This Year, Whew Brother.
Man, I really hoped 2020 was going to be a much-improved year on many fronts. Obviously.. notsomuch. Sheesh.
But the effort to relocate continues, and isn't going too poorly! When I last updated, we had a couple of offers on the house, and neither one ended up working out. One was a lowball offer with some special financing that presented too many hurdles, and the other wanted us to cover their closing costs and we just couldn't make that work since we don't have a lot of equity to spare. But luckily we've had plenty of interest, so we weren't too concerned. Last week some folks wanted a showing and our realtor had no agents available, so I hosted them myself. Pretty nice folks, a family with 3 kids, so a good fit for the house. And they made a reasonable offer which we accepted, because we were starting to get antsy, both from a timing perspective and with the economy heading into choppy waters. So that's moving along, inspection is scheduled for Monday, closing later this month if all (hopefully!) goes well.
On the buying front, inventory in Richmond has been a bit slim, so the best properties get snatched up quick. We saw more than a few that we really liked come and go before we were in a position to make an offer! But again, we feel a little under the gun timing-wise, and we'd really like to avoid renting at first, which would also entail storage costs and two moves. So we found one that ticks most of our wishlist items--plenty of flexible rooms and interior space, good lot size with a woodsy feel, good location and a low-traffic neighborhood that would be good for walks and bike rides. It's a little older than I wanted (1985, not terrible) and frankly kinda plain-looking outside. But it looks pretty decent inside, and we're not averse to a fixer-upper in some respects as long as the bones are solid. So we put in an offer on that late yesterday, should hear back with a counter-offer today. Or maybe the old lady who lives there is motivated to sell and has plenty of equity, so she'll just accept. We can hope! The house has been on the market for almost a month without a lot of interest, and I suspect that's because of the plain exterior and the cluttered interior--this lady has a lot of moving out to do! But again, if we reach a deal and all goes well, we hope to close on it around mid-May, and move up then or towards the end of the month if Hallie's show isn't canceled.
Speaking of moving, I've been calling around this week to various container-moving companies. Good thing too, because apparently with the pandemic they're getting busy early this year. Apparently people are jumping to sell before the economy goes crazy (sounds familiar!), or bumping up their existing plans now that kids are out of school everywhere. So my first choice was just about all booked up already--I got on the schedule, but kinda later than I wanted, plus their storage fees are a lot more than I expected, so we may not use them after all. Since cancellations are free, I also booked a PODS-type company to bring us a big container later this month, which we'll load with non-essentials to ship up and store until we get there (hopefully with a house to move into). So from here things maybe get exciting. Watching to see if crossing state lines becomes a problem!
I'm sure I used the word "hopefully" like a dozen times in this post. Lots of moving parts in play, and not a lot of wiggle room in the timing, so we're definitely crossing all our fingers that everything goes to plan and with minimal complications. Good vibes definitely welcomed!
How are all of you holding up through these crazy times? Stay safe, take care of yourselves, be gentle. All will pass eventually, and here's hoping that the new normal we all attain on the other side will be an improvement.