A day in the life of selling my house
I woke up today with this lingering cold and lots of crud. Yuck.
An email answering all the questions I had about the windows in the new house was waiting in my inbox for me to read. Let me brush my teeth and get some breakfast so I can think.
Spent the next hour on emails, printing, scanning, signing paperwork approving windows and all doors but the front door, submitting the paperwork for another withdrawal from our bank down there so they can write a check for me for the down payment.
Phew! 10:30 now and time for a shower after I file all that paperwork and save all the files I have now from scanning those. You never know when I'll need those in the future!
Shower, makeup, breakfast dishes, and write a letter to my compassion child, complete with updated pictures.
Time to sit down for 30 minutes or so until my mom comes over to drop Kara off. What's that noise? It's like a beep. What is that? Is it coming from over here? No, it sounds like downstairs. I follow the noise to find my battery backup to my sump pump screaming at me. Praise God for that annoying alarm! It let me know the battery is being used, which means something is up with my sump pump's power. The new one we just bought 5 years ago after the basement flooded with that hurricane. Remember that?
My sump pump is on it's last legs. It's chugging and spluttering and not getting much done. PRAISE GOD there is no water in the house! It's not even close! That alarm is just screaming away saying, "someone, come look at this now!!!" I text Michael (I love he can bring his phone into his new job) to see what he wants me to do. Unplug it and wait until he comes home to look at it? He says leave it plugged. I send him a video of what it's doing. Leaving it plugged it may kill it dead. He comes home because it's lunch time anyway. (Did I mention I love his new job?! Seeing that handsome face in the middle of the day made my whole day!) My mom stops by to be sweet to me, but I complain to the whole time that I have so much going on with the move and everyone wanting to get together with us every day in the summer, I'm constantly going in three different directions and don't have time for extra stuff like this. And I don't want to put more money into this stinking house!
She says she knows a guy, Michael says he has no idea what's wrong, and the plumber comes in like half an hour. They messed with it for like 20 minutes saying they hope it's just the blah-blah valve and hopefully that's all. Finally they come to me and say, "it's dead. It needs to be replaced." $510, which includes the new sump pump and labor and warranty.
Great. I would love nothing more than to waste $510 on this house. Considering we just did this 5 years ago. He says, "yeah, they only last 3-5 years." Blah. Anxiety is fine though - if God wants us to move, He'll sell the house, He'll make sure we can afford it, and some nice family will move into this house and not have to deal with getting a new sump pump for quite some time. All of that is in His control.
I make myself a peanut butter sandwich for lunch before my friend comes over. Kara, come down and eat something too.
My friend shows up, the guys are still here, and I get set up with her. She is going to build a house soon and wants to know where to start.
The guys say it's time to pay them and check on my dryer vent before they leave. It's stuffed full and I have to "get my husband to clean it." :-) Bless his heart. While we're back there, and my friend is sitting in my dining room alone, we find a puddle next to the house where the sump pump isn't draining into the yard correctly.
The sump pump actually ran while I took this picture and you can see it spurting out from the black pipe. We need to dig up the whole yard and find the clog and rework how the sump pump drains. Again. We JUST DID THIS five years ago. So, with the house on the market, a showing tomorrow morning, and an open house this weekend, it'll be great to have a torn up yard and "water problems" as a red flag. Please Lord let the people know it's not a water problem, nothing got in the house, and it'll be fixed asap! For at least five more years!
I get back to my friend, who is sweet and patient. We talk house stuff. I lost my voice so I am working to get every word out. You know how you have to force more air out to get a noise to work. My phone keeps ringing, dinging, and chiming.
My realtor calls. She is having her assistant drop off flyers for the open house this weekend.
My friend and I wrap things up and she heads out.
I call my realtor and ask if she wants me to fix the yard immediately, regardless of what state it leaves the lawn in? I took that picture above for her to see what the standing water look like. She says yes, people will be fine to know everything is freshly fixed and brand new. I told her she's crazy and I would NOT buy that house knowing it has preexisting-water-issues. Maybe it's just because I'm damaged from this house though.
Mom stops by with groceries for us. BLESS HER. I whine a bit more at her. Then apologize for being a stinky butt to her when she is so good to me. She tells me don't be silly, she loves helping me and was so happy to have a guy that could help me. She hugs me twice in one day and tells me she loves me again.
