gory details

OK, here's what happened.

The tenants wanted to buy the house, but clearly thought we were stupid and offered (initially) about 250,00 below market value.

We declined.

They came up about 125,00, and were disappointed that we wanted market value for the place. You know, they weren't bad tenants, but every interaction with them was somehow irritating. How they would think that I would be happy to sell to them well below market value and they did not spring from my loins....I just don't understand.

Blessedly they opted to move out at the end of July, not without the return of their Aug and July rent. (Fat fiscal ouch there)

I was however happy to see them go and cheap at the price.

We finally got the house on the market after getting three estimates of the value from three different agents at three companies. Something I would highly recommend.

I paid a neighbourhood teen who is a wizard with basic carpentry to do some handiman stuff, he tore up and replaced the back porch, as well, he took out some broken glass and removed the 1 by 4s the tenants thought would make a nice curtain in the bathroom bolted horizontally over the window. (WTF?). He touched up the paint, removed the window the tenants broke on the way out yadda yadda yadda, I drove over there every night after the kids were in bed to give him more money for wood etc...he also hauled all of this to the dump....I am working full time here too.

Then we finally got it on the market. The agent did a great job with the ads, and we decided to hold back offers, which means there is a fixed time for bids to come in. We set it a little less than a week after the house went on the market.

We got three offers, one WAY below asking, but that was still OK, a little competition is a good thing, the second was only just above asking and their agent made it sound like they really couldn't afford the house, plus they were definitely going to put in parking, so they would cut down a lot of the trees and ruin the garden.

Yes, I know. It's not my house anymore, let it go. But still.

The last, which we took, was well above asking and it is a single woman around 30, she seems very nice and excited. Hope she takes good care of the house.

It was an 8 day closing. My lawyer nearly pitched a fit. Tooooooo bad.

I had to get all the stuff out of the basement. If you ever do anything in your life, don't accumulate junk.

We packed up originally on the premis that we were going away for a year. We kept a lot. Imagine: 7 hours to go through everything you have accumulated in your life, with 4 twenty year olds waiting and watching to be told where to put things, and a deadline that is absolute at the end.

Plus everything is filthy and some is mousy so your wearing a dust mask the whole time. Humidity about 100%.

Half your stuff is headed out to the lawn for the neighbours to pick over, and they are having a great time!

Half in the truck and half in the bin.

Goodness what a day.

Some of the stuff that had to go into storage didn't and some that didn't matter so much did, so the man and I were over at the house at three in the morning or something else horrific like that the other night bringing it to where we are staying. The next night we were there in the wee smalls to sort garbage, which we had to haul to the neighbourhood we're in.

Then we had to call the gas folks, and the water, and the hydro, plus the insurance and the bank. No cable of phone for years anyway. Find all the paperwork. The man (bless him) found the title papers in the garbage pile around midnight one night. Why they weren't in the filing cabinet I don't understand. Whatever.

Sat morning around 6:30 am I'll be there to haul away the paint cans to the hazardous waste disposal, and Wed around the same time I'll be doing garbage. Fun WOW!

It is mostly done now, except moving all the stuff into the storage, and taking some out for goodwill. That'll happen in Sept.

Have to contact the insurance again, and the bank again, plus contact our new accountant around capital gains taxes....eeeeek

All that tomorrow, because on the weekend we are all going up to the boat. The girls are going on to a cottage with my folks, the man and I will work on the boat in the hopes of launching on Tuesday. There is a bunch of icky fiberglassing kind of work to do there to.

I have to work Mon and Tue, we have to get the boat fixed and inspected, and then launched, the man will stay up there and I will go back up on Tue night with the dog, drive back down around 4:30 am or so on Wed, do the garbage at the house, return the rental car and take the bus back up...then off to the cottage as well, and some sailing.

I'll try to post again before we go.

Hoping you're all doing well and thanks for your tolerance in my very very sporadic postings.

There's my story.

It's been an adventure. Kinda sad to see the house go. What can you do.