Well hello there. I’m reporting live from the depths of the stacks’o’boxes I have filling up the house. When last we spoke (you know, last year – which was only a couple of months ago), we had buyers for our house:

HouseYardAfter

We had gotten an offer that we countered (because they wanted us to drop our price way too low and give them closing costs…no thanks). They accepted our counter-offer, and things were moving along swimmingly towards a simultaneous closing of December 23rd on our house and the one we put an offer on:

choice1 choice1v

Isn’t that cute? But what’s deceiving about the images is that it’s quite large inside! It was built in 1930 in a small town that used to be a railway town in the 1800’s. With only just over 1700 residents in this town, we joke that we’re moving to Mayberry! And for those of you who say “What’s Mayberry?” Andy Griffith was too early for my time, too, but I thought everyone, including you Millennials, would know what Mayberry was!

Anyway, literally the day before Thanksgiving our realtor called and let us know that our buyers had decided to change lenders because their friend, who was at the original lenders office, was leaving and going to a different one, so they were following her.

Because they were moving to a different lender, their pre-approval was defunct, so they wanted us to drop our price another $8000 and still give them closing costs. Um, hello?! We’d basically be paying them to buy our house, which would limit our ability to buy the house we wanted. Or at least to have money left over at closing to pay for our move.

Big fat no. They were basically trying to strong arm us into going with their initial offer (that we’d already turned down) or they’d walk.

Yep, from our standpoint they were blackmailing us, no doubt knowing that if they did walk, we could potentially lose the house we had an offer on (and we’d already paid for an inspection on that house, as did they on this house), instigating that whole dominoes effect.

Both the buyers realtor and our realtor were even willing to give up their commissions on the sale in order to get the monthly payments down to where the buyers wanted them, but they also then wanted the buyers to pony up a higher amount of earnest money to give them ‘more skin in the game’ in case they had the desire to take a walk right before closing.

After all that, they were unwilling to put more money into the pot for earnest money, so we let them walk. The last thing we wanted to do was be more financially committed to this sale and the purchase of the other house with the high risk of them simply walking away from the deal just before closing. We weren’t born yesterday.

So everything (except the packing) came to a screeching halt and our house was put back on the market on Black Friday. Of course now our house wasn’t (in our minds) ‘show worthy’, since we’d been packing like maniacs to make sure we were ready for a Christmas move. But we did what we could, and I left a witty note for the realtor’s and their clients about excusing the mess. 

We only had to wait a week and about 5 showings later – and we got a new offer on our house. Luckily their timing was perfect, as we were able to reinstate the offer on the house we wanted as if nothing happened, aside from the closing date now being in January.

And, from all accounts through the realtors, our new buyers are super nice, and flexible about the possession date, since we were in limbo waiting for an appraiser to go do the appraisal (the last ‘big’ thing the underwriters needed to complete their paperwork for closing) so we weren’t sure if we could do a simultaneous close on January 20th, or if our buyers would close on the 20th and we’d be delayed on our closing to the 27th.

Talk about ‘hurry-up-and-wait’ mode! We were trying to coordinate movers so we could be moved out in one day, but not knowing the actual closing date kind of thwarts those efforts. Though we did get quotes from 3 different movers (we didn’t want to revisit the Movers From Hell that we had in PA) to make sure they saw how much stuff we have to move and give us an accurate quote, so there’d be no monetary surprises at the end.

When we finally did get word that our realtor and lender were 99% sure we’d be able to close on the 20th, the movers we decided to go with, of course they were already booked for the 21st. Murphy’s Law. But thankfully they were available on the 22nd, and while we’d much rather get all our stuff moved on a Saturday to have Sunday to get important stuff settled in before the hubby’s off to work on Monday and the kids to school, it’s better than the alternative.

So, long story even longer – we’re moving on Sunday!! It’s happening, people! The house we wanted appraised for quite a bit higher than our offer price, so the lenders are happy, and we’re over the moon.

I’m finally going to have my long-awaited dedicated winemaking room, as well as a dedicated craft room, and bonus: wine storage room that I’ll eventually convert into an actual wine cellar, and a bonus room with its own attached private bath that will double as a game room and guest room So yeah, if you come for a visit, you’ll have your own private room and bath. 

Monday is when we’ll get our internet hooked up – hopefully it’ll truly be ‘high speed’ as the provider has touted. There aren’t many options in that tiny town, unfortunately, but we’ll make do. I may or may not be back again next Tuesday (late like today), but I can promise you this – I’ll be back enforce either the week of January 30th, but most certainly the first week of February. I can promise you that.

 It’s time once again for Leslie’s (aka Rory Bore) Tuesday Coffee Chat!

The question or prompt for this week is:

“It’s a New Year! What is one positive thing about 2017, and one negative thing about the forthcoming year?

OK, that one’s easy for me – one positive thing about 2017 is we’re moving in a matter of days to a house that is absolutely perfect for us and our needs. You know, my winemaking room and craft room…heh! And I guess you can say that one negative thing about the forthcoming year is the actual move itself – I really do hate moving, but the silver lining about the craziness of this particular move is the house we’re moving into.

