It has been eight days since we signed the papers. We have had more then a half dozen realtors bringing clients through the house. MLS (Multiple Listing Service) viewing day was last Wednesday and twenty plus agents left their cards. No offers as yet. I somewhat disappointed. I thought we would have been done with the showing part by now. This is such a great house and fabulous neighborhood, I figured it would go quickly. Patience, my son, patience.
"Ok. Grant me patience, Oh Lord, but could you give it to me right now? "
Yesterday was spent with more packing. I bought some more packing boxes from a gal in Springfield so I believe we will be ok now. I saved the box that the Lighthouse dishes came in so that was easy. The glass pitchers were a challenge to wrap. We will need to purchase a third roll of bubble wrap at Costco before this is over.
Thursday I rented a 6 x 12 enclosed trailer from U-Haul and we loaded it to the gullets and took it up to Canby where we rented a storage unit. The unit is 12 x 30 so it is big enough to put our whole household goods in if we do not find a house before we head down to South Lake Tahoe the middle of May.
Today, we are going up north again to look at a house that came on the market this past Thursday. The realty market has picked up in the Portland area and the good houses come and go rapidly, so you have to go see them quickly when one comes along that has the features you are looking for. This one has some, but our realtor says that it is so cute and well maintained that it is worth a look. The Prius will be taking as many boxes as it can hold at the same time. More up north mean less in this garage to move later.
Sunday is an Open House here at the house. We will not be here! R made chocolate chip cookies to have out for visitors to enjoy. Unfortunately, it is a typical rainy April week-end. hopefully we will get a call from our realtor afterword.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Selling the House
Selling the House -- Part I
1. After thinking about it and thinking about it, finally make the decision to sell.
2. Find a realtor that you know or that seems to have the same mind set as you do.
A. Talk to others who have experience with the person.
B. Interview several realtors. You do not have to hire the first one you interview.
3. The realtor will offer advice and knowledge on how to prepare the property for sale.
A. Make necessary repairs.
B. Paint and clean walls, carpets, patios, decks, yard, etc.
C. Declutter the house.
1) Clean closets, garage, attic, basement to remove excess items.
A) Garage sales
B) Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc.
C) Recycle
2) "Stage" your rooms.
A) Remove personal items, family pictures, diplomas, etc.
1] Neater appearance
2] The idea is to get the buyer to imagine their pictures on the walls.
B) Less furniture makes the rooms appear larger, less cluttered.
C) Less items on shelf units has the same effect.
3) Pack excess items in boxes out of site (usually in the garage or storage unit.
4. When house is ready to sell, meet with realtor to start the process.
A. Decide on the selling price.
1) Realtor's experience.
2) Look at comparable sales in your area ("Comps")
B. Sign the paperwork to begin the process.
5. The sign will be pounded into the yard.
6. The realtor will take pictures of the inside and outside of your property.
7. The realtor will return to the office and enter information into the computer and within 24 hours your house will be on the Internet with all the information, pictures, and price for all of the world to see.
That is the process in a nutshell. It is not difficult. The realtor does all the paperwork, atl least until the sale is made. But it is a lot of work to get the property ready to be shown to prospective buyers.
1. After thinking about it and thinking about it, finally make the decision to sell.
2. Find a realtor that you know or that seems to have the same mind set as you do.
A. Talk to others who have experience with the person.
B. Interview several realtors. You do not have to hire the first one you interview.
3. The realtor will offer advice and knowledge on how to prepare the property for sale.
A. Make necessary repairs.
B. Paint and clean walls, carpets, patios, decks, yard, etc.
C. Declutter the house.
1) Clean closets, garage, attic, basement to remove excess items.
A) Garage sales
B) Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc.
C) Recycle
2) "Stage" your rooms.
A) Remove personal items, family pictures, diplomas, etc.
1] Neater appearance
2] The idea is to get the buyer to imagine their pictures on the walls.
B) Less furniture makes the rooms appear larger, less cluttered.
C) Less items on shelf units has the same effect.
3) Pack excess items in boxes out of site (usually in the garage or storage unit.
4. When house is ready to sell, meet with realtor to start the process.
A. Decide on the selling price.
1) Realtor's experience.
2) Look at comparable sales in your area ("Comps")
B. Sign the paperwork to begin the process.
5. The sign will be pounded into the yard.
6. The realtor will take pictures of the inside and outside of your property.
7. The realtor will return to the office and enter information into the computer and within 24 hours your house will be on the Internet with all the information, pictures, and price for all of the world to see.