I call the plumber to set up a time for them to come dig up the yard, and he doesn't answer. I put everything away from my "meeting" with my friend and look at the clock for the first time. We have about 10 minutes before we leave for Stephanie's house. She is going to be gone from July 1 - August 7, and she is my "best good friend," so I am going to see her every day this week. I make Kara a sandwich and pour her some milk for the ride over. I pick up dinner on the way for me and her and her son, who is home. Her daughter and husband are out at an appointment and will be home later.
The guy calls me back on my way to her house and we set up tomorrow afternoon for them to come over. They will be here any time between 12 and 3. Um, yeah. How about we narrow that to between 1 and 3 and how about you call when you are on your way. Tomorrow I have a showing from 10 to 11, which means I'll be cleaning from 9 to 10, then I have to get ready for a lunch with the church staff at 11:30 about half an hour away from here, and that lunch probably won't be done for about an hour. I think 1 is the earliest I can get home. And I'm seeing Stephanie during the afternoon and evening. So, a more narrow window sounds great. I am secretly THRILLED they can come fix this so soon! Thank you mom for a great recommendation!
Nice evening with Stephanie. She helps me pick out paint colors for the new house and we talk about stamped concrete and she tells me she loves the windows I picked. She has phenomenal taste and her parents have phenomenal taste (so she grew up with it), so I love to run things by her. She helped me design my kitchen.
We leave her house around 8:15, I ask Michael about what we should do about the puddle by the house, I check the mail, I do dishes, and I start looking around the house for a mental list of what to do before the showing tomorrow morning.
Now I'm writing on my blog, which takes about an hour.
I didn't have time to cook, clean, pack boxes, or homeschool - all of which are really kind of my job around here.
My anxiety is still good!! Praise God for giving me an extra step of "calm down" today. I so appreciate it (and I so know it was all Him!).
Hopefully my cold gets better tomorrow because it's going to be another full day! And I guarantee I won't have time to cook, clean, pack boxes, or homeschool.
Then I post this and go to pinterest and see these:
I hear you, Lord, loud and clear. And I love You so very much.
An email answering all the questions I had about the windows in the new house was waiting in my inbox for me to read. Let me brush my teeth and get some breakfast so I can think.
Spent the next hour on emails, printing, scanning, signing paperwork approving windows and all doors but the front door, submitting the paperwork for another withdrawal from our bank down there so they can write a check for me for the down payment.
Phew! 10:30 now and time for a shower after I file all that paperwork and save all the files I have now from scanning those. You never know when I'll need those in the future!
Shower, makeup, breakfast dishes, and write a letter to my compassion child, complete with updated pictures.
Time to sit down for 30 minutes or so until my mom comes over to drop Kara off. What's that noise? It's like a beep. What is that? Is it coming from over here? No, it sounds like downstairs. I follow the noise to find my battery backup to my sump pump screaming at me. Praise God for that annoying alarm! It let me know the battery is being used, which means something is up with my sump pump's power. The new one we just bought 5 years ago after the basement flooded with that hurricane. Remember that?
My sump pump is on it's last legs. It's chugging and spluttering and not getting much done. PRAISE GOD there is no water in the house! It's not even close! That alarm is just screaming away saying, "someone, come look at this now!!!" I text Michael (I love he can bring his phone into his new job) to see what he wants me to do. Unplug it and wait until he comes home to look at it? He says leave it plugged. I send him a video of what it's doing. Leaving it plugged it may kill it dead. He comes home because it's lunch time anyway. (Did I mention I love his new job?! Seeing that handsome face in the middle of the day made my whole day!) My mom stops by to be sweet to me, but I complain to the whole time that I have so much going on with the move and everyone wanting to get together with us every day in the summer, I'm constantly going in three different directions and don't have time for extra stuff like this. And I don't want to put more money into this stinking house!
She says she knows a guy, Michael says he has no idea what's wrong, and the plumber comes in like half an hour. They messed with it for like 20 minutes saying they hope it's just the blah-blah valve and hopefully that's all. Finally they come to me and say, "it's dead. It needs to be replaced." $510, which includes the new sump pump and labor and warranty.
