House Update

I had been waiting for this day for so long!  Well actually just 4.5 months but finally, we sold our home! It was a wonderful day when "Sale Pending" signs were attached to the "For sale" signs in both of these yards.  We haven't closed yet but we accepted an offer, inspections have been completed we are just waiting for appraisals.  Things are finally moving along.  

But lets go back to where I last updated.  The last I mentioned, we had a deal but it fell through right away.  This was back in November and we were trying to decide if we should pull the house off the market when our contract expired.  Well, we obviously decided to extend it and the sellers accepted.  During December we received another offer but it wasn't an offer we wanted to accept so we declined their offer.  We also had someone come back for a second showing but they decided on a different home.  I told Marc that when our contract expired on Dec. 31st that was going to be it.  I was so done with it all.  Well the last week in December we changed our minds once again-this was a constant internal battle going on in my mind.  After talking we decided that if we stayed in this house, we would have to put money into it.  At a minimum we would need to install a fence for Tally.  I was so over putting money into this house knowing that we would eventually be moving.  So once again, we asked to extend the contact until mid-February.  

It is a good thing we decided to extend because on January 2nd we received another offer.  It came from the same couple who offered in December but they came back with a better offer.  It took us a few days of back and forth and John and I debating whether or not to accept the offer.  It wasn't the best offer and it was less than we were hoping for but in the end we decided it was good enough to get us out of this house and into the other house.  We may not have gotten a great deal selling this house but we feel we got a pretty good deal on the house we are buying.

It was so stressful trying to decide and going back and forth between John and I.  Even the minute I hung up from Marc to accept the offer I starting doubting whether it was a good decision or not.  We are so comfortable here in our little home.  I can stand at the base of the stairs in the living room and see every other room on the main level and upstairs.  We are comfortable here financially also.  It is always scary to take on more debt despite the fact that we can afford it.  We love our kitchen, love the quiet street we live on, and love our neighbors!  We have great friends on one side of us and on the other side have developed a neighborly friendship with couple there.  I know I will miss the driveway chats.  But I know in the next few years we will feel like we are outgrowing this little 1200 square foot split level.  We are starting to feel that way a bit now.  The other day I got really sad thinking about how Elsie calls our house her "home" and soon it won't be her "home" anymore.  

Our quiet little street-just as side note-since we have been living on this street (seven years now) only one other house has gone up for sale.  Many of the residents have lived on this street for many years.  One couple tells us stories about when her kids were growing up and how all the kids would play together in the street and all the moms would sit outside drinking coffee, watching them all play.  

I'm so excited about this front porch! 

Although there are things we will miss about our current home.  We are so excited about the new home and all the possibilities it holds for our little family.  To compare just a little-our house has about 1250 square feet on the main and upper level.  This new house has 2190.  Almost 1000 more square feet.  The basement is around 950 sq feet vs 300 in our current house.  Besides the one car attached garage, there is a two-car two story detached garage with a total square footage larger than our current home!  The yard already is fenced in too!  We are really needed this for Tally!     

Detached Garage

It is hard to get too excited because we haven't closed on the house yet and anything can still happen but the inspection on the new home went really well and there were no major issues and the buyers for our house decided not to conduct a home inspection.  We haven't gotten the appraisal back yet but hopefully all will go well.  (the appraisal on our current house is happening on Monday).  Our official closing date is not until Feb 28th so we still have a month to wait.  

As for packing, we haven't packed a single box yet.  I wanted to wait until inspections and appraisals were complete.  We are hosting our annual game night on February 8th so I think the bulk of our packing will be done after that.  We might do a few things with the garage and the basement before then though.   I did go out the other day and buy some supplies to pack and called a couple of moving companie s to get quotes.  We are leaning towards hiring a company to help us move some of our big, heavy stuff.  Plus who knows what the weather will be like so it would be nice to not have to be hauling boxes in crappy weather.  

If you follow me on Pinterest, I am sure you have seen me pin some new ideas for the house.  I have a list of the things I want to do and the changes I want to make or the updates that need to happen.  There are two main priorities for the inside of the house:  remove the wallpaper and remove the carpet from the bathrooms.  I can't wait to share interior photos!!  Soon enough...I have a feeling these next four weeks are going to either drag on forever or go by really fast.