That is the process in a nutshell. It is not difficult. The realtor does all the paperwork, atl least until the sale is made. But it is a lot of work to get the property ready to be shown to prospective buyers.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
A Big Change Approaching
R and I have decided to put the house that we have lived in for 23 years, up for sale. In addition, we are looking to relocate to an area just south of Portland, Canby is our target area. It is closer to our kids and several old friends, but just out of the metropolitan sprawl and traffic.
It is not a decision that we made on a lark, for we realized that the amount of work involved is enormous! I thought of packing and moving 20 years of accumulation is daunting at best. But we thought that because of various delays that had popped up to prevent us from traveling to Arizona to be volunteeer, the opportunity was being presented to us. It was as if we were not meant to go south this year and were meant to do this. And so we begin.......
Beginning involved finding real estate professionals both here in Eugene and in Canby and we found what we think are good ones in both areas.
JM has a list of our search wishes and has shown us several candidates, but the winner has not shown up yet. Now, as spring gets underway, the number of homes for sales is rising.
MW has helped us here in Eugene with ideas for marketing our home. We have painted the guest bedroom, our bedroom, the master bath, the hallway, and almost all of the woodwork. Last week MW stopped by and gave us guidance on removing the clutter from our place. The ideas is to make the home appear less crowded and therefore larger. Also, all personal pictures and knicknacks have been packed. The lack of pictures allows the perspective buyers to imagine their pictures on the walls as they view the rooms. It's a good idea but has been a lot of work getting things packed away. The garage is cluttered with packed boxes, all marked with color-coded tags. Hopefully it will help on the other end.
The paperwork gets filled out this Friday and the MLS visit by the realtors of Eugene happens on Wednesday April 3rd. Wish us luck. I will keep you posted.
It is not a decision that we made on a lark, for we realized that the amount of work involved is enormous! I thought of packing and moving 20 years of accumulation is daunting at best. But we thought that because of various delays that had popped up to prevent us from traveling to Arizona to be volunteeer, the opportunity was being presented to us. It was as if we were not meant to go south this year and were meant to do this. And so we begin.......
Beginning involved finding real estate professionals both here in Eugene and in Canby and we found what we think are good ones in both areas.
JM has a list of our search wishes and has shown us several candidates, but the winner has not shown up yet. Now, as spring gets underway, the number of homes for sales is rising.
MW has helped us here in Eugene with ideas for marketing our home. We have painted the guest bedroom, our bedroom, the master bath, the hallway, and almost all of the woodwork. Last week MW stopped by and gave us guidance on removing the clutter from our place. The ideas is to make the home appear less crowded and therefore larger. Also, all personal pictures and knicknacks have been packed. The lack of pictures allows the perspective buyers to imagine their pictures on the walls as they view the rooms. It's a good idea but has been a lot of work getting things packed away. The garage is cluttered with packed boxes, all marked with color-coded tags. Hopefully it will help on the other end.
The paperwork gets filled out this Friday and the MLS visit by the realtors of Eugene happens on Wednesday April 3rd. Wish us luck. I will keep you posted.
Mexican Dental - Algodones Part II
The sum of our visit to Mexico for Dental work.
The work done:
2 crowns, one porcelain, one gold
2 extractions, one for each of us.
1 root canal
1 cavity filled
1 teeth cleaning
Time; four trips probably 8 hours
Money spent; $1300 dollars.
Money saved; $$$$$$$$
Would I do it again?
Yes, definitely.
Would I do it differently?
It would be easier if we had our trailer parked in an RV park nearby so that the commute to and from would not be so long. Also, allowing time for unforseen circumstances, broken teeth, extra work needed, etc. would be a wise choice also.
The work done:
2 crowns, one porcelain, one gold
2 extractions, one for each of us.
1 root canal
1 cavity filled
1 teeth cleaning
Time; four trips probably 8 hours
Money spent; $1300 dollars.
Money saved; $$$$$$$$
Would I do it again?
Yes, definitely.
Would I do it differently?
It would be easier if we had our trailer parked in an RV park nearby so that the commute to and from would not be so long. Also, allowing time for unforseen circumstances, broken teeth, extra work needed, etc. would be a wise choice also.
