couple of hours before the house would be in showing shape. He was kind enough to agree. After dropping her off, I drove home as quickly (and safely) as I could. I also called Joe to let him know the situation, when he decided to leave work early to help me set up the house. When we finally arrived at home, we had 45 minutes to prepare the house and get out.

We did our best, and I can safely say that our house looked pretty good when we left. It was a super hot day, so we drove around rather than hanging out at a park or walking around town as we would have normally done. After Nolan had a quick snack while parked in a quiet neighborhood, we started to drive out to the country, when I got the message that the potential buyers were done looking and that our house "showed very well."

That evening we headed out to a birthday party for our good friends. While finishing up our dinner, my phone rang. It was our realitor with some interesting news. They couple who had viewed our home that afternoon wanted to make an offer. They suggested that we drop our price quite a bit, as well as pay closing costs. We were very excited about the offer, but we knew that it was not something we could agree to. We had a tight window for profit, and the current offer wouldn't allow for any.

We took that evening, and the next morning to decide how to proceed. When I told our realitor that we wanted to counter with a full price offer, but would cover the closing costs, we were all convinced that the negotiations would be over. A half an hour later, we had a deal! Everyone was shocked. I couldn't believe how quickly we had gone from frantically cleaning to celebrating.

As with any real estate transaction, there are hurtles to clear and speed bumps to cross, but just seeing our home go pending in less than three weeks was amazing! We owe it all to our wonderful realitor, who worked so hard to get our house out there for people to see. She is truly talented when it comes to sales and marketing, and we are so so so lucky that we had her in our corner.

Now, fingers crossed for a positive outcome from the inspection!

Preparing Our Home for Visitors

After making the decision to sell our home, we learned (very quickly) what it would take to get our house into showing shape. A lot of work! We knew right away that we needed to do some yard work, deep clean the whole house, declutter, etc. What we didn't know, was how much work it would be to keep it in viewing condition for more than a day or two.

It was quite the chore to have the house spotless for the two weeks that it took to get an offer. It definitely complicated things that we have a three year old, 7 month old, mini Aussie, and two black cats. Needless to say, I had to sweep/mop every morning. I began each day cleaning, making our bed, and dusting our bedroom and bathroom. Then I would move on to Liam's room, and vacuum the whole upstairs (stairs included). Then I would barricade it from the kiddos and pets, so that they wouldn't cause me to re-clean.

As for the downstairs, we made our office/Liam's playroom into a no-go zone from the beginning. We cleaned it very well once, then stayed out of it. As soon as breakfast was over the kitchen/dinning room were cleaned top to bottom. Next came the downstairs bathroom and the living room. At this point, I had to make sure that Nolan was well-fed, changed, and contained to either the pack n' play or his bouncer, and Liam had also eaten, gotten dressed, recently emptied his bladder, and was entertained with a movie or show, so that I could sweep/mop.

Maizy and the cats were locked outside for the duration of the cleaning session, but when we were ready to leave for the day, I would go around and get Maizy through our gate, so that the house could stay pristine. The cats were not so lucky; they spent their days outside. To clarify something I mentioned above, I tried my hardest to be out of the home as much as possible while we were showing the house. The thought of having to get Maizy and the kids out, while leaving the house at it's best, all within the hour notice that we would get, made me panic. So we spent most of our time either at my mom's house visiting, or just out and about.

This was my life, everyday, for two weeks. I'm glad that it was summer break and I was home all day, because I don't know how I would have done it if I would have been working as well. Because Joe works so early (5:30-2:30), he was unable to help with keeping the house clean. He did as much as he could at night, but because we still live here and use our things every day, there were many chores he just couldn't help with.

Another complication was Maizy. She is a talkative puppy, so we didn't feel comfortable leaving her home when people came to take a look at the house. We were sure she would annoy them, which is not a good way to get people to feel comfortable in the house. Because I had her in tow, I couldn't go just anywhere. It had to be doggy friendly. I was hard!

I don't know how people do it long-term. Two weeks really isn't that long to have your house on the market, but it was the longest two weeks ever!

