Friday, September 25, 2009

fairytale

(Alternate titles: Freak out, EEEEEEEEE! and OhmyGodwesoldourhouseandnowwe'regoingtobehomeless)

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you probably know that selling our house and buying a new one is something we've been working toward for a long long time. And if you've been paying attention, we've given this house a lot of TLC.

So FINALLY, FINALLY finally finally, we and the house were ready and we called a realtor.

We met with said realtor and they came to take pictures.

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We signed a buncha papers.

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And then, on Saturday, September 12, our home's listing went live online.

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Last week? We had seven showings.


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After a LOOONG week cleaning and dealing with showings (that we were really excited to have), I was ready for a Sunday spent in pajamas. I had no laundry to catch up on, no dishes to do, and dammit, I wanted to watch crap TV and eat popcorn.

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Instead, we had showings 5, 6 & 7 and I spent the afternoon entertaining the kids out of the house.
Through naptime.
Coming home late Sunday afternoon I was exhausted. Our house had been on the market for just over a week and I was beginning to think the selling process just might kill me. The boys took late naps and I finally got my TV time.
It was 9:00 and the boys were still up cuz of those late late naps when the phone rang.
WE HAD AN OFFER.
Ohmyfreakinghellwehadanofferaftereightdaysonthemarket.
The buyer hadn't even seen the upper flat of the duplex yet.
Ohmyhellohmyhellohmyhell.
We made arrangements for the potential buyers to come through and see the upper on Tuesday afternoon (9/22), the same day Jay and I went looking at houses for the first time.
We left a counter offer where the buyer-to-be's realtor could see it -- and before we got home that evening we had confirmation they had signed it.
OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD.
WE HAVE AN ACCEPTED OFFER. AFTER ELEVEN DAYS.
The catch? Closing is set for October 27. THIRTY-TWO DAYS FROM TODAY.
[Insert heavy curse-laden freak-out here.]
Oh? And by the way? Every home we saw the other day was pretty much crap.
Oh and by the way by the way? Jay now works the entire weekend, including his split double on Saturday.
OHMYGODWESOLDOURHOUSEBUTNOWWE'REGOINGTOBEHOMELESS.
I know, I know. Selling your house is the hard part. Right? But we now have an ENTIRE house to pack up in a month's time, AND we have to find a place to stay until we find that new home of our dreams. I haven't rented in so long...is it even possible to find a place on this short of notice? And can you rent for a month at a time? And will I actually have any hair left after this entire thing is over?
Somebody hold me.


So here's the real fairytale part: Tuesday afternoon, before the freak-outed-ness settled upon me, I was sitting at work counting down the minutes until the end of my work day, when we could finally start looking for our dream house. Hubster called.
"Can you turn on FM106?" were the first words out of his mouth.
"Uh, yeah. Why?" Leaning back, I turned the volume up on my radio.
"Cuz I played a song for you."
"No you didn't." I mean, people don't really do that, do they? Other than those saps who call Delilah on Saturday nights.
"Yes I did."
And just then I found the station. The song we danced our first dance to at our wedding was playing. And I got tears in my eyes. "No you didn't."
"I didn't think they'd play it so quickly. I mean, I thought we'd be driving together when it came up, so you missed part of it, but well, I had them play it for you. Cuz I love you and I meant it when I promised you that you'd have the house you deserve some day."
Oh my God -- big sappy girl tears.
Take notes from him, boys. Take notes.

20 comments:

Kelly said...

Congratulations on selling your house so quickly! It is definitely possible to rent month to month. It sounds like the whole thing is meant to be. PS I am so jealous. Your husband sounds like a one-in-a-million kind of guy!

Wineplz said...

How incredibly sweet! My eyes are watering now just thinking about it.

Congrats on selling the house so quickly--good to see that all your hard work paid off! Hopefully you'll find an even better home for an excellent price very very soon. And maybe your buyers will let you rent for a week or however long you need? Since we couldn't get into our new house when we thought, we got stuck renting our own townhome for a day or two before we moved out. Either way, I'm sure it will work out!

Mama Smurf said...

That? Is the best post I've read in a very long time. Got a lil' teary eyed...

Now, deep breath. Exhale. It'll be ok...Everything will unfold the way it is meant to!

Happy house hunting! Can't wait to see what you find!

Secret Mom Thoughts said...

Congrats on selling the house so quickly. I can't imagine how stressed you are but it will all work out. Your husband is the sweetest.

Anonymous said...

Awwww...I'm so thrilled for you! A good man, a sold house, you deserve every bit of this happiness Colleen!

Miss said...

You're going to be fine, I know it! Congrats on selling so quickly!!

AND OMG. You made me well up with tears. Tears I had to force back because I'm at work. That's a bit painful. lol

Mary @ Giving Up On Perfect said...

I'm totally crying. Your husband is so darned sweet!!! Especially knowing the little slice of your heart, your history, your life that you have shared on this blog - I could not be happier for you.

Congratulations on selling your house! I'm not surprised - it is super cute! But actually, I AM surprised. See, I work for a real estate company. I know just how Very Bad the market is. So this - this is a miracle!! A stressful one, sure, but WOW!!!!! :)

Grace said...

What your husband did was so super sweet. Happy to hear that your place sold so quickly. I know how stressful it is when you have little ones who still nap. Yes. As for month-to-month rentals, I've only seen listings for apartment complexes who do this.

Anonymous said...

Congrats!

Tara R. said...

Congrats on the sell and good luck on finding your new home!

The song thing... so romantic!

Karen said...

That is awesome! Congrats on the sale of the house. And the romantic that you managed to snag.

Karen MEG said...

Congrats on the house... although, wow, it's no wonder it sold so quickly, it looks wonderful!
Don't worry, you'll find something, as you said, the harder part is over.

And your husband, he's a keeper, lucky lucky girl!

Heather said...

Congrats on the quick sell! That's awesome in this market!

I'm so excited for you, and your Hubs is SO SWEET for doing that!!

Melisa Wells said...

I LOVE YOUR HOUSE! Reminds me of the house we lived in when we lived in Kenosha, only yours is much, much nicer. :)

Congrats on the quick sale, and on nabbing yourself a winner of a husband! :)

maggie said...

So awesome. So sweet. Seriously. It will all work out. I know how much moving sucks. Still, you've got the big details covered, so the little ones will just fall in there somewhere, and it will be just fine. What a great guy you have.

Anonymous said...

When you need boxes call your local bookstores and ask them if you can pick some up from them. Usually they have quite a number of them.

Avitable said...

Congratulations on selling your house so quickly! And I highly suggest hiring professional movers. Worth. Every. Penny.

colleen said...

Congratulations! I hope you find something quickly!

And yeah, WOW. Your hubs is awesome.

Stephanie Wilson she/her @babysteph said...

Seriously so excited for you!!

Steph

TexasBobbi said...

Congrats