House Hunting

So we I knew we would need a new house once I got pregnant. I had the wisp of an idea that maybe we’d buy and sell before the baby came. Like all my ideas, I romanticized it. We’d bring the new baby home and rock her to sleep in our new beautifully decorated home. There would be multiple bathrooms so we could easily potty train Caroline and life would be better.  BWA HA HA HA….

Well that idea daydream evaporated as we focused on other things. Fast forward to this Spring and I’m ready to make it a reality. 

So here is The Plan. The Plan is smart and executable and will get us to where we want to be.

Details of The Plan. We will prepare and list our house for sale. We will price it higher than market value to give us some time to hunt for the next house.  If someone loves our house so much that they are willing to pay the higher price, that would be a pretty good situation. Realistically this higher price would allow us to take time to shop for our forever home. You know the one, lots of space, in the perfect neighborhood with good school districts and no updates needed. All within our price range…. Once we found the forever home, we’d lower the price on the current one to sell it.

Sounds good right?

Ok, I know you see the holes in The Plan. As I type up The Plan, I realize how idealistic it was. I mean, nowhere do I consider how I will clean the dog-and-cat-hair-littered, overflowing-sink, laundry-landmine-covered, toy-explosion house for showings.  

The showing of the house, which means getting everyone including the dog, out of the house AND making sure it is in pristine condition.  One day I came home from work to do a surface clean and collect the dog prior to a showing. I was on my way out the door grabbing the dogs leash only to find a fresh pile of dog poop in the basement.

Then there is searching for our forever home. Sounds like fun right? It was until I realized how aggressive I was going to have to be to fight off all these other people with the same idea.  WTF people, how am I going to decide if it is the right house for me if I can't even GET IN TO SEE IT. Three houses literally went into contract as we were touring them. Another 4-6 only made it to the list of ‘must see’ when they went into contract. The urgency of the market meant we were often piling into the car on a weeknight and rushing around town, handing nuggets to the backseat passengers, and keeping them up LATE.

One such crazy excursion was when both girls got pinkeye. Only one got in to see the pediatrician.  I was leaving the next morning on a business trip the antibiotics for the second had to be secured pronto. During that madness I admit that I hauled two goopy-eyed kids through three houses prior to several desperate attempts to secure eye drops at both the minute-clinic and urgent care.

So how did The Plan actually get executed? 

Sale of the current house – Fail Change in direction

Luckily for me and my cleaning schedule, we only had about 6 showings. Unluckily (is that a word?) for the sale of our house, we only had about 6 showings.  So we are going to keep the house and rent it. We’d probably fail an inspection anyways. The Updated Plan is to rent out the current house. The Updated Plan will prove to be more lucrative, renters paying us money every month, making me a real estate mogul. There are no holes in The Updated Plan AT ALL. 

Purchase of the next house – pending.   

That’s all I’m going to say about that right now. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

Please be kind to me for the next month….