Great. I would love nothing more than to waste $510 on this house. Considering we just did this 5 years ago. He says, "yeah, they only last 3-5 years." Blah. Anxiety is fine though - if God wants us to move, He'll sell the house, He'll make sure we can afford it, and some nice family will move into this house and not have to deal with getting a new sump pump for quite some time. All of that is in His control.
I make myself a peanut butter sandwich for lunch before my friend comes over. Kara, come down and eat something too.
My friend shows up, the guys are still here, and I get set up with her. She is going to build a house soon and wants to know where to start.
The guys say it's time to pay them and check on my dryer vent before they leave. It's stuffed full and I have to "get my husband to clean it." :-) Bless his heart. While we're back there, and my friend is sitting in my dining room alone, we find a puddle next to the house where the sump pump isn't draining into the yard correctly.
The sump pump actually ran while I took this picture and you can see it spurting out from the black pipe. We need to dig up the whole yard and find the clog and rework how the sump pump drains. Again. We JUST DID THIS five years ago. So, with the house on the market, a showing tomorrow morning, and an open house this weekend, it'll be great to have a torn up yard and "water problems" as a red flag. Please Lord let the people know it's not a water problem, nothing got in the house, and it'll be fixed asap! For at least five more years!
I get back to my friend, who is sweet and patient. We talk house stuff. I lost my voice so I am working to get every word out. You know how you have to force more air out to get a noise to work. My phone keeps ringing, dinging, and chiming.
My realtor calls. She is having her assistant drop off flyers for the open house this weekend.
My friend and I wrap things up and she heads out.
I call my realtor and ask if she wants me to fix the yard immediately, regardless of what state it leaves the lawn in? I took that picture above for her to see what the standing water look like. She says yes, people will be fine to know everything is freshly fixed and brand new. I told her she's crazy and I would NOT buy that house knowing it has preexisting-water-issues. Maybe it's just because I'm damaged from this house though.
Mom stops by with groceries for us. BLESS HER. I whine a bit more at her. Then apologize for being a stinky butt to her when she is so good to me. She tells me don't be silly, she loves helping me and was so happy to have a guy that could help me. She hugs me twice in one day and tells me she loves me again.
I call the plumber to set up a time for them to come dig up the yard, and he doesn't answer. I put everything away from my "meeting" with my friend and look at the clock for the first time. We have about 10 minutes before we leave for Stephanie's house. She is going to be gone from July 1 - August 7, and she is my "best good friend," so I am going to see her every day this week. I make Kara a sandwich and pour her some milk for the ride over. I pick up dinner on the way for me and her and her son, who is home. Her daughter and husband are out at an appointment and will be home later.
The guy calls me back on my way to her house and we set up tomorrow afternoon for them to come over. They will be here any time between 12 and 3. Um, yeah. How about we narrow that to between 1 and 3 and how about you call when you are on your way. Tomorrow I have a showing from 10 to 11, which means I'll be cleaning from 9 to 10, then I have to get ready for a lunch with the church staff at 11:30 about half an hour away from here, and that lunch probably won't be done for about an hour. I think 1 is the earliest I can get home. And I'm seeing Stephanie during the afternoon and evening. So, a more narrow window sounds great. I am secretly THRILLED they can come fix this so soon! Thank you mom for a great recommendation!
Nice evening with Stephanie. She helps me pick out paint colors for the new house and we talk about stamped concrete and she tells me she loves the windows I picked. She has phenomenal taste and her parents have phenomenal taste (so she grew up with it), so I love to run things by her. She helped me design my kitchen.
We leave her house around 8:15, I ask Michael about what we should do about the puddle by the house, I check the mail, I do dishes, and I start looking around the house for a mental list of what to do before the showing tomorrow morning.
Now I'm writing on my blog, which takes about an hour.
I didn't have time to cook, clean, pack boxes, or homeschool - all of which are really kind of my job around here.
My anxiety is still good!! Praise God for giving me an extra step of "calm down" today. I so appreciate it (and I so know it was all Him!).
Hopefully my cold gets better tomorrow because it's going to be another full day! And I guarantee I won't have time to cook, clean, pack boxes, or homeschool.
Then I post this and go to pinterest and see these:
I hear you, Lord, loud and clear. And I love You so very much.
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