How it All Started, part four
The time had arrived. We started painting the house, inside and out. I began taking down family photos, filling nail holes and touch up painting.
Every evening was consumed with going through things – boxes in the attic I had carried with me for decades – childhood memories, etc. Then the more current memories – all of the letters from and to the boys in Basic Training, holiday cards from grandparents no longer living, and photos….oh all the photos. Sorting, filing, chucking, over and over. Every Sunday I had a pile for my daughter to go through. What did she want, what was trash, what was for Goodwill? It was a very long process that seemed never ending.
In October we drove to Pennsylvania to visit the youngest and his family. We loaded the car with my hope chest, made by my dad and gifted to me when I graduated high school, and my favorite outdoor swing. In April when they had come to Alabama to see us we went through room by room. Zach took home my competition BB gun which is old and rusty and a mess. But he wanted it. A few weeks later he sent a photo of my grandson and my son shooting my old gun. There is something to be said for handing over your treasures while you are still alive and watching your family enjoy them!!!
The house was finally ready and on November 12th we listed the home. I never in a million years would have asked the number our relator was listing the house for. Gary was afraid it was too high a price to get any interest. The next night I had over a friend and her new husband for dinner. I did not know how serious their house hunting had become, but I knew they had started looking. This friend had stayed with us when she needed a safe place, so she was familiar with the home. We enjoyed a lovely dinner that evening and showed them the home. And we gave it to the Lord.
The next day we had an offer and another showing scheduled. The offer was from my friend and her husband for asking price and had us paying a chunk of the closing costs. Gary was concerned about what we would walk away with.
For a year I had done my own guestimates of “realtor Math”. Turns out I greatly over estimated what things would cost to get out of owning our home. Once I received the actual numbers from the realtor and what we could potentially walk away with, well, the number was not a number we anticipated.
I was sitting in the waiting room of my new general practitioner (I got all of my eye doctor, dentist, blood work and annuals taken care of BEFORE we left) when I decided to change the parameters on RV Trader to reflect a higher budget.
When Gary came to bed that night I told him about this new RV I was in love with on the app. She was more than we had ever thought to spend but she was not 20 years old and she was beautiful.
By Friday we had two more showing scheduled for Saturday morning. Since we had to be out of the house we decided to take a road trip to go see the RV in Florida, about 4 hours away. Conveniently, we were going to be an hour from our oldest and his family so we made a lunch date with him and our grandson to meet at Cracker Barrel halfway between him and us.
We headed to Glenn St. Mary’s Florida to see the rig. She was a BEAUT. We spent a lot of time with the seller and he even took us on a “test drive”. While we were out getting a feel for her, I received a message from the realtor that the original offer had been amended – without a counteroffer from us. They were still offering asking price but now lowered the amount of closing costs we needed to pay. This would allow us to purchase the RV and still have some money in savings. I told Gary this update while the seller was driving and Gary said, “Accept it”.
We then told the seller of the RV that we would like to purchase the RV!
The next day we found an RV inspector – yes, that’s a thing. NOTE: If you are purchasing an RV, pay the money for the inspection. It saved us from a previous purchase. While the inspection is costly, it is also extremely thorough. I highly recommend getting an RV inspection before you make a purchase. It isn’t fool proof, but it is certainly valuable.
To be continued.