Friday, March 8, 2013
We are Back
The Trip is complete. We safely traveled 3550 miles thanks to my personal driver. The Prius averaged 43.3 mpg, which is good considering that R has a lead foot. It was not unusual to glance at the speedometer and see 70 and more displayed, but we made it safe and sound and the car is wondering what happened. This is the second long road trip we have made with this car and I must say that the car is a great traveler. It is comfortable, has considerable room (the back seats fold down) and it handles highway speeds with ease. All that and still getting fabulous gas mileage to boot. We are quite happy with it.Friday, February 22, 2013
Dental Day One
Our first day at Algodones.
Our appointment was at 9am so not knowing the route and layout, we left our Yuma motel at 7:45. Got on I-8 and drove west about 6 miles to the Algodones Road exit which is the same exit for the Quesan Casino. Three miles south on the paved street puts youo at the US/Mexico border. There is an RV park there if you need hook-ups otherwise there are spaces in the desert to park your rig for free. Right on the border is a parking lot owned by the local Indian Tribe that charges $5 to park for the day.
We parked and walked into Mexico. It was 8:15 so it was fairly quiet. The shops were starting to open up and a few other folks were slowly starting to enter Mexico, probably because they had early dental appointments also. At the appointed time our dentist picked us up in front of the Purple Pharmacy and drove us severl blocks to our dentist's office. There must be 40-50 dentists in this small town. Also there are a dozen pharmacies and two dozen optical places as well. Put all those together and fill up the other stores with jewelry, pots, knick knacks, etc. and you get an idea of Algondones. Narrow streets, brightly painted buildings, some vehicle traffic, a few visible police and federalies. Now add several hundred Americans every day to complete the picture.
Our driver, Hector, who is the bookkeeper for the business, delivered us, in a few minutes to the office, which is a new building a few blocks away from the downtown hussle. Like I said, very new and very nice.
A few minutes and both os us were in chairs being examined. After x-ray s I found out that I had a badly cracked tooth that will need to be pulled and a broken tooth that needed a root canal before it could get a crown. R had similar extensive and expensive news.
Bottom line, I had my root canal, not painful but certainly not fun. R had prep work done for a crown. Tomorrow my cracked tooth will be extracted and the other will get a temporary crown. R will also get an extraction (the same tooth number as mine but on the other side) and then get a permanent crown on her prepped tooth. We will both have sore mouths for a while.
We also have an appointment for next Friday to get the permanent crown on my tooth and to have our extractions areas checked.
Dental work is so much fun...
Our appointment was at 9am so not knowing the route and layout, we left our Yuma motel at 7:45. Got on I-8 and drove west about 6 miles to the Algodones Road exit which is the same exit for the Quesan Casino. Three miles south on the paved street puts youo at the US/Mexico border. There is an RV park there if you need hook-ups otherwise there are spaces in the desert to park your rig for free. Right on the border is a parking lot owned by the local Indian Tribe that charges $5 to park for the day.
We parked and walked into Mexico. It was 8:15 so it was fairly quiet. The shops were starting to open up and a few other folks were slowly starting to enter Mexico, probably because they had early dental appointments also. At the appointed time our dentist picked us up in front of the Purple Pharmacy and drove us severl blocks to our dentist's office. There must be 40-50 dentists in this small town. Also there are a dozen pharmacies and two dozen optical places as well. Put all those together and fill up the other stores with jewelry, pots, knick knacks, etc. and you get an idea of Algondones. Narrow streets, brightly painted buildings, some vehicle traffic, a few visible police and federalies. Now add several hundred Americans every day to complete the picture.
Our driver, Hector, who is the bookkeeper for the business, delivered us, in a few minutes to the office, which is a new building a few blocks away from the downtown hussle. Like I said, very new and very nice.
A few minutes and both os us were in chairs being examined. After x-ray s I found out that I had a badly cracked tooth that will need to be pulled and a broken tooth that needed a root canal before it could get a crown. R had similar extensive and expensive news.
Bottom line, I had my root canal, not painful but certainly not fun. R had prep work done for a crown. Tomorrow my cracked tooth will be extracted and the other will get a temporary crown. R will also get an extraction (the same tooth number as mine but on the other side) and then get a permanent crown on her prepped tooth. We will both have sore mouths for a while.
We also have an appointment for next Friday to get the permanent crown on my tooth and to have our extractions areas checked.
Dental work is so much fun...
Monday, February 18, 2013
Medical Report
Actually, there is no medical news. Even with all the testing, they have not found anything that would explain what happened to me. I have having another EEG this morning before we leave, to see if anything is different from the first one. At least it is not a "sleep deprived" test like the last one.
And so we wait.......
And so we wait.......
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