Highs and Lows

It's been 3 days since potential home buyers paid a second visit to our house and we've had no word on their decision. I guess they've moved on to another property. All this after asking if we could vacate our place by July 15th. I even managed to line up 2 moving companies that said they could accomodate us. At least we now have appointments for moving estimates.

On Pins and Needles

The people who looked at our house a couple of days ago came back again today. In the past 2 days they've also been asking specific questions regarding how soon we could move out if they decide to make an offer on it. Now we're just waiting.

In response to the question of whether we could move by July 15th, I contacted a couple of moving companies and found that this was no problem. Both will be sending a representative next week to provide an estimate on the cost of the move. Until then, I guess we'll keep busy by packing more boxes. The more we do ourselves, the less it will cost.

Moving

We're getting ready to move again. This time, hopefully, for the last time.

This whole process began earlier this year when snow was still on the ground. More accurately, it began six years ago when we agreed to move to Massachusetts and prepare for early retirement. The Gillette company offered us some financial incentives to move here and we put together a 5 year plan for a move followed by early retirement. Along the way, the 5 year plan became a 6 year plan and ended up involving a corporate buyout by Procter and Gamble. We sold our house in Northern California and moved to Central Massachusetts but also purchased a condominium in San Diego. Now it's time to make the final move and get back to California.

In the past, all of our moves have been pretty much taken care of by a third party. Except for moving from an apartment into our first house, we've never had to tackle much or it at all. This time we began by sorting through years of accumulated possessions; decided what to keep, what to throw away, what to give away and what to sell. That took several weeks and I'm sure the trash collectors here wondered just how much more stuff would appear at the curb every week.

As we sorted, we also packed up the excess clutter around the house. It's amazing how many things find their way to a tabletop or a bookcase and we never even notice them. The objective of this early packing, of course, was to make the house more presentable to potential buyers. Then it was time to call the realtor.

Our house went on the market in April, just prior to Easter. To say this has been a slow market for resale housing is almost an exaggeration. Very few people seem to be out there looking, but we have had some and we have hopes for more. After nearly 2 months on the market, we lowered the price. Now it's time to see if it results in an offer.