My tips for being ready to show your home, especially with kids and/or pets are:
- Keep it clean: Put dishes in dishwasher right away, do laundry as it comes, pick up after kids often, etc.
- Sweep/Mop/Vacuum daily
- Clean once in the morning, and then get out!
- Create/keep a cleaning schedule: we really cleaned the bathrooms every other day, cleaned the kitchen nightly, mowed the lawn once a week, watered the lawn nightly, etc.
- Attend to all kids' needs, then make sure they're entertained when you clean
- Brush the animals nightly
- Turn on Scentsy (or the like) air fresheners in the morning, then turn them off before you leave for the day
- Declutter/Lightly pack the things you don't use
- Pack away a good portion of toys (kids don't even miss them, and then there isn't as much for them to scatter throughout the house)
- Plan ahead- a place to go, your daily cleaning schedule, etc.
- Pack a bag for the kids/pets and leave them in the car (one less thing you have to remember in a rush)

I'm so glad that I worked so hard to keep the house at it's best, but I'm also so glad that this stage of the process is behind us (hopefully)!

                                                   

The Decision to Sell

This will be the first of a series of posts about the ups and downs of selling our home, renting, and buying our forever home; and doing it all with an infant, a toddler, a dog, and two cats.

Joe and I were happily surprised when our beloved friend and Realtor scored us an amazing deal on our first home in our dream town. It had everything we wanted! Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a huge open kitchen, and a large yard for our future kiddos. It wasn't until about year two, while nearing the end of my first pregnancy, that we started to notice a few things that we were not too excited about. The master bedroom is on the bottom floor, while the two others are on the top. We have been told we will like this separation when our boys are older, but as of right now, I hate it. We are all cramming into the two upstairs bedrooms because I just can't get comfortable with sleeping on different floors.

We have also realized how important an actual laundry room is to us. Our current laundry situation consists of schlepping our baskets of dirty clothes down the stairs and out into the garage, where our washer/dryer buts up to our over-sized truck, making it impossible to open the door to the dryer all the way. I always drop clean clothes onto the dirty garage floor, and I hate that I have to sort the laundry in our hallway leading to the garage. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter, and folding everything requires taking up our living room, and then schlepping everything back up the stairs.

These things might not seem like big issues, but there are a couple of, more frustrating parts, that have clenched our hopes for a new place to live. The street we live on is lovely, and has a cute park just two blocks away, but it is also a through street for people trying to avoid lights. At peak commute times, we see car after car barely slow for the three stop signs that are within our view. I have seen countless children in scary situations because people go too fast and don't stop at the corners. It's scary.

Obviously, this is a huge issue for us, but the biggest deal breaker is the living space. Our bedrooms are all a great size, but our living room is quite small and is organized in such a way that it's difficult to arrange furniture. We want to have celebrations and family/friend gatherings in our home, but we have never felt comfortable doing that here. It's just too tight of a fit.

When we heard that the housing market had changed drastically from a stagnant market to a great sellers market, we contacted our trusted Realtor and set up a meeting to discuss the specifics (what would be required of us, what we would list the house for, how long it might take, etc.). We were shocked to hear how much value our home had gained in just a year and a half-we had checked in previously and were told we would lose quite a bit of money at that time.

After a couple of weeks of discussion between Joe and I, we decided that this was the time. We believed that our flexibility, having the upper hand as a seller, and the potential profit, were all too good to pass up. Although we wanted to sell, we felt no rush. We are not to the point of feeling like it's a necessity yet, but we know that day is coming. We thought this situation would help keep our stress levels at a minimum (more on that later). So, to finally get to the point, we put our house on the market the end of July.

The process has been stressful, exciting, scary, interesting, and a definite growing experience for our family (and that's just in the first month). Future posts on this subject will include: preparing our house for the market, the selling process, packing with kiddos, any snags that we have/will hit along the way, finding/living in a rental, and in a year or so, the buying process. It's a long road with a lot of steps, but we have a lot of support from our family, friends, and our amazing Realtor.