The house we’re currently in, I never truly ‘settled in’ over the past three years – you can bet I’ll be ‘settling in’ and then some in the new house. Just have to get over the hump of the actual stress of the move, then kick back, unpack and set up everything to my heart’s delight and boom! 2017 will be made in the shade! First thing that will get set up is my cool new kitchen:

Choice1b

Things to do on my future project list is add an island to the kitchen (might relocate the two-chair seating to the island and add cupboards below instead), plus add cabinets, counter-top and sink to my winemaking room in the basement, which is already plumbed for a kitchen. Score!

I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures as we go along so you can enjoy the upcoming DIY and set up mode. It’s going to be fun!

Notice I bypassed any chatter about the state of the U.S. and the presidency. I’m in a ‘we’ll see how it goes’ mode, and I agree with Leslie – the name calling, bashing, bad memes, etc. really need to stop. It is what it is, and we’ll see how the next four years turn out. I’m just going to focus on the positives and be more distracted by shiny objects. Look! There’s one now!

That’s a wrap for this week – you know the drill, link up and join in the fun, everyone is welcome, random or not. And that means even if you don’t have a specific Random Tuesday Thoughts Rebel post posted, you can still link up, I’m not picky. You don’t even have to add the badge, just link up so I can come harass you on your blog. I promise to play nice.

I’ll ‘see’ you again within the next couple of weeks! Now I’m off to resume packing like a maniac…

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Keeping the random alive (barely) – feel free to snag a badge and play along – one for my wino friends:

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And one for my non-wino friends:

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27 Comments

  1. I haven’t stopped by in awhile, but I wanted to say congratulations on the new house! Good luck with the move; I know it can be such a pain, but it looks like it will definitely be well worth it! Cheers! 🙂

    1. Thank you so much, Lex! Moving really is a pain, I’m not a fan of packing, but unpacking and setting everything up will go so much faster – and be way more fun! 😉 Especially the house we’re moving into – it’s so perfect for us in every way. I can’t wait to get in and enjoy it! Thanks so much for stopping by – it’s nice to ‘see’ you! 😀
      StacyUncorked would like you to read ..An Update – and a PromiseMy Profile

  2. These are exciting happenings in your family! Your excitement for the new house is contagious and I just know you are going to be happy there! I have moved many times over the years and I detest the process, but when it done it feels so good to have everything clean and neat and organized. Prayers for your sale and purchase, and subsequent move to all go smoothly and safely, so you can begin filling the new place with happy memories in the making!

  3. Well welcome back! And with such exciting and good news. I absolutely adore the look of your new house. And I for one can tell you that small town living is not bad at all. We’re a bit bigger than yours, but it’s still has a cozy feel. And I love how bright and open and big your kitchen is. Wow — even with all the nail biting suspense of your move, I’d still love to have a different house too. I’ve never felt this house truly suited us, but it is what it is too. By the time we can afford to move, the kids will probably be gone and it will perfect for the two of us. ha.
    Looking forward to see pictures of all you’ll be doing!

    1. Thank you very much, Leslie! The Craftsman style from the early 1900s has always been a favorite of mine. 🙂 One of the reasons we wanted to move to a small town is exactly what you said – that ‘cozy’ feel. Plus it’s so much more relaxing here than it was in the middle of the rat race. 😉 Once the unpacking is done, the fun will begin with getting things how I want them…heh!! I absolutely LOVE this house! It’s so perfect for what we need! 🙂 Funny your house will be perfect for what you need after the kids move out…too funny! 🙂

  4. Stacy, I”m so glad it’s all coming together long last! The new place is adorable and I can’t wait to see the DIY improvements you make to your new home. Don’t worry about Blogosphere. We’ll be here when you get around to resuming blog life. 🙂

    1. Thank you very much, Cathy! I’m looking forward to getting everything unpacked so I can relax and truly enjoy our new home – though even in the chaos, it’s very homey and enjoyable! 😉 And I’m looking forward to getting back to creating again! 🙂

    1. Thank you so much, Pooba! One of these days you guys are gonna have to come visit – we even have a guest room with a private bath, so you’ll be nice and comfy! 😉

  5. Here you are again, you are finally back!! Woohoo!! And the new house, after all the ups-and-downs, looks awesome. You will be making yourself a wonderful home. Can’t wait to see all the pictures.

    1. Thank you, Claudia! I will definitely have to work on taking pictures – even with the rooms full of boxes at the moment…heh!! I’m really excited for spring, both the hubby and I are wondering what all the bushes and trees are, and look forward to them coming to life so we can find out! 🙂 I absolutely love our new house – it already feels like home, even amongst all the chaos, so that’s definitely a good sign! 😉

  6. Nicely done! 2017 is good because I came into it with bushels more Zen than I did in 2016. Also, I think a good business to start would be a community just for people to stay and store their stuff in between all the moving parts of selling one home and buying another.

  7. Girlfriend, welcome home and what a home it is! I must admit I’m soooooooooooooooooo jealous of this magnigicent home you’re moving into and I’m sure the princess loves her new castle too & the prince there probably loves all that room so him & the dogs can just run & run. I’m sure your King finds many things to do and is eager to them and so is his Queen! CONGRATS TO YOUR WHOLE ROYAL FAMILY!!!! HUGS

    1. Thank you very much, Marie! It’s just so surreal that we’re here in this amazing house – I absolutely love it! One of these days you guys will have to come for a visit! 